Unlocking wealth for Canada’s small business owners
Canada’s wealth management landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, driven not only by market volatility but by a rapidly growing, sophisticated clientele: the incorporated professional and small business owner.
These clients, often categorized as the “New Generation of Wealth Builders” are demanding strategies that move beyond traditional personal investment accounts, requiring specialized advice that integrates corporate finance, tax strategy and personal wealth planning.
Firms are re-evaluating their service delivery to capture and serve this segment, focusing on strategies that maximize cash flow and create wealth directly within the corporate structure.
Julie Muir, president of Podium Prosperity Group in Barrie, Ontario, leads a firm at the forefront of this shift. Her practice specializes in guiding business owners and professionals to leverage the capital already generated within their companies to build financial independence.
“If you are a business owner or an incorporated professional, the new generation of wealth builders could be you,” says Ms. Muir. “We guide our clients toward achieving their financial goals utilizing corporate and personal wealth building strategies.”
The underlying philosophy is to encourage clients to look beyond the immediate one-year financial lens. Instead of merely managing personal RRSPs and TFSAs, the focus shifts to maximizing profit before scaling the business.
Podium Prosperity Group emphasizes what they call the 9 Pillars of Intentional Wealth, which are designed to help clients multiply their efforts by leveraging options they may not realize they qualify for.
For Ms. Muir’s ideal client – a successful small business owner providing local employment but unsure where their generated profit is going – the immediate need is often structural.
That’s where the firm’s Tradewinds program comes in.
“It’s specifically for business owners who are stuck,” says Ms. Muir. “They know they’re doing well, they know that there’s money coming in and they know they’re paying their employees, but they are frustrated because operational issues are constant, their financials are not telling them what they need to know, or because they are working far too many hours and they feel that they are not taking home what they should be earning – they are stuck in the doldrums. The Tradewinds program is the gust of wind that gets them going in the right direction again.”
“If you are a business owner or an incorporated professional, the new generation of wealth builders could be you. We guide our clients toward achieving their financial goals utilizing corporate and personal wealth building strategies. ”
The firm helps clients right-size their profit to industry standards, allowing them to stop under-hiring, stop constantly putting out fires, get out of operations and find real time freedom so their business finally starts paying off, she adds. Even their family life improves.
A significant portion of this specialized wealth planning involves optimizing the client’s corporate structure, a complex yet crucial area. Many business owners have already taken initial steps, such as adding a holding company or acquiring real estate within the corporate entity, but Ms. Muir notes that almost every structure can be further evolved.
“A significant need for almost every business owner we work with as we build their wealth plan is to evolve their corporate structure based on their financial picture and business goals,” she says.
Because optimizing tax situations is central to building intentional wealth, the firm and its partners dedicate substantial time to analysis, advice and orchestrating the necessary corporate shifts. The goal is twofold: not only to create the optimal structure but to teach clients how to use it wisely.
Podium’s methodology centres on four key areas designed to create powerful, fast results for both the business’s bottom line and the owner’s lifestyle:
Focus on excellence to build consistent revenue.
Optimize the business model to produce healthy profit.
Create an action-and-execution focused PILOT business plan to activate.
Tap into wealth-building tools and tax-wise options that convert that profit into wealth.
By focusing on these strategic business fundamentals before delving into traditional investment and protection selection, wealth advisers like Ms. Muir are redefining their role. They are becoming integral partners in the business owner’s entire financial ecosystem, shifting from simple money managers to comprehensive financial architects.
The evolving client expectations among incorporated professionals are demanding a seamless integration of business, tax and personal wealth strategies, signalling a major evolutionary step for the Canadian wealth management industry.
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