The PlanHappy Kitchen

If you’ve ever wondered why I’m always being filmed in a kitchen…. then this one’s for you – and I even give you a tour of my financial planning space.

One of the problems with home visits is that you are not in control of the environment. The client decides which room to hold the meeting in and that room choice dictates the mood and feel of the session because different rooms come with different vibes.

They serve different functions, both practically and for your mind and that’s why, whenever I attended a client home for a financial planning session, I would always engineer it so that we sat at the kitchen table.

Why?

Because it’s in the Goldilocks zone.

The space between the informality of daily family life and the formality of getting things done.

The kitchen table sees it all… the day-to-day family chat, the hard life decisions, the rowdy dinner parties, the money discussions, the I love you’s and the I don’t love you anymore’s.

It’s an office, restaurant, workbench, therapy room, and family boardroom all in one.

And because it sits in the Goldilocks zone it is perfect for great financial planning – which also needs that dichotomy of life and money, heart and head, emotion and transactions.

Sit in the living room and it’s just too relaxed – the big comfy sofa, Mr in his favourite armchair, the TV blaring, dogs sniffing and on one occasion, a small child launching himself from the sideboard onto my testicles.

In the study or home office it’s all just too formal – laptops available, files full of spreadsheets, an office desk, and probably a shredder.

Worse it’s normally the domain of one particular person (the technical one) who will lead the session whilst their partner (the holistic one who you REALLY want to be talking to) feels out of place and stays quiet.

The kitchen is where you need to be my financial planning friends.

The trick is – you must suggest (demand) that you sit at the kitchen table before you get sat on the sofa. As soon as you feel yourself being directed to the lounge a simple suggestion of ‘Is it OK if we sit at the kitchen table?’ is normally enough to secure the spot.

Needing somewhere to put your big, doozy whiteboard is always a great excuse. Just saying.

In fact, I found kitchen tables so good for financial planning that when I secured our own premises and set about fitting them out, I didn’t build an office full of meeting rooms….

I built a financial planning space full of kitchens.

Strange but true – watch the video for a tour if you don’t believe me.

PlanHappy.co.uk – Software, Training & Business Services for Financial Planners

FREE TRIAL – INSTANT ACCESS

• End-to-End Lifestyle Financial Planning Process & Software
• Full Financial Planner Back Office System
• Coaching for Financial Planners

#financialplanning