Joe Saul Sehy is the host of Stacking Benjamins, a popular personal finance podcast. Sehy’s journey was a little unusual: he started as a financial advisor, building a firm with $65 million in assets under management until he received a letter prompting him to sell.

Sehy’s journey to becoming a podcasting sensation was a little unusual: he started as a financial advisor, building a firm with $65 million in assets under management. Then, on his 40th birthday, Sehy received a letter from a friend which was the trigger that made him want to sell his business. His friend’s letter became a catalyst for him to switch careers and become a professional podcaster. In this episode of Built to Sell Radio, Sehy describes the sale of his financial planning practice and you’ll learn:

• How to use employee systems to “you-proof” your business.
• How to hire people inclined to follow systems (rather than renegades who want to re-invent your business).
• How to sell a franchise.
• The one thing Sehy wished he had done, which he estimates could have boosted the value of his business by 15–25%.
• What to do with your money after you sell your business.
• Why the 4% rule of investing may be too conservative for most entrepreneurs.

Joe Saul Sehy was hit hard by the letter he received from his friend which encouraged him to climb mountains worth climbing. In Sehy’s case, he liked managing other people’s money but he didn’t love it. Through working with a business coach, Sehy realized his true passion was teaching, which led him on the journey to begin Stacking Benjamins. Figuring out your true passion is something we do in Module 12 of The Value Builder System using an exercise called The Envelope Test. 

About Joe Saul-Sehy

Joe Saul Sehy is the co-host of the award-winning Stacking Benjamins podcast, a light, magazine-style show about personal finance. The show has been profiled in both FastCompany and Inc. for its innovative and fresh approach to what many think of as a boring and dry topic. Before Stacking Benjamins Sehy owned a financial planning practice under the Ameriprise umbrella, serving 200 families and managing $65 million dollars. He also was a media representative for American Express and Ameriprise, speaking on financial topics to most all of the major news outlets.

Some Highlights of the Show

Business: financial planning practice under the Ameriprise umbrella

• Sold an Ameriprise franchise: “I managed about $65M.” [3:26]
• “We were a fee-based advisory service. People paid an annual fee and then we had an assets under management model.” [4:06]
• The triggering event. [7:42]
• Done right: “I found a business coach… Her advice was to take a half-day off and spend time thinking about me and what I needed.” [9:00]
• Click to Tweet: Learn how to sell a franchise on this episode of BuiltToSell Radio. [13:45]
• “I went to two different advisors who recently bought practices similar to mine… They helped me come up with a number.” [15:00]
• The deal structure. [18:00]
• “I sold the business just before the housing crisis in 2008… The assets that I sold went down by nearly 40% within a year of me selling. All of the onus of the assets were his issue.” [19:30]
• Average industry multiples. [22:50]
• The do-over: “I would have created some competitive tension.” [25:00]
• Click to Tweet: What Joe Saul Sehy wished he had done differently when selling his #business. It could have boosted value by 15-25%.
• “In the last four years I made the business systematized, this was the grease on the wheels … based on the book E-Myth.” [28:28]
• Click to Tweet: Systems increase value. How to use employee systems to “you-proof” your business.
• “We created a playlist… That way I knew exactly what part of the meeting we needed to be in so I never had to look at my watch … to keep the meetings on track.” [34:03]
• Joe is now the founder of Stacking Benjamins. [35:30]
• The business model for Stacking Benjamins. [38:26]
• Sage financial advice. [41:00]
• Click to Tweet: What to do with your money after you sell your business with financial guru Joe Saul Sehy.
• You can find Joe at @AverageJoeMoney or StackingBenjamins.com

Listen to Joe Saul Sehy's episode on Built to Sell Radio here.