Firms relying heavily on self-employed advisers are being warned that their business models could become a major obstacle to long-term scale and successful exits. “Having employed advisers rather than self-employed advisers gives you more control over what you want the outcome to be and how the process should be followed. “I would definitely recommend that if you are in a growth stage, your advisers are not self-employed,” she said. “You want personality and talent, but there has to be a house view and an agreement that advice will be delivered in a certain way.”Is time up for the self-employed adviser? Rigby said leaders must transition from being advisers who run businesses to business leaders operating in advice.