CEPA Spotlight: How Landon Mance uses the Value Acceleration Methodology in his Wealth Management Practice

The Exit Planning Institute community of CEPAs is comprised of business professionals with a diverse range of experiences. Whether you are a Financial Advisor, CPA, Wealth Manager, or Value Creation expert, the CEPA credential and education, greatly improves your conversations with business owners. We spoke with Landon Mance, Financial Planner and Co-Founder of the newly formed Backbone Planning Partners, about what led him to become a CEPA and how he utilizes his CEPA education in his practice.

How the EPI Chapter Network led to CEPA Credential

Landon was introduced to the Exit Planning Institute community in 2017 when he attended a local EPI Chapter event. He attended a dozen chapter meetings before registering for the CEPA course in Phoenix in 2019. Landon says that he was inspired to get the CEPA credential because the EPI Chapter events “were truly focused on bringing real value to the small business community which aligned perfectly with my practice”.

The Value Acceleration Methodology and CEPA educational framework formed the foundation with which Landon built his advisory business. He says, “Being a CEPA and shifting our focus to building, harvesting, and protecting value for business owners has helped us get real clarity as to the work we’re doing and want to continue to do for the owners we serve”.

Becoming a Business Owner

Landon says that it was always his goal to be a business owner. “I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and always knew I wanted to start and build ‘my own thing’ for the benefit of the clients I serve”. He started in the independent world in 2009 to “get a flavor for what it is like to be responsible for his own destiny”. He also worked at his friend’s start up for a while and says that the experience he gained while working there was invaluable and helped give him the confidence to have deeper conversations with business owners.

Landon worked as a Financial Advisor with J.P. Morgan for two years before launching his own advisory practice in 2015 as a registered representative of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. His practice was initially named “Mance Wealth Management” before he switched gears to focus more on Exit Planning and renamed the business as “YourFuture Planning Partners”. This year, Landon’s business went through another name change as he joined forces with Austin Peterson, a Comprehensive Financial Planner from Scottsdale, Arizona, to merge their two brands as one holistic practice: Backbone Planning Partners.

Backbone Planning Partners

Landon Mance and Austin Peterson merged their two companies, YourFuture Planning Partners and Backbone Financial, respectively, into Backbone Planning Partners. The two gentlemen have known each other for six years and began their collaborative efforts on their podcast, Tycoons of Small Biz. Landon says that through the podcast he, “determined that we both had the same unique business model, wanted to lift up and serve the private business community, and had a shared vision of the practice we wanted to build. It was a no-brainer for us!” Their mission is to “help business owners and their families successfully transition businesses from one owner to the next while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees”.

The Future of Exit Planning

This past year has changed many aspects of how traditional advising work has been accomplished. Advisors who used to spend most of their time meeting face-to-face with business owner teams have had to change course and conduct their practice in an entirely virtual capacity. While the process has remained unchanged, the Owner Engagement Tactics have shifted drastically.

Landon believes that the future of exit planning is heavily in the virtual world. He says, “If you’re not adjusting and adapting and finding new ways to bring more and more value to the clients you’re serving, you’re not going to grow. Probably the biggest change we’ll see is the continuation/acceleration of working with clients virtually which is really cool because you can serve clients all over the country without ever meeting them in person”.

Learn more about how the CEPA credential can increase your value to Business Owners here.

Landon Mance and Austin Peterson are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker-dealer (member SIPC) and registered investment advisor.  Backbone Planning Partners is a marketing name for registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors.