On a recent trip to India to speak at a couple of Family Office conferences, Richard recorded this video on how you can go about signing a family office client. Hello, this is Richard Wilson from the Family Office Club, and I wanted to talk about the idea of you never getting a family office client, whether you’re starting out a multifamily office or running some sort of investment fund or raising capital for real estate. I was speaking at a family office event here just two nights ago and two people had the exact same question, is it possible to get a family office client? Do you think I’ll be able to? Obviously, I can’t answer that question for them, but the general answer is yes, of course you could be able to. It really just comes down to a matter of analyzing the marketplace, what space you’re playing in, who you’re competing against, and then finding those true parts of your firm’s DNA, the creation story of your firm, and what your unique ability and skills are in knowing in the broader marketplace and what family offices want and what investors want, how you can leverage who you are and your history and your skills to add value to the family office space. It could be the exact same thing you’re doing now but communicating it differently, or structuring it differently, or providing more transparency, or more performance based fee structure, or some sort of joint venture type model instead of a traditional fund model. But really if you go through that process of knowing what the family offices want and then comparing that to the DNA of yourself and your firm, then you can iterate and get market feedback and get that first client, second client, third client formed. Because there is no doubt that the family office industry is massive. I believe there’s far more than 20,000 family offices now globally, and there’s new ones being started every day. If you’re in India like I am now, or in Malaysia or Brazil, then you might find that the industry is relatively small right now, but it’s growing very quickly, so there’s no doubt that the market demand is there. It’s just figuring out where you fit into that ecosystem. The best way to figure that out is first understanding as much as you can about the family office industry globally and locally, and then building up 10, 20, 50 relationships with local family offices and just discussing with them how you can be helpful in a way that’s relevant to your skill set and what your firm offers. In short, will you ever be able to find a family office client or make traction in the space? I mean that’s really up to you. It’s a process like anything else, but it’s a growing industry. Like Warren Buffett says, sometimes the tide is more important than the swimmer. If you can see which way the tide is going, such as the family office industry thriving in your city or in your country, then you don’t have to be exactly right and that tide might take you along and you might get momentum faster than you think. I hope this video is helpful to you, you that are just starting out in the family office space, and encouraging. Just know that it’s a long process to go from where I started and not really knowing that much about the family office space or how it was going to evolve to now having over a dozen centimillionaire and billionaire clients and running the Family Office Club, the largest community and association of over 1,000 registered family offices. I started exactly where you are right now and was able to figure this out. I hope this helps and is encouraging to those getting started in the space. This is Richard Wilson. If you’re looking for more basic education, please check out the Family Office Podcast, check out our qualified family office professional training and certification program, and please visit familyoffices.com. Take care.
Is It Possible for Me to get a Family Office Client
