He warned that this cohort \u2013 there are 2.59 million small business owners nationally \u2013 remains both \u201chighly exposed\u201d and \u201cchronically under-insured,\u201d despite many being aware of the financial risks of running a business.<\/p>\n Addressing advisers at the three-day event in Perth, Ross said too many business owners operate under a \u201cfalse sense of security\u201d regarding income certainty and business continuity.<\/p>\n Despite the perception that entrepreneurs rely on sophisticated funding structures, \u201cthe data shows something very different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people start their business on personal savings and personal credit cards. That starting point shapes their behaviour for years, and often shapes their blind spots.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross said advisers should frame conversations around problems business owners already recognise, particularly the tension between their two competing roles: business owner and household decision-maker.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a natural conflict between protecting the business and protecting the family,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly where high-quality advice adds value, by creating buffers that reduce exposure rather than amplify it.\u201d<\/p>\n He encouraged advisers to begin risk discussions with income, describing it as the \u201cfoundation stone\u201d for nearly all financial goals, personal and business alike. He suggested owners of small businesses routinely underestimate income volatility and overestimate the business\u2019s capacity to keep paying them during illness or injury.<\/p>\n \u201cVariance equals risk,\u201d he said. \u201cSmall businesses have more variance, fewer buffers, and less certainty than salaried workers. Our job is to help these clients understand what that means in real terms.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross also recommended linking income to future business value, noting that clients engage more deeply when they understand they are building something that needs protecting.<\/p>\n A significant part of his presentation focused on the practical steps advisers should take when determining appropriate income protection benefits for self-employed clients.<\/p>\n He outlined a five-step process for identifying personal exertion income, which includes understanding business structures, reviewing drawings and distributions, and applying consistent add-backs such as non-cash items, one-off costs, and discretionary expenses.<\/p>\n His five steps are:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLiquidity keeps a business alive,\u201d he said. “It buys time, freedom, and better decision-making when something goes wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n He also cautioned advisers not to overlook business expenses cover, arguing that income protection alone is rarely sufficient.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t expect the client\u2019s personal benefit to carry both household expenses and business overheads. That\u2019s when clients start cannibalising their own income.\u201d<\/p>\n Ross said advisers should address objections with clarity rather than confrontation and concluded that the real value of advice is not the product or the premium, but \u201cconfidence, clarity and certainty\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople pay for how advice makes them feel,\u201d he said. \u201cIncome protection isn\u2019t just a product; it\u2019s a buffer that protects the future they\u2019re working so hard to create.\u201d<\/p>\n Key points<\/strong><\/p>\n Advisers have been urged to adopt a more structured and proactive approach to income protection advice for small business clients. Speaking at last week\u2019s 2025 FAAA Congress in Perth, Acenda’s Partner Education Manager Marshall Ross urged advisers to adopt a more structured and proactive approach to income protection advice for small business clients. He warned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":80378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,241,6994],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-company-news","8":"category-conferences-and-events","9":"category-education"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Marshall](\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/files\/2025\/09\/\u00a9GSM_MLCL_Distribution-Team_PROFILE-PHOTOG_QLD_MARSHALL-ROSS-0004-1.jpg\")
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