How to Spot Fake Business Advisors: Follow the Money, Not the Pitch

Jun 4, 2025 | Risk Management

If someone offers you business advice, and the endgame is an insurance product or portfolio sale, run.

You’re not getting strategy. You’re being sold.

There’s a growing trend in the financial world, and if you haven’t noticed it yet, you will:

Professionals dressing up like advisors, trying to pass as business experts—without ever owning, running, or scaling a real business themselves.

They use words like “value growth,” “exit strategy,” and “business clarity.” But here’s what they’re really doing: Fishing for trust so they can close a deal.

Follow the Money

You want to know someone’s real motive? Ask one question:

How do you get paid?

That alone will separate the real from the rehearsed.

If a financial professional is giving you business strategy, but the way they’re compensated is through product sales, they’re not advising. They’re positioning.

And they’re counting on the fact that most business owners won’t notice the bait-and-switch.

Look Past the Letters

CFP®, CEPA®, CVA, MBA—impressive, sure. But those letters don’t mean the person has ever had to make payroll or cover a shortfall out of their personal account.

Credentials ≠ Credibility.

I’ve seen plenty of professionals with loaded resumes who’ve never:

Laid awake wondering how to keep the lights on
Stared down a lawsuit
Invested $100K into a marketing campaign that didn’t work
Sold a company
Bought one
Or led a team of more than three people

And yet—they’re giving business advice.

It’s like the tenured professor teaching entrepreneurship who’s never built anything but a syllabus. All theory. No scars.

The Problem Isn’t That They’re Selling—It’s That They’re Hiding It

Let’s call it what it is.

They lead with “value.” They say they want to “help.” But it always ends in a product pitch.

The sad part? You, the business owner, are often desperate for clarity. For someone who understands both the numbers and the pressure.

But instead of real guidance, you get fluff dressed up in strategy.

Here’s How You Protect Yourself

Don’t overcomplicate it. Just do this:

Ask how they get paid. If they dodge, that’s your answer.
Check their background. Have they actually run a business? Not “supported” one. Run one.
Look at their marketing. Are they offering true clarity, or luring you in with vague buzzwords and feel-good content?
Demand proof. Testimonials, results, experience. Don’t settle for surface.

And if they say they help business owners grow value?

Ask them how. Ask them when. Ask them if they’ve done it for themselves.