Murfreesboro professional Daren Chamblee first became a financial advisor 14 years ago with Edward Jones. New advisors with Edward Jones are notorious for doing the grunt work to create a solid business foundation. They will actually go out and knock on doors to make cold-calls in both business and residential neighborhoods. It’s not glamorous, but it is an important part of building a business, especially if that business is your own.
Many may not know what it truly takes to establish an enterprise. Daren enjoys talking about business and imparting some of his wisdom to first-time business owners. He did the heavy lifting early in his career to establish that solid foundation.
More recently, he saw an opportunity to strike out on his own and create First Family Wealth.
He admits that starting a business of your own can be a scary endeavor. Taking a purely textbook approach can lead to a lot of unforeseen challenges. For that reason, he specifies the importance of having a good CPA.
“You have to know what your overhead is. When you work for someone else, they will do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work for you,” Chamblee said recently. “When you start a small business, you don’t know what you don’t know until you are in the middle of it.”
As for marketing, this is a facet of business that is also the responsibility of a “solopreneur.”
“The big companies will say you need a brand name,” Chamblee said. “But at the end of the day, money is personal, and people don’t do business with a franchise. They do business with someone they feel is a good fit.”
Moral of the story: get out and promote what you do!
“I don’t know of anybody who has told 10 people a day what they do, who has ever failed,” Chamblee continued. “If you are in sales and tell 10 people a day what you do, I don’t think you can fail. But it takes a special person who can take a ‘no.’”
Personal time management is also important. The First Family Wealth founder prides himself on checking his email just once a day.
“No one is richer in time than anyone else,” Daren observed. He said he knows several successful people who limit the task of checking email to being a daily one. Of course, he realizes if there is an urgent matter, someone will give him a phone call. But he has eliminated the little ding noises on his phone and spends more time actually speaking with his clients and others he can help.
He also plans his days off for the full year.
“Your work-life balance is so important, and you need to have energy for both. Unless there is a death in the family, there will not be an unplanned day off, on a whim,” he said. Chamblee wakes up at 5 a.m. and starts the day with devotion and then spends some time reading a new business book. A strict routine keeps him on the right track.
The business name First Family Wealth is indicative of the main priority of helping his clients create wealth for their them and their children. He tries to identify just the right financial plan for each individual family. Each has its own unique needs, wants and wishes.
“If you think about it, most people don’t get to do everything they want before they die. But if you’re strategic, you can get the most important things done,” Chamblee says.
First Family is truly a family business as well. Over the next several months, Chamblee looks to grow his organization with his daughter, who is currently working on her CPA. He also intends to take on a couple more advisors and you better believe he is planning for that growth in advance.
Learn more about Daren Chamblee, the services he provides and how he can help your family through First Family Wealth at firstfamilywealth.com or by calling 615-653-0361.
