I can’t quite believe that I am sitting down to write a blog post about Organised You being 10 years old.
In 2015 my goal was simply, to carry on doing the work that I loved, whilst having the flexibility to do school runs and spend quality time with my children. Fast forward ten years, I have an amazing team built around the same approach, working in a beautiful country location, and I still love what I do. I feel incredibly blessed.
I had worked in Senior Management, Operational and Compliance roles within the Financial Services industry for 15 years prior to setting up Organised You and thought there was nothing left for me to learn. How wrong I was!
The industry has evolved-significantly over the past decade and as we’ve adapted with it, we’ve learned some key lessons along the way about how best to support Financial Advisers.
A problem needs a process
Financial Adviser’s don’t always know exactly what they need when they come to us for help. Often, they are feeling overwhelmed with their workload, have a backlog of things that they need to achieve and can’t see the wood for the trees. We break down our initial support for these advisers into two stages:
- Initial firefighting: What’s urgent? Are there Network deadlines set for you to meet? Or a case with imminent completion dates?
- Proactive Planning: Completing a run through of the full advice process with the adviser and identifying where their bottlenecks or issues are.
This approach enables us to put an immediate plan of action in place, with a process for the advisers cases to follow going forward. Instant pressure relief!
Personalised support trumps pooled work.
Every Financial Adviser works differently. From little things like the way they like their letters to be structured, to big things like how hands on they’d like us to be with their clients.
By ensuring our Advisers have one key contact tat Organised You we can fully understand their way of working, and avoids repetition of instructions and feedback.
Although we work remotely from the Adviser firms we’re still very much part of their team and pride ourselves on understanding their businesses and helping them achieve their goals.
Whilst we operate a 1:1 support service for our advisers, we work in a very team orientated environment. We share knowledge, skills and experience in our day-to-day actions, and every client is allocated a ‘back up’ administrator who can support them in the event of sickness or holiday absences. So, it really is the best of both worlds.
No experience necessary
A great financial services administrator does not have to have worked in the industry before.
In my view the skills that make a great administrator: – proactivity, problem solving and a genuine desire to help – are far harder to teach then the jargon and specific nuances of the Financial Services industry.
Over the years at Organised You, some of our best team members have come from diverse backgrounds ranging from Forensic Science to veterinary surgeries I know that with the right attributes and some technical training, they will provide excellent support to a Financial Adviser.
Never stop learning
After 25 years in the industry, it would be easy to believe that I know everything that there is to know.
It would also be easy, when caught up in the day-to-day work of running a business, to stop getting ‘out there’ and keeping up to date with industry developments. However, Making time to attend seminars, read articles, attend training and network with peers is invaluable. I always get so much out of it when I make the effort. Whether it’s finding a new tool or system that can help the Advisers we work with, gaining insights into industry issues, or meeting potential new clients, I have never regretted taking the time out of doing, for learning.
As I reflect on the last ten years, I feel incredibly proud of what Organised You has become. What started as a personal goal to balance work and family has grown into a business that has supported over 100 financial adviser firms with care, flexibility, and a deep understanding of their individual needs. The journey has been full of learning, growth, and connection, and I’m excited to see what the next chapter brings. Here’s to continuing to evolve, support, and make a difference—one adviser at a time.
Thank you for your continued support.
Karlene
