Carving out a niche by solving challenges for special needs families.

Columbus Capital built its reputation as a worthy financial planning firm by helping current business owners, as well as the next generation of aspiring owners set to replace them, to grow and succeed. The firm has also created an effective niche – helping families provide future care and living arrangements for family members with special needs .

Located northeast of Columbus, Ohio, the state’s capital city, Columbus Capital is an independent financial advisory firm. Utilizing a well-defined process that includes regular monthly meetings with clients, their goals are to educate clients while addressing specific areas of their financial, business lives and plans.  

“Our best clients, those we look forward to working with, are ideally business owners looking to take it to the next level,” says James (Jim) D. Atkinson, CFP®, founder and managing director of Columbus Capital. It doesn’t matter to him what the industry is – whether it’s a manufacturing, financial services, technology or a professional practice, such as a law firm. “Where we find excitement is where the businesses are family-owned and closely held. Those are the people who have challenges with growth and challenges with succession. Those are the challenges we are good at and like to help solve,” Atkinson says.

The process starts by sitting down with clients and a blank legal pad rather than prefab questionnaires. The advisors ask three basic questions designed to uncover needs: What personal and business assets do clients have? Who owns those assets? Who do they love? That last, very unconventional question is the most important of all. “At the end of the day, it’s who they love that drives the real core of decisions,” Atkinson explains.

Columbus Capital’s advisors also help clients take a serious look at unintended risks. Long-time business owners may have neglected to update insurance needs or business structures. “What we do is help them button down every one of those risk issues, working in conjunction with their legal and insurance teams,” notes Atkinson.

Succession planning issues are also on the radar. The firm helps the current generation of business owners while also guiding the next generation who may inherit the business. Typically in their 30s, within the next 10 or 15 years, they are likely to become the next partners or owners.

“We like to talk to them about what skills they’ll need to be prepared to serve in that role,” he says. The advisor also addresses future equity contributions they may be expected to make, then puts them on a path toward accomplishing that. “They often have to adjust their lifestyles, generally downward, so they can become owners when the opportunity comes.”

Families with special needs children also turn to Columbus Capital to help them determine how that family member will be provided for after they are gone, sometimes for decades into the future. Atkinson and his team identify financial needs, government program qualifications, and how and where the individual will reside, whether independently or in a group home. “Many financial and legal tools are now available,” says Atkinson. “They can rest assured that their family member will receive a very high quality of life for decades if they do the planning.”     

To learn more about Columbus Capital see: www.raymondjames.com/columbuscapitalus