“The successful long-term growth of an investment management firm is attributed to its effective and efficient deployment of its intellectual capital including investments, marketing, and management.”
Peter J. Johnson
Understanding the Challenges
We know from experience the challenges you face when trying to differentiate yourself in a very competitive landscape. How can we grow the business? Many investment professionals prefer not to be involved in marketing activities as investing requires laser-like focus. Perhaps out-of-favor strategies, underperformance, or market cycles have caused you to pause or postpone your sales efforts. Or, there’s a need to improve your best practices in other functional areas within the business to help with your competitive positioning in the market.
For newer, less established firms, decisions around the proper handling of marketing and resources is critical to their existence. The same holds true for larger, more established organizations. What about outsourcing our marketing? In certain instances it might make sense and in others it may be more challenging to give up some control of the distribution.
At GrowthTrek, it is our mission to provide effective solutions for these key challenges and to forge a pathway for growth.
Overcoming Obstacles to Success
The genesis of GrowthTrek aligns very well with something I passionately enjoy! Hiking has served as motivation for me to stay fit at this stage of my life. Training for more rigorous and challenging hikes requires proper planning and preparation, covering all aspects such as cardio, strength and core training, flexibility, proper diet, and equipment needs. The goal is to be physically and mentally prepared for the hike. The first time I summited Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous US at 14,500 feet, in Lone Pine, CA, the rigor of our preparation proved to be fruitful. While at the summit on a glorious August day, a thunderstorm blew in seemingly out of nowhere. Whereas we knew about the possibility of such storms, it was still a low probability.
The challenge now was to escape the storm at this altitude as there’s nowhere to find cover from the elements, including lightening. The adrenalin rush helped in traversing quickly the 99 switchbacks, an infamous section of the trail. The ice cold rain also had a nice numbing effect on all my previous ailments including my knees. It was shortly thereafter, and with great relief, the sun peered again for a glorious view of the Sierras. It doesn’t get any better than this!
For our next Whitney hike, we made sure to start our descent before Noon to better avoid unexpected weather conditions.
How does this hiking experience relate to growing an investment management firm? It’s the essence or what matters most; having a plan with the flexibility to adapt and learn along the journey, being properly organized for the mission, intense and ongoing preparation, working together as a team and being accountable to achieving our objectives.
Importantly, we have learned from experience and want to collaborate with you on helping you grow your business and to help build a long-term marketing culture.
