For over 30 years, Dave Hunt has led an advisory team to help business owners turn complex financial decisions into simple conversations for greater influence. On behalf of his clients, he leverages the basic to the most advanced wealth planning solutions cost-effectively.
Russ Alan Prince: Please describe Milestone Wealth.
Dave Hunt: At Milestone Wealth, helping business owners make smart decisions about their money is what we do. Freeing them to have the level of influence they’re truly capable of is who we are.
I see parallels between raising a steer for 4H and business owners growing their companies. Your business is a prize-winning steer. You want the best return on your work. What does it take to get your business—your “steer”—ready for market?
You need to care for your business. Feed it. Protect it. Carefully inspect every part of it for optimal health. Most importantly, you need to know how to show off your business in the right way for the right potential buyers at the right time. Business owners have a tremendous amount of influence on their business growth and exit valuations. That’s where this idea of True Influence enters the conversation.
True Influence isn’t only about your business. It’s having the confidence to make optimal decisions for your business and personal wealth. It’s having the freedom to focus on what you love doing the most in your business and knowing that when you exit, you can choose what’s best for you.
What I love about True Influence is its dynamic effect on those you love and what matters to you the most. Business owners have financial and life milestones they want to reach. True Influence impacts the lives of those you love and the most important causes to you. We help you identify gaps in your current plan and show you what’s truly possible for every area of your wealth and the optimal flow of your business.
Prince: What types of clients do you work with?
Hunt: Most of our clients are successful family businesses and their owners. Sometimes, we work with them to help them create greater personal wealth for their ongoing businesses. For example, some wealth management solutions can address specific business issues such as risk management, decrease current taxes and potentially enable the family to grow their wealth tax deferred.
For other family businesses, we’re involved in “what comes next.” Some are looking to pass the business to heirs, and others aim to sell. In the first case, we work closely with the family to ensure the business is transferred to the next generation, balancing the tax issues with what’s best for the family. In cases where the family business is to be sold, we make sure that the family puts as much of the sale price in their pockets.
Prince: What do you see in the future for Milestone Wealth?
Hunt: We see a future where family business owners have the right type of advisor in their corner of the ring. Many advisors don’t know what it takes to grow an actual business. That’s why many advisors disappoint their clients, a few deliver, and even fewer delight their clients.
We seek to defend our clients because we know how to build strong businesses and make great decisions for their bottom lines and lives. We show them the traps, opportunities and key choices they can make to increase their business value.
When it comes time to auction off their business, like a steer, they can know we’re seeing intricate, value-optimizing details. Through True Influence and our farmer-like work ethic, we help business owners create a future for their families, communities and causes that matter with the best possible valuation.
Russ Alan Prince is the executive director of Private Wealth magazine and chief content officer for High-Net-Worth Genius. He is a strategist for family offices and the ultra-wealthy.
