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Growing Lean
Maximizing Wealth with Gabriel Shahin: The Falcon Wealth Planning Success Story
Unlock the financial wisdom of Gabriel Shahin, the visionary behind Falcon Wealth Planning, as we explore the crafted strategies that have propelled his firm to astounding success. In a candid conversation, Gabriel recounts his evolution from a finance aficionado to the architect of a flourishing wealth management enterprise, rooted deeply in a culture that feels like family. We delve into how Falcon Wealth's commitment to a fee-only, non-commission model, coupled with a laser focus on tax planning, has amplified their clients' net worth. Tailored specifically for business owners, high earners, and analytical minds like engineers, Gabriel's approach is as unique as it is effective. His insights on steering the firm through economic uncertainties and the agility needed to thrive during tumultuous times are not only inspiring but also invaluable for anyone looking to secure their financial future.
Step into the future of financial planning with FalconMode Planning, Gabriel's innovative tech-centric venture, which boasts an impressive 70% growth streak. Here, Gabriel sheds light on how forging client relationships and delivering unmatched value remain paramount, independent of market swings. The integration of AI and other advanced technologies streamlines operations, enabling the firm to maintain its growth trajectory even amidst economic downturns. As we unpack the importance of aligning team members with the company's ethos to sustain expansion, we also reveal the key performance indicators that illuminate Falcon Wealth's triumphs. For anyone intrigued by the intersection of technology and finance or seeking sage advice on navigating market volatility, connecting with Gabriel is just a click away—whether through his Twitter handle @FalconOfFinance, his YouTube channel, or a direct call to his team. This episode is a treasure trove of financial acumen that promises to chart a course for prosperity.
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Hey folks, welcome back to the growing Lean podcast sponsored by Lean Discovery Group, an award-winning software and app development firm based out of Virginia. This is your host, dylan Burke, also known as Deege, and I'm happy to be here today with Gabriel Shahin, founder and principal at Falcon Wealth Planning. Welcome, gabriel.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. This should be fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks for your time. So to get us started, can you tell us a little bit about your history and background and what led you to starting Falcon Wealth?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean really my history comes just someone always been passionate about finance and accounting entered the industry in 2003 at a big national bank with my education my undergraduate in business. I went into the investment industry specifically investment industry, in 2009 where I was in a previous national bank I was just referring out. They called me a financial specialist at that point. I wanted to be the person that they refer to and so 2009 started that. And then probably a good career move I made was at TD Ameritrade in 2010 when really that's really what opened up my eyes. So I did the broker dealer world, the wire house world and then the discount broker world was really nice.
Speaker 2:I got to work with some of the top registered investment advisory firms in the country. So it was really cool to do that and it just trained me to just talk to hundreds of people a day, just pounding the phones, to appreciate a good quality person to help and really what brought me to working and creating Falcon Wealth Planning? I worked in an RA before. It wasn't a good cultural fit, so I wanted to create something where really we are in control of our destiny, just have a good family culture. We call it the Falcon family over here and I really feel a good fit is just people who want to help people, and that's who we are, that's who I am, that's how the firm is and just something that's innate in you just wanting to help people.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's awesome. I love the passion you've got for this, and can you walk us through your overall strategy for the business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're fee only. So we're fee only, non-commission firms. So we are independent. We have no broker dealer affiliation. Our client assets we're at TD Schwaben Fidelity now just Schwaben Fidelity. We have a couple other custodians as well, but those are the two main ones.
Speaker 2:So we can really the easy part about what we do is managing money. In the investment side. We can choose any investment excuse me, in the investment universe. So that part is pretty simple. The fun part of our job is getting to know our clients and how we can help them. So our strong emphasis in tax planning is going to be huge for them, Because most firms out there say they cannot talk to a, they cannot provide tax advice.
Speaker 2:They say, please consult with the tax advisor. Well, we are that tax advisor. It helps have a CPA on board, tax professionals on board, and so that really what separates us. So our goal with our clients is to help increase not just our investment portfolio but their overall net worth. So, unlike other firms out there, we may say, hey, take half a million dollars, go buy rental property because through that depreciation can offset income that you're getting positive on the other properties. I mean really that's tax free $30, $40,000 a year that you just created and so now that, of course, assumes all cash. Then you talk about debt management. Obviously, interest rate environment is different conversation for three years ago to three months ago. But that's really the fun part is catering everything we do to help our clients increase their overall net worth.
Speaker 1:I love that, and that's something everyone wants to do. You're talking my language, talking about tax loopholes. I guess I love that.
Speaker 2:Loopholes. Sometimes they're there. Sometimes that could be a gray area, but, like a backdoor, roth IRA contributions to loopholes everybody does it. It's very logical. You should do it. If you're not, if it's applicable to you. We just know the tax code better than most tax professionals out there in the industry, even the person we brought on board for 25 experience. He came on board like wow. He jokes saying I lost respect for my industry after knowing what you guys know and how to incorporate it. So it's just been a fantastic model.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. What is your typical client look like? I assume it varies from what they do, but in terms of what they are, in terms of income, what level of income is your typical client?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess there's three answers to that. One the business owner, because there's so many tax strategies you can help with. Another is just simple higher income people, people who feel they pay too much in taxes. Now, that's relative it could be 100,000 for people in Tennessee versus 300,000 somebody in California. Then the last one, which seems to be a good one, is engineers. Because we're not selling crap, because we're not selling like commissioned products and engineers always read through everything and like I'm not going to buy this. Historically, our industry doesn't like engineers. We're faking what we love. Engineers because with us we sell brain and engineers historically have good brains. So good brains appreciate good brains. So they become really good clients because they see the value and, quite frankly, they're smart enough to appreciate the value and the recommendations that we have.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's awesome, I see. I'd also think that engineers are. They've got a solid income, a stable income, so that's good for them and for you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, especially if you're going to have an emphasis in tax planning, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. You've been around for about eight years now with the business. How have you adapted to changes in the world and the economy, Most notably the pandemic? How did you and your business adapt to that? How did you then overcome that challenge?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it was probably about February. We realized, hey, this world might be shutting down here early. I was actually one of the first people to get COVID here in Southern California, so, but you know it was just a bad flu. There's only way I can explain it.
Speaker 2:But long story short, we adapted into Zoom Enterprise very early on and so we started doing Zoom meetings in February, before the shutdown happened in March. So back then 99% of our meetings were done in person. Now, to this day, not only 100% of our meetings were virtual, but to this day they're done about 80% virtual still. So people just now value time a little bit better. Instead of driving 20 minutes to us both ways, 40 minutes for an hour meeting, 16 minute meeting, they're like you know what, let's just do it on Zoom.
Speaker 2:So we've adapted a lot of technology for that, yes, zoom, we've incorporated other ways that we've incorporated technology Through screen sharing and other systems in use. So it's been fantastic, so much so, where we've been able to service clients now nationwide. Not only do we have multiple offices across the country, but we literally service nationwide. So we've seen very little effect now from before to now just because we're such early adapters where other firms were not even knowing what to do. We're literally just pushing off the meetings. We were there and how perfect was that when the market was going to smash in the face of March and April. And then we're coming in here, still prospecting, double down on marketing, to say, hey, listen, what are you guys doing? Your advisor is saying I can't meet with you because of COVID, and we're over here saying, hey, let's rock and roll. We can do a full engaged meeting, all interactive.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I love to get that. Would you say you are better off now than you were before the pandemic because you've got access to the whole nation instead of just a specific region.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean probably since March of 2020, we're probably grew 5X, so we're probably five times the size and staff and clients and assets, probably eight times the revenue. So, yeah, are we better off? Absolutely, because now we can, you know. Imagine this, dylan. Imagine going to a bar to pick up somebody. Right, you wanna go on a date, you can just. You just are limited to whoever's at the bar, or you can go on eHarmony or whatever site that you want and you have the whole world to choose from. And you ask me. I just came back and they had like a dating show game and they asked newlyweds, people married 10 to 25 years and people the oldest people in the crowd I think it was like 45 years they were married and they asked like three or four people prior to that to see who's coming on. And all of them met online. So, yeah, I think it's much better presence for us that we have nationwide exposure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And this whole virtual world has changed from my life as well, because I had the option of choosing a job within Cape Town, south Africa, unless I wanted to move somewhere. And then, like, this whole virtual world came about and I had access to jobs in the States, in the UK, in Australia, and it just opened my world. Because I'm working for an American company now and they're getting a good deal on me because of the currency arbitrage. It's a good deal for me as well because of the currency arbitrage, so it's a win-win for all of us and I think it's giving access to so much more than we had before and I think that's the most important thing. It's really cool. It's a kind of silver lining that came from the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Well, because we became so good at this, we now have people 350 miles away. We opened headquarters in Chicago, we have people in Minnesota open office in Arizona. I mean just a couple of weeks ago, a week ago. So yeah, I mean it's just, if you have figured out how you can communicate with people, maintain the culture of the firm and, most important thing, get the job done. Like, why not South Africa? Why stop there?
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. And then more recently, with AI coming into the mainstream, how have you, if you have it all, how have you made use of these new tools that have come to market that make work so much quicker, easier, faster, yeah?
Speaker 2:it's probably changed the way we've operated, from getting 100 leads a month to 1000 leads a month. It's all through automation, it's all through AI, so it could be automated emails, automated texts, automated calls, automated reminders. I mean we get what 1000 leads a month translates to 300 meetings a month. Well, we still have our regular review meetings, onboarding meetings, prospect meetings, so every week we have 250 to 300 meetings. So we just have a receptionist sending email reminders with links, with locations, with times, with everything. Now all AI, and so we would probably need two or three people just to do those reminders, where now we have everything through AI.
Speaker 2:We have an internal joke here at FalconMode Planning, we call ourselves a tech company more than a financial planning firm, Because our investments are so easy, because we could just choose the best investment. So it's quite simple. But it's the way we're growing in scale which is insane, and so our goal over the year is about 30 to 40% growth year of year. Last year we grew at 70%. So but why Well the market helped? Right? We don't incorporate the market helping in our growth, unlike other firms. We know the value we provide. We know that we're the prettiest girl at the bar. We know we have a brain and we know we're honest and loyal, so it's very easy for us to gain relationships.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. And with that passion and ideology, I can only see you growing from strength to strength, because you're obviously taking innovation and making it the forefront of your business, and I think that is super important, especially today, when everything is so saturated there's so many businesses popping up everywhere. You've got to stay innovative and you're doing that. That's epic. I appreciate that. I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, are there any specific tools that you make use of that you can mention, like AI tools or just tools in general yeah, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, Zap's.
Speaker 1:Zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's. What's your favorite technology?
Speaker 2:Xopus in thebrand and in your daily SaaS Zaps, zap's, zap's, zap's, zap's, 어야, zap's people on board, finding enough people to match the, the growth that we're doing. So we almost have to hire in advance. I mean, you got to think we're probably bringing on four to 500 clients a year, so that's almost like two or three advisors that get full every year. You know, sometimes even more. So you know, people for us is everything and we value our people. We're very slow to hire because we're fast to fire. You know, or rather we want to be very specific on who we bring on board. We have to fit the culture of the firm. So I interview every single person that comes on board, whether they work with me directly or not. I think culture is everything. We just need good people. Good people, dylan, no good people 100%.
Speaker 1:I couldn't agree more on that. And just back to a point that you said earlier you said you had 70% growth last year. Do you think that a recession makes people more inclined to seek out a service like yours?
Speaker 2:That's my thought. It's worked well Every time the market drops we do very well. So I just double down in marketing and it seems to give us a higher ROI than just the non double down on marketing. I think people realize it's very easy to make money when everything is going up. I mean, wall Street has proved that in the 90s with the blind monkey throwing darts at a stock that outperform your analysts, right. So it's when the people get punched in the face, when they're like, oh wow, I need help, and I think that's something people don't realize. How can you make money when the market's dropping? Or how can you stop the bleeding? What do you do? Or what do you buy now? Right, because you don't want to sell low, but then you're not acting, you're not doing anything.
Speaker 2:So no strategy is something that is extremely normal for most people, most novice investors. Yet again easy to make money. Nobody likes to lose.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. And what are the KPIs that you use to measure the success of your business and of your clients?
Speaker 2:I mean. So the short answer is you know, through our system we like tracking the net worth, right? So net worth is everything. Hey, your markets have dropped and obviously we have our own benchmarks and so on and so forth that we compare their investment portfolios to. But I think, at the end of the day, measuring net worth is important and still making sure they're on track for retirement, because the thing that freaks the people out the most is when markets drop. What do they do? And they don't want to buy anymore. They say I can't lose any more money.
Speaker 2:It's like okay, well, I'll give you an example, specific example, from one of our top clients, one of our favorite clients, my own friends at this point. He worked at Boeing. He goes my portfolio cannot go under $2 million. It just can't. If so, you have to sell. And I was like not only are we not gonna sell, but we're gonna buy more, and so it's just having them understand. So sometimes you need that passion, that confidence, that experience to let them know. And now this person's gonna be a client for life. They got over $4 million.
Speaker 2:Because here's the thing you can't just get right once. If you sell, you have to get right twice someone to rebuy and the thing is that person already got it wrong. He was gonna sell while the market dropped. My whole point is what's the risk to investing Losing money? Well, you just lost, okay. Well what's the benefit of investing To make money? Risk reward If you took the risk, you better get ready for the reward. That's why people high risk Because we are the professional slap in the face, and I'm very comfortable to slap people in the face when they need it.
Speaker 1:I love that attitude Reminds me of one of my former bosses. Actually, he would I was in real estate before this and the client would say, listen, lance, I want to sell for this much. And he would literally tell them to go F themselves. It was like you're not gonna get that. Call me when you're ready to sell for a realistic price. And then call them the next day and be like, okay, let's do it. And I think that's the attitude you need to be the best in the business. I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah we know they don't.
Speaker 2:That's why they're here, exactly.
Speaker 1:And if we were to sit down in, let's say, 12 to 24 months and everything that has possibly gone right, that everything that could have gone right for you, has gone right, what does your business look like then, and what has changed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, good question. So I measure us by the assets under management and so our conservative goal is about 1.2 billion by the end of this year, which would be pretty much, almost pretty much a 50% growth as well. But if everything goes right, probably opening up five additional locations in the East Coast, ideally bringing on experienced advisors over there, having one of our people become a one of a managing partner as well, so they can manage that office and just profits margin in the 15 to 20% range and just our advisors all making really good money, because I want all of our people to succeed. So by being able to increase everybody's pay and I mean, listen, they all do fine, but we all want to be finer, and so if they see Falcon all of a sudden at 10 to 15% margin, maybe even 20% margin, well I think everybody should win, not just the owner.
Speaker 1:Exactly. I love that and I'm sure you're going to achieve that as well. So, before we go, what advice would you like to give to other business owners looking to succeed in this ever-changing world, as well as like an advice for the average individual looking to invest and save?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean for, like an advisor or entrepreneur or business owner, I would say you know, be be passionate about this. I mean, money's gonna come. I can't imagine anybody with substantial net worth and success Did it just for the money. They did it because they want to make a difference. They really felt they were the best and can make an impact. Money will follow. Talk to a significant other. You need a support system. I think that's extremely important. I could have done this, worrying about my spouse saying when are you gonna come home? I mean, she knew that I was working my butt off.
Speaker 2:I think, also knowing that you're gonna lose people on the way, I think you got to be comfortable with that, and that goes personally and professionally. As you double in size, probably Half the leadership won't be there and let alone probably half your friends won't. Everybody wants you to be successful, deal. Nobody just wants you more successful than that. That's very fine. So just be aware of people. It's gonna be hard for people to relate to what you're doing, especially if you're not making money early on. And lastly, just don't forget to pay yourself. You know you can't be so blinded by the vision and and goal where you're bankrupting the company. At the end of the day, you need to make sure that it's not a nonprofit and it's a for-profit entity, and you got to make sure that you're getting paid, because it's hard to be passionate when there's no food on the table 100%.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that. Thank you and Gabriel, thank you so much for your time today and for being on the show. What is the best way for people to get in touch with Gabriel Shaheen, if you have any offers for them, if they're looking to Get some financial advice or if they're just looking to follow your journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean they can follow me on Twitter, falcon of finance, or just type in Gabriel Shaheen. I reached out through email info at falcon, wpcom, which stands for Falcon wealth planning, our website, the falcon wealth planning comm, as well. We have a fantastic YouTube channel as well. A lot of information, knowledge on there, almost a million views in less than a year. So just it's kind of me just going up there, same passion, just trying to help people out, give them advice that know that people it's comfortable to give. And yeah, phone number reach out to the office 855 963 2526. That's 855 96 Falcon.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Thank you so much, gabriel. Absolutely, this was a pleasure. That was awesome. I appreciate it so much.