What I Enjoy Most About Being a Difference-Maker as an Entrepreneur

written on January 27, 2011 by Frank Fantozzi

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Many view entrepreneurs as nonconformists seeking greater control over their own destinies. This is true, along with the many other common beliefs, including the fact that we thrive on the agility and lack of red tape and bureaucracy. Nothing prepares you for entrepreneurship. Not education, nor amount of experience in a particular business sector. I believe it is something in our DNA, some primal desire to put everything at risk—from finances to reputation and even family—for some higher purpose. Some people are just meant to take this leap of faith without thinking twice.

Many of our brightest corporations began as entrepreneurial ventures (small partnerships, individually-owned or family businesses) from the classic examples like Ford (Henry Ford), Proctor & Gamble (William Proctor and James Gamble), Wells Fargo (Henry Wells and William Fargo), to our more modern peers such as Microsoft (Bill Gates and Paul Allen), Apple (Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne), and Southwest Airlines (Rollin King and Herb Kelleher). All of these individuals became entrepreneurs for a higher purpose than simply having greater control over their own destinies. While they had no idea at the outset how successful they would become, their primary driver was a mission to bring something to the world that would be a difference-maker.

Southwest Airlines wanted the common man to travel in comfort and at an affordable cost. Ford Motor Company wanted to make transportation easier for all. Apple wanted to put computer power in each individual’s hands. There was a higher purpose. I believe with most entrepreneurs that we start a business for our own higher purpose. We want to be a difference-maker in our respective endeavors.

At Planned Financial Services, we are not just about investing, financial planning or tax consulting. Those are among the “how and what” we do. Why we exist is to fulfill something deeper and more basic that our clients really want: Return on Life.

Our clients understand that how they manage their money and all its trappings will shape significance in their lives—a key determinant in how and what they want to feel when they reflect back on their lives. How each client defines significance and Return on Life will differ, but each seeks to achieve a higher and broader purpose than any dollar amount can achieve.

Remember the saying that we all have a start date and an end date and what we do in between is what matters? We want to help in all that matters to our clients. We want to make an important and memorable difference in their lives.

This is the reason we get up every day and hop out of bed to come to our office. Our culture reflects these beliefs and why we exist. Whether we revolutionize the financial industry as others did with their respective industries like personal computing, air travel or ground transportation, our “why” will take us where our clients want to go.

I will leave you with a statement from one of my first clients which summarizes why I started Planned Financial Services:

When a new client said to me, “My other advisor did not understand the value we put on our money… only their own idea of how money should be dealt with,” I knew there was a need for advisors who listen without judging and help clients achieve their ends on their own terms and aligned with values…their personal definition of Return on Life. We must help clients achieve their personally defined level of success.  People often call me and our firm the difference-maker in their lives, to me that is the highest compliment. It is the same level of care we provide to our corporate clients. Our motto:  Be our clients’ difference-maker.



Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC.