If you’re starting a new business venture, you need two things: a great idea that makes people’s lives better and the financial wisdom to know that the risk you’re taking will ultimately pay off.
Sometimes, the latter is harder to come by than the former.
New Ventures
Two years ago, Nolan Marx and his colleagues knew they had a great idea: a distributor in the orthopedics space with an expert team and futuristic products could revolutionize patients’ post-surgery experiences.
Today, Marx is the CEO and founder at Motiv Medical, an orthopedics solutions company located in Blue Ash. Motiv Medical distributes a wide variety of products across the orthopedic space, making sure that surgeons and their patients have the components and equipment needed for a successful surgery.
It was thanks to his relationship with Steven Schulte, a senior private banking officer at First Financial Bank, that Marx was able to take the leap into a new business venture with confidence.
“I was looking for a financial planner. A good friend of ours kept raving about Steve, so my wife and I went to meet him,” Marx says.
First Financial promises to treat each client as the unique, one-in-a-million individual they are. The Marxes noticed that right away. In their first meeting, Marx and his wife, Samantha MacConnell Marx, immediately appreciated Schulte’s holistic, personalized approach to financial advising.
Rather than just focusing on the cold, hard numbers required to retire comfortably, he talked to them about investing in their children’s futures, their personal and business goals, and what they needed to invest for retirement.
“We also liked that he worked with a regional bank,” Marx says. “I wanted to have the ability to put all of the pieces together.”
Working with First Financial Bank allowed the Marxes to keep a lot of their financial decisions in one place. For example, they refinanced their house through them when interest rates were low.
“It’s cliché, but it’s been said that the most important part of a puzzle is the picture on top of the box,” Schulte says. “The goal of financial planning is to create that ‘big picture’ to keep us focused on the ultimate goal — which can be particularly challenging in times like these when it’s easy to get too fixated on one piece of the puzzle.”
“We do that through effectively managing cash, determining the appropriate use of borrowing, managing investments and — most importantly — managing risk to minimize any setbacks on the road to completing the big picture,” Schulte says.
The folks at First Financial are eager to roll up their sleeves and share their knowledge in a way that is understandable and empowering so that their clients can take action with confidence.
That unique strategy is the reason the Marxes are still working with Schulte five years later.
“Anyone can talk to you about your goals; Steve helped us segment out the different pieces and think through how they’re interconnected,” Marx says.
What are the puzzle pieces for most First Financial clients?
There are many. To name a few: education savings, mortgage financing, retirement investing, life insurance, trust and estate planning, philanthropic wishes and more.
A major piece of the puzzle for Marx was, of course, the financial decision to found Motiv Medical.
“Working with Steve was a perfect fit from a business standpoint,” Marx says. “It’s nice to have someone who I can talk to about growing the business financially and who also understands where we are personally in our lives. When you’re growing really fast, it’s important to think about where you are now, but also long-term.”
For Marx and his team, working with First Financial has been helpful in growing in a competitive job market.
“We’re only as good as the people who make up our team,” Marx says. “The physicians and the patients who we support rely on us to be sharp. Obviously, we have to have great products, but we also have to have knowledgeable people.”
Because of Schulte’s wide view of industries and how they’re hiring in today’s marketplace, he’s been able to advise Marx regarding compensation packages, 401(k)s and incentives so that Motiv Medical can attract and retain talent.
While there’s always risk when it comes to starting a new business venture, Schulte served as a trusted advisor who Marx could bounce ideas off of. And thanks to that partnership, both the personal and business risks that Marx has taken have paid off.
On the business side, Marx and his team have seen Motiv Medical’s revenue grow five times since their inception.
Schulte is proud to have been the Marxes’ guide as they found the right puzzle pieces to complete their big-picture vision.
“Samantha and Nolan are smart, driven people. They’ve managed to acquire many pieces of their puzzle,” Schulte says. “My job is to help clients create a financial plan and stay focused on achieving their financial success. And it’s only effective when we have a true partnership where we can bounce ideas off of each other as we look for opportunities amongst uncertainty.”
At the end of the day, it’s not just results that make Marx a happy First Financial client.
“Steve is just a really likable, down-to-earth guy,” Marx says. First Financial Bank prides itself on being a community bank. Advisors consider themselves their clients’ neighbors because they listen closely and are actively involved where they live and work.
When you’re working with First Financial, you’ll never feel like you’re calling a 1-800 number — you’ll always be assigned to a specific private banking officer with whom you’ll develop a relationship.
“Steve is always accessible,” Marx says. “I once called him when he was on vacation, and although he was spending quality time with his family, he promptly returned my call.”
That balance of family and business is what makes First Financial so special.
“Instead of being transactional, we’re about partnerships with our clients. In that way, we’re un-bank like,” Schulte says. “We treat our clients as one-in-a-million.”
Is it time to put together the pieces of your financial success puzzle? Connect with a private banker at First Financial Bank. For more information, visit bankatfirst.com or schedule your first appointment with Steven Schulte at steven.schulte@bankatfirst.com.
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