A practice is built around the individual advisor — i.e., you and the services you provide to clients. You might have a staff member or two, perhaps an administrative assistant, client service manager or paraplanner, but you create the primary value. You are the one who brings in the revenue. You are the one who drives the outcomes."

Michael Kitces, CFP, a Financial Planning contributing writer, is a partner and director of wealth management at Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Maryland; co-founder of the XY Planning Network; and publisher of the planning blog Nerd’s Eye View