Albany Finance founder Rakesh Sharma believes face-to-face meetings are the best way to pick up on clients' body language which is especially important when understanding their needs.
Starting life in the family business running convenience stores, Rakesh Sharma entered financial services as a mortgage introducer after seeing an advert in the paper.
This led to him doing his qualification to become a mortgage adviser and set up his own brokerage.
In this job he worked through the 2008 financial crash and decided to have some time out to focus on other business pursuits in 2013.
However, Sharma was drawn back to financial services in 2017 when he did his financial advice qualifications and set up Albany Finance, which is part of the New Leaf Distribution network and now has more than 100 clients.
Did you always want to work in finance?
Sharma said: “Ironically, when I was a kid we had careers advisers and one of the metrics they came up with was a financial adviser.
“Having been in business I always found it quite interesting.
“The reason I first drifted into mortgages was because when we were in business we bought some properties and we used to get my uncle who was a financial adviser to help us.”
Sharma was in the family retail business with his father and uncles before he moved into mortgages.
“I got an understanding that you had to work hard if you wanted to achieve,” he added.
What made you want to re-enter the advice space?
Sharma said he could see how the industry had grown over time and found his work in mortgages rewarding.
He said: “You're doing something very tangible for your clients, it's something important and you're putting them in a good space.
“When I came back into the industry I requalified, I did my exams and then also did my diploma in financial advice. I thought that was the way to go so that I could offer full financial planning and wealth management.
“But also, it means you can offer holistic advice to your clients.”
Sharma thinks financial skills should be taught in schools and said much of the work of a financial adviser is educating clients.
He said: “From what statistics say, the average person has the financial understanding of a 13-year-old, which is quite sad. It's not something that's openly discussed at school.
“It is all about educating clients and working with them.
“I say to my clients, I work for myself, it's my own business. I'm not target driven, my target is your outcome.
“We work together from day one and that's what I am passionate about.”
Why did you decide to join a network?
Sharma said he was attracted to New Leaf Distribution after looking into other networks but finding them too corporate.
He said: “One of the things that put me off the industry slightly was a lot of the networks were very corporate.
“I came across my current network by chance when I was looking for a training resource to help with my diploma.
