We speak to Nicola Ellis, director of Wellington Wealth, about her role, how the firm has successfully scaled up, and her dream of being a superstar DJ.
What do you like most about your role?
It’s got to be people. I genuinely love finding out about people, peeling back the layers and getting to know their unique story. The fact that you can then go on to help them towards their goals and aspirations via financial planning is so rewarding.
What’s been the most successful change you’ve made to your business?
Managing to let go a bit which is difficult for a self-confessed control freak! The change in mindset and also building an awesome team has allowed us to take a leap forward with the business.
In scaling up we were keen not to lose the personal touch that is intrinsic to our business personality and really important to us. We stripped everything back to basics and then streamlined and harnessed technology where possible, before adding the personal touch. This is the part is really difficult as business grow and in this industry it's so important to the culture and perhaps why there are so many one man/woman band advisers.
In terms of how we did this we specialised our team into specific roles so they become the experts in their areas encouraging them to make suggestions for further improvement. By empowering the team and having a collaborative approach we work together for great client outcomes.
We are quite open with our team in how we run the business, our vision, goals and objectives even down to the finances. This is revisited regularly at ‘WellyFest’ our strategy meeting where we take lessons learned and continuously improve on what we do.
What’s the best piece of tech you’ve introduced to your business?
I’d say it has to be Monday.com, which delivers versatile, scalable, and affordable project management software. Or in other words, it’s a really fancy customisable excel spreadsheet.We originally introduced it for task tracking, as our back office system couldn’t do what we wanted. However we’ve added more and more data to it, so now use it for our management information, compliance oversight and general business oversight. It a good way to slice and dice the business data, as often different areas of the business need a different view of the same data.
If you could change one thing about the profession, what would it be?
More integrations and collaboration in the technology used in the industry.
I feel it’s a really exciting time in the industry, with new disruptive back office software launching, businesses building their own back office systems as the current offerings don’t fit. This was an alien concept or certainly an unaffordable option a few years ago but change is coming, so tech providers have to listen and adapt as we don’t want the blockbuster effect to trump some of the tech currently in use.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a financial adviser?
I’d probably be on stage as my other love is music: think West End musical, or in a band. However my ability to sing is somewhat lacking so perhaps a superstar DJ!
What one word sums you up and why?
Vibrant - I love life and put 110% into everything I do.
Which three people would you invite to your dream dinner party?
This is always a tricky one but I’d say:
Sir Billy Connelly - a Scottish legend
Annie Mac - for some DJ hints and tips and general craic
Michael Evis - as I’m sure he’s got some stories to share and maybe he could let me in on the secret of how to get Glastonbury tickets!