Entrepreneurs may be used to uncertainty, but there are tools their advisors can use to help them navigate
One of the things that Jasmine Marichic likes most about serving business owner clients is their attitude in the face of changing circumstances. The Wealth Advisor & Client Relationship Manager at Nicola Wealth explains that new technologies, geopolitical shifts, and even the threat of US tariffs are treated as serious challenges by these clients. She notes, though, that they also see these changes as opportunities and areas where the right mindset and adjustments can result in positive outcomes. She admires that approach and enjoys supporting them through those moments.
Canadian small business owners are certainly in one of those moments now. Since the start of 2025 small business owner optimism, as measured by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) monthly business barometer, has hit lower points than the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, before swinging back above average and vacillating between hope and doom with every new macroeconomic and geopolitical development. At the moment, business owners are facing tariff risks, huge increases in key input costs like energy, and the potential that AI disruption will come for their business. It’s a lot for entrepreneurs to handle, but Marichic argues that financial advisors can help.
“As soon as there’s more uncertainty, clients do tend to reach out to us more. I’m definitely hearing more from the clients now,” Marichic says. “They’re asking if we can help stress test their plan to see how this could impact them. It’s just more communication, explaining what’s going on, running live projections and modelling different scenarios to support their decision making and provide peace of mind.”
While advisors are limited in their capacity to assist with a client’s business, their value in these moments can come from drawing a line between the business’ financial health and the client’s personal finances. They can show how different cash flow revisions for the business could impact the client’s ability to save for retirement or pay for their children’s education. Because entrepreneurs are usually seasoned crisis managers, Marichic says that most of these conversations aren’t framed as existential threats so much as marginal shifts that need to be calculated for. Concern rarely becomes panic with this client cohort.
Marichic outlines her role in these moments as both tactical and strategic. On the tactical side, she may change the amount of monthly contributions the client makes, or revise their tax planning strategy as they tighten their own belts to help the company weather a more challenging moment. On the strategic side, if the sale of the business was a big part of the client’s retirement plan, then Marichic may work with experts to see what the business might be worth now, and how a revised valuation could impact the various lifestyle targets set in the client’s retirement plan.
The rise of generative and agentic artificial intelligence (AI) raises some of these larger concerns for business owners. Marichic notes that while many of her clients are looking for upside in AI usage, certain sectors are being hard-hit by AI disruption. Software companies, for example, have been severely impacted by the rise of AI and the owners of software firms may be looking at a very different valuation for their business. Marichic has to reckon with that reality while encouraging her clients to lean on the entrepreneurial mindset that got them to this point in the first place.
Modelling out these decisions can help a great deal, Marichic says. She can show her clients that the sale of their business could still get them to their retirement goal, even if it sells for a lower valuation. She can show how an additional five or ten years spent working on the business might change those retirement plans, and she can show how even a worst-case scenario for the business plays out for this entrepreneur on a personal level.
Marichic notes that when entrepreneurs raise concerns about their business to her, she can help add perspective by asking them a few key questions. She’ll ask if they are planning to sell soon, if they want to try to fix the issues they’re seeing, or what they want to do on the personal side to help the business. Those questions can allow them a more strategic bird’s-eye view of how the business fits into and serves their personal financial goals.
“So if they’re saying ‘my business is slowing down,’ we can ask if there’s a trend to follow. We can look at their financial statements over a few years to see if we can spot any trends, how have sales looked, how have expenses looked,” Marichic explains. “It’s always good to start with an update of what’s going on with their life, to find out what their goals are and what‘s top of mind? Then, through our financial planning work and our experience in taxes, estate planning, insurance, asset projections, retirement projections, and education for kids, we can help them make decisions, move forward, and provide tools they might not have thought about.”
