Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Todd Resnick. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Todd, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One thing we always find fascinating is how differently entrepreneurs think about revenue growth and cost reductions – both can be powerful ways to improve profitability. What do you spend more of your time and energy on?

Growing the business and cutting costs are two topics we wrestle with on an ongoing basis. As a growing company, we know that growth is critical, but managing the way we run the business is as important. The good thing is that we use the EOS/Traction system to continuously identify trends, successes and issues that we can then debate and solve to better the company. As a visionary and growth-minded leader, I naturally gravitate to growth being the tool that solves all problems.
Each year we identify our growth goals for the next 12-months, and I set out to focus on hitting those numbers and more. I wake up each morning knowing that if I achieve my vision and goals, we will growth the company and most likely not need to increase most expenses to do so. Luckily, our leadership team is not made up entirely of people like me. We have a well-balanced group as we have used tools like “culture index” to identiify how we each think, process and communicate. So, while I am focused on hyper-growth mode, others are focused on budgets, cost management and running a lean and thriving company. We speak frequently about “levers” all of the things we can look at and “pull” to increase revenue, lower costs, or better manage the budget and business. This year we took major steps to better manage some major costs that needed to be better passed on to our contractors. We also found areas to outsource some of our day-to-day tasks and operations in a more cost-efficient manner. This has proved to be critical to hitting our numbers, but we know that this is likely not something we can improve or expand annually – so growth still sits in a critical space as we continue our expansion and path towards our longterm goals.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I became a financial advisor 17 years ago simply because someone told me I would be good at it – everything else I could learn. I was always wanting to do something that served people and helped me build meaningful relationships with clients and co-workers.

Half-way through my career, after a lot of personal development work I saw something bigger for me in my life and in business. My partners and I decided to start our own investment advisory firm. We elected to call it OneSeven, based on the seven-pillars of wellness and the importance of building relationships and helping people with their lives beyond money.

Our firm focuses on helping financial advisors (and their clients) find a home to conduct their business and meets their needs and vision. We pride ourselves on the small, growing community of like-minded people that prioritize client needs and success, accountability, growth, and treating each other with respect (we call it the “No Asshole Rule”).

What I am most proud of is the reputation we have built for being a leadership team that gets things done, is honest and fair with what we promise and deliver, and is always accessible to those that need us when the time comes.

We plan to continue working this way because it is truly who we are and in our DNA to build a business and life with these priorities.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I was a young financial advisor I thought I would tap into the people around me to build my business. My dad was a dentist in Cleveland who had a ton of colleagues in the business after a lifetime of service to the profession. I thought I would get a list of his friends, put in a few calls and start building a business and future.

Funny thing happened – the first guy basically laughed in my face and told me he was never going to be a prospect or client.

So I had to pivot. I had to think of Plan B of how I was going to grow, build a business and provide for my new, young family.

Back in the early 2000’s the internet was not what it was today and people still read newspapers. I realized that every Sunday in Cleveland they would publish a list of everyone who took a new job or got promoted – and I was going to make them my target-client.

My wife and I would customize a letter to each person every Sunday, mail the letter on Monday, and by the end of the week start calling those people until they told me to never call again or they took a meeting. The success rate was pretty amazing.

I am proud to say many of those people are still my clients today and have helped me build the business and life I imagined

How’d you meet your business partner?

The Schvitz is a legendary Cleveland spot. While not in the nicest part of town, it is frequented by a who’s-who of business leaders, executives, and personalities. It is an old-fashioned Russian bath house where men go for a steam, massage, and their incredible steak dinner.

One Day in 2015 I was there with a group of guys and sat next to Rick – someone I knew from Cleveland but had never really gotten to know. He worked at his Uncles RIA and invited me to have lunch one day to talk about our businesses and what the future may hold for me and my colleagues at Morgan Stanley.

We had lunch a few times after that and talked about our vision to leave the big bank world and do something on our own. From there he introduced me to Ron (the Uncle) and I explained my vision to him of the firm I wanted to build. He was quickly excited by my ideas and had a similar desire to build something.

That was the start of OneSeven. I am proud to say we are all still partners and owners to this day and collaborate daily on the business, where we have been and of course where we are going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.onesevenadvisor.com www.weareoneseven.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oneseventoddresnick/

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