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Case Study

WLIM: Scaling up a wealth management boutique

By Benoit F. Leleux, Federica Fasoli, Kathrin Lutz and Cristian Neamtu

18 pages

December 2020

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Reference: IMD-7-2209

Jonathan Lachowitz founded a start-up venture in the Financial Planning industry called White Lighthouse Investment Management in 2006. He targeted a niche segment (US citizens living abroad) that had a critical problem that was not addressed by existing companies (e.g. US Tax Reporting). The organization has grown slowly and consistently. In 2015 the current form of organization is stretched to a maximum. There are several decisions Jonathan needs to make, he needs to decide whether or not to hire new employees or partners and he needs to come up with a strategy on what type of clients he should accept.

Learning Objective

How targeting a niche segment can be the key to success (need-based market segmentation).
How to create a knowledge-based service company (using Business Model Canvas).
Understanding the competition and fee models in the financial planning industry.
How the entrepreneur’s unique choices link to the financials by analyzing the DCF projected in 5 years, NPV, IRR and RI.
How this unique mix of consistent choices enabled initial success and sustainable growth.

Keywords

Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Start-up, Financial Planning, Services, Knowledge Economy, Business Growth, Customer Focus, Customer Segmentation, Financial Analysis

Settings

White Lighthouse Investment Management, Finance and Insurance, Financial Services
2007 – 2018

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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Reference IMD-2663

Organization Medacta Group

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