Powell was recently nominated to the national NFIB Board of Directors.
Greg Powell says he’s always had a strong sense of responsibility and accountability, which led him to start his business, fi-Plan Partners, an independent financial planning and wealth management firm in Birmingham.
“If I’m giving advice to business owners, I need to run my own business with that same advice,” Powell says. “In 2004, while working at one of the large, nationally known investment firms, my research concluded that the current business model in the financial service industry was broken. I wanted to make sure that we took care of our clients and did the right thing.”
So in February 2005, Powell moved his team of four to start fi-Plan Partners. Fi-Plan Partners serves clients on an individual, corporate and generational basis, differentiating themselves by not only managing money in the financial markets, but also providing financial planning and business consulting on all other assets. Their unique process, Your Financial House, focuses not on investment products but on building custom financial plans for each client, based on their individual dreams and goals. Their approach has been attractive, too—since 2005, the staff has grown from four to 13 to keep up with growth.
“We grew in the worst economy since the Great Depression,” Powell says. “While others in the financial service industry were laying off people, we were hiring. One of the biggest challenges we’ve had to overcome is the idea that we are just like all the other investment firms. People constantly tell me they wished they met us 10 to 15 years earlier because we’ve helped them in all aspects of their financial life.”
Powell says this aspect—the ability to make a real difference in many people’s lives—is the most rewarding part of being a small business owner.
And the most difficult times, he says, are those when he has to stand alone, make a decision and move forward.
“It’s also very frustrating when you know you made the right decision only to have bureaucrats change the laws and rules of the game,” Powell says, adding that this is one of the reasons he’s excited to be serving on NFIB’s national board.
“My involvement with NFIB in Alabama started not only because I was a business owner, but because I had so many business owners as clients. I wanted to be a part of an organization that could supply the data, research and be a voice for small business owners. That information is invaluable as I help my clients make decisions for their business as well as their financial future. From day one, my participation with NFIB has been very fulfilling.”
