Jon Robinson

If your firm is growing but it feels harder than it should, you’re not imagining things.

According to Schwab’s 2025 Benchmarking Study, many advisory firms are operating at or near capacity. It’s not just the big stuff that feels hard to accomplish. It’s the million little things you’re managing every day: portfolios, onboarding, compliance, tech, marketing, client service. It adds up. Eventually it starts to feel like your business is running you rather than the other way around. And it wears you down.

But here’s the encouraging part: top firms in our industry — the ones still growing fast — aren’t muscling through. They’re making different choices. They’re saying no to complexity and yes to focus.