INTHEBLACK September 2021 - Magazine - Page 57
“A corporate wellbeing program that ignores financial
health will have a limited impact, as our finances impact
so many other elements of our wellness.”
INCOME STREAM DIVERSIFICATION
ONE PIECE
OF ADVICE
“Decide which areas of
your business or service
you want to lead in and
find ways to build a team
and process that
continually feed your
energy and passion, as
that will inspire others.”
DARREN SMITH FCPA
While Smith and his team personalise programs to
each company he works with, he says there are many
common areas to start from.
“We find a lot of basic things appeal to many
different age groups and workplaces. For example, one
of the most popular sessions we have is ‘Words to use
with your bank to get a better deal’. A high percentage
of people take action and get an outcome.”
There are 16 modules in total, ranging from debt
management to investment and estate planning.
“We also do a lot of work with National Seniors
Australia, helping people understand their choices in
retirement,” says Smith.
Workshops are fee-for-service, stand-alone and not
used as leads to engage clients or sell them financial
products. “Often people do circle back to us, but that is
not the primary aim,” Smith says.
An increasingly important part of the offering is the
flexibility of remote delivery and licensing supporting
financial wellness content.
“During the COVID-19 lockdown, we converted all
our programs to be able to be delivered digitally and
used for a set period on a company’s intranet.
“When you are running a diverse business, you
are continually reassessing how you can make
improvements, as well as whether you have the
right tools and team members.”
OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHER
FINANCE PROFESSIONALS
“We think we are in the leading pack in financial
wellness education, but, also, there is a great
opportunity for accounting and finance professionals
to bring skills to help others, as well as diversify their
income stream.
“Every session I do, I realise we can really make
a difference. I am thinking, how do we scale up, how
do we get our message out more broadly?
“We are currently trying to expand our reach to
schools, having focused on teachers initially. I would
do this every day of the week!”
intheblack.com September 2021 57