Alexander Potter, CFP®
Incorporated business owners · British Columbia and Ontario
Two plans. One of you.
Your corporation has a strategy. You have a personal plan. In most cases they were built separately, at different times, by people who never compared notes. The space between them is the thing I work on.
A first conversation
What it is, and what it isn't.
Thirty minutes, over video.
I ask about the business, what the corporation holds, and what you want the money to eventually do. You ask whatever you want.
We finish with a short list of the decisions that look worth your attention, and the order I would put them in. That list is yours either way.
There is no product discussion and nothing to sign. Bring nothing. No statements, no numbers. This is a conversation, not a fact-find. If I do not think there is anything useful here, I will say so and we will leave it there.
No product discussion. Nothing to sign. Bring nothing.
Built in one room
Retained earnings and corporate cash
Tax structure
Key person and buy-sell risk
Succession and the eventual exit
The stewardship gap
Built in another
Retirement income
Estate and the will
Family wealth and the next generation
What the money is eventually for
Who I work with
People who own the company they run.
Structure Incorporated, usually ten to fifty staff
Stage A decade or more into the business
Balance Most of their net worth sitting inside the company
Where British Columbia or Ontario
If that is not you, the rest of this page will not be much use. I would rather say so here than waste your afternoon.
Why owners
I have been on your side of the desk.
Before I did this I spent fifteen years running businesses of my own, and several more running Canadian operations for software companies.
I know what it is to carry a payroll, and to have most of my net worth sitting inside a company I also had to show up and run on Monday.
That is the reason I do this work, and the reason I do it with owners rather than with everyone.
The work
What actually gets looked at.
Corporate cash and retained earnings
Tax planning
Insurance
Retirement income
Succession
Estate and family wealth
None of those are unusual on their own. The work is in the sequence: deciding what has to happen first, so the pieces support each other instead of competing.
I work alongside your accountant and your lawyer, not around them. Each specialist owns their piece well. Someone has to own how the pieces fit.
No product discussion. Nothing to sign. Bring nothing.
A short guide
Seven signs the two sides have drifted apart.
Seven things I look for when the corporate structure and the personal plan were built in different rooms, and the question to put to your own advisers about each one.
Two pages. An email address is the only thing you need to give me.
I will send you the guide, and every so often a short note when I write something new. One click unsubscribes you, and I will not pass your address to anybody. Alexander Potter, 837 W Hastings Street, Suite 202, Vancouver BC V6B 2N4.
Short pieces on the decisions that come up most often.
You Can’t Control the Headlines. You Can Control This.
The headlines may be noisy, but business owners still have plenty within their control. This post looks at where financial attention is most useful when uncertainty makes it tempting to wait. ...more
Blogs
September 18, 2026•3 min read
The World Is Loud. Your Financial Plan Shouldn’t Be.
The headlines may be unpredictable, but your financial life doesn’t have to be. For business owners, good planning is less about predicting what happens next and more about preserving choices when it ... ...more
Blogs
August 13, 2026•4 min read
Let’s Talk About Fees
Fees matter, but they should not become a smokescreen. This article explains why the real focus should be on outcomes, value, and whether your financial strategy actually gets you where you want to go... ...more
Blogs
July 06, 2026•5 min read
When the Owner is the Asset
For many business owners, the biggest risk is not the market, the economy, or competition. It is what happens if they are suddenly unable to lead. ...more
Blogs
May 22, 2026•5 min read
The Quiet Cost of Avoiding Financial Conversations
Some financial risks don’t come from bad decisions — they come from conversations that never happen. Here are three simple ways to bring clarity to the areas most people quietly delay. ...more
Blogs
March 24, 2026•2 min read
Why DIY Financial Planning Breaks Down When It Matters Most
DIY financial planning feels fine in calm markets — but the data shows it consistently breaks down under pressure. A stat-driven look at why business owners struggle most when they plan alone. ...more
Blogs
January 22, 2026•3 min read
Address
837 W Hastings Street, Suite 202, Vancouver British Columbia V6B 2N4
Phone
(778) 402-9630
© 2026 | Alexander Potter, Certified Financial Planner CFP®