Maka'ala Financial Services | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 47-3349658
Location: Honolulu, HI, United States
Length of Operation: 0
Number of Employees:
Annual Gross Income:
Annual Gross Expense:
Open to Loans: NO
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Funding Usage
Funding would be used to pay for equipment I've already purchased i.e. business laptop, as well as to pay for all the licensing and background checks that come with FINRA and securities. FINRA and Insurance licensing equates to $5000, website design and development is approximately $1200 with a minimum of $69 per month for maintenance. The rest would be to keep me in the black while I develop a client base and allow me to travel locally to meet with potential clients as well as produce necessary paperwork. 84% of financial advisors fail within the first 3 years. This cushion will allow me to focus on real growth instead of survival.
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Business Plan
I plan on growing my business by aggressively pursuing Native Hawaiians, a demographic historically ignored by the Finance industry. The blue collar Native Hawaiian community, my community is a passionate and hard working group of individuals that love their families and culture. My vision is to empower Native Hawaiians through financial education and provide a brighter future for themselves, their children and future generations. As a native Hawaiian I have a deep passion for my community and an understanding for the challenges they face. My mother grew up on Hawaiian Home lands, a program implemented in 1920 and ratified to the state constitution in 1959 to provide leased lands to native Hawaiians at the cost of $1/year. As a child my mother and her family were removed from their home because they did not meet the required percentage of Hawaiian blood to continue living on their property. Because her mother had married a ha'ole, or caucasion man, instead of a Native Hawaiian, their bloodline was diluted to a degree that was unacceptable to the board of trustees of Hawaiian Home Lands. HHL isn't the only native program that Hawaiians rely on. Kamehameha schools provides private education to children of Hawaiian ancestry for pennies on the dollar compared to other private schools in Hawaii. Despite the Bishop estate's $10 billion net worth and an annual income of $200 million, Kamehameha schools still operates a lottery and testing system to allow only a small amount of Hawaiian children through their program each year. While a select few get in every year, thousands of Hawaiian children are left to rely on an overtaxed public school system. I envision a Hawaii where every family, not just Native Hawaiians, can choose where to live and where to send their kids to school because they have made educated and responsible financial decisions that can only lead down a road of success. I am choosing to start with the Native Hawaiian community because they need to know that there are endless opportunities out there that just need to be taken advantage of and for me, failure is not an option.
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Self Identified Competition
Top 3 Life insurance competitors are: Pacific Life, New York Life and Lincoln Financial, with approximately 23% market share. I honestly don't see my top competitors as competition, rather they're long storied companies with name recognition that have whatever market shares because of their history and name recognition. I believe that the vast majority of my target demographic doesn't currently take advantage of the insurance and finance products that are readily available to them. What makes me different from my competitors is my singular focus on Hawaii(ans), my client centric approach, my Core Values as an Aloha Financial Advisor and my support team. I've already detailed my deep passion for creating a Hawaiian community that is self-reliant and responsible for their own economic future. My approach is what differs greatly with the existing market but is something I and my mentor, Stephen Kagawa hope to change and make the industry norm. Traditionally a captive agent would memorize an overwhelming amount of insurance products and bombard their potential client with information until they succumb to the assault and sign a contract. As a non-captive agent of Ameritas and working with the boutique Syndicated Capital we instead use the Ohana Methodology to uncover, even discover where the client wants to go personally, professionally, and financially in the years ahead. This is done with a 5-step client focused approach. 1. We take the time to Discover Core Values. What do you want to accomplish in the coming years? For yourself, your family, your business, and your business associates? Or for your estate before tomorrow turns into yesterday and it’s too late? 2. Next we Fact Find. Where are you now financially? What are you starting with? What are your desires? 3. We prepare and present a comprehensive Alternatives and Strategic Planning proposal, a complete financial mapping with specific solutions to meet your goals and aspirations. 4. We follow this with a complete Client Review, going over your plan with you, revising and adjusting it as needed. 5. Once you are satisfied that it meets your expectations, Maka'ala Financial Services and your advisor move on to Plan Implementation, keeping you informed at every step. Involving the client in every stage of planning builds trust and rapport. Treating the client as Ohana or family builds a long-lasting relationship that naturally leads to growing my client base through introductions instead of badgering my clients for leads. My Core Values. 1. Mahalo Mahalo means thank you. This is the word I use for living with gratitude and the importance of appreciating everything in my life. With mahalo, you are grateful for the people in your life, and you appreciate their differences, too. You appreciate how they look at life and act in life, where they come from, and where they are going. You are thankful for the good fortune to meet many different people on life’s journey. As a financial advisor, you deal with people from all walks of life with differing beliefs, opinions, and priorities and an endless array of opportunities to express Mahalo. 2. ALOHA Aloha means many things, most commonly hello and goodbye. The meaning of aloha I prefer defines how I seek to live and work. It is to do so with love. Deferring to the core value of aloha insists on treating yourself and the people around you with love. You care for others and listen and share with them openly, willingly, and with hope. You understand that people and their opinions are neither right nor wrong and that they are simply different. Treating people with love or aloha changes how you feel about them and makes you want to do your best for them. 3. OHANA Ohana means family. This core value guides me to treat other people the way I treat the members of my family. With ohana, you are honest and forthright and never knowingly lead others astray. Sometimes ohana means telling people things they do not want to hear yet need to hear for their own good and doing it with the intent of helping them satisfy their desires – even when they can’t see this for themselves. When you are committed to your clients, you treat them like ohana. You are there for them not only when you are working together on their financial plan but whenever they need you. 4. PONO Pono means to do the right thing. It means to live with righteousness – to do the right things for the right reasons. No one is perfect. If you seek to live your life with pono, your good intentions in your plans and actions are certain to reflect your desire to do right. 5. IMUA Imua means always move forward – to keep learning and continuing to grow. With imua, you evolve and become more skilled, compassionate and valuable to yourself and to your clients and others with whom you interact. Moving forward may require you to change the way you do things, to confront people and problems, and to motivate yourself as well as others to act. Anyone can be complacent. Imua takes heart, perseverance, and a certain amount of courage. Using these core values guarantees that the needs and wellbeing of the client is always the number one priority. I have already detailed my deep passion for creating a Hawaiian community that is self-reliant and responsible for their own economic future. My approach is what differs greatly with the existing market but is something I and my mentor, Stephen Kagawa (Founder and CEO of The Pacific Bridge Companies) hope to change. Working with Ameritas as a non-captive agent allows me to offer whatever product is best for my client. Instead of focusing on my companies’ products I'm able to discover the things that are truly important to my client and provide the best means of achieving their goals, whatever that may be.
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