Independence Doesn’t Have to Mean Going it Alone

Keith Gregg is a Financial Services and FinTech Executive, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of San Diego-based FinTech Company Chalice Financial Network, a member benefit organization for independent wealth advisors that delivers a fully integrated suite of technology tools, products, and services through its platform – Chalice Exchange™.

Small- to medium-size business owners are practical-minded people. They have to be. They’re juggling tight margins, co-workers, clients, compliance, fulfillment, expansion, succession and a raft of competitive pressures peculiar to their specific lines of business.

Chalice Financial Network exists to help business owners in the financial-service arena meet these needs, but it’s also there to provide support in an aspect of their working lives they may be less aware of.

“The owners of small to midsize firms — whether CPAs, attorneys or financial advisors — need products, services and support to meet three overriding needs: building economies of scale, improving operating efficiencies, and ensuring higher enterprise values,” says Chalice’s founder and CEO Keith Gregg. “Everyone needs help with HR, IT, and benefits, and everyone knows it.”

To this end, Chalice has assembled a roster of product and service providers in its Exchange marketplace who offer a variety of discounts to the network’s members.

But Gregg says there’s a fourth requirement that gets less attention than it deserves. “People need to feel they’re part of something, which is why we’re rolling out a Chalice community in the fourth quarter.”

Chalice’s Exchange platform has been likened to consumer-oriented groups like Costco, Amazon Prime, and, in terms especially of its lending platform, credit unions. In this spirit, Gregg compares the network’s coming community to LinkedIn and Slack: time-tested platforms that professionals and business owners use to exchange insights and keep in touch.

“Many independent owners started out at large firms, says Gregg. “They know there’s an incalculable value to freedom, but they miss the collegiality they used to enjoy, and feel cut off from the flow of new ideas that comes from having peer-to-peer conversations.”

Adds Gregg: “We’re looking to build loyalty on a level with USAA,” a financial-service group that caters to members of the US military, veteran and their families. “That’s frankly incredible loyalty, but we’re doing what it takes to build that kind of connectedness; we’re working to make sure our members are members for life.”

TLDR? Summary: Chalice members are practical people who sign up in the first place for operations support. But Chalice is about to deepen relationships by launching a community for exchanging ideas, solving problems, and building fellowship.