Building an advice business, on their own terms

There’s a familiar story in financial advice; one of careful progression, long apprenticeships and eventually, perhaps, the leap into business ownership. But for Megan Eichhorn and Tayla Morris and (pictured, at left and right respectively), partners in Sunshine Coast-based Tayme Financial Group, the moment that changed everything didn’t come from years of strategic planning or a meticulously mapped-out career path.

It came, instead, in a swimming pool in Bali.

“We were talking about the conference we were there attending, the ideas we had, and what we might want to do differently,” Eichhorn recalls. “And another adviser just said to us, ‘why don’t you start your own business?”

The answer, at first, was immediate and instinctive. “We scoffed at the idea,” she says. “We said, ‘oh, that’s too risky, we couldn’t do that, we’re not the kind of people who would take that kind of leap.’ It was almost like we were downplaying the idea too much.”

The question lingered.

By the end of that trip in March 2024, something had shifted. In September, they registered a business name. Two months later, they resigned. And by February 2025, they were running their own advice firm.

There was no plan B.

Finding advice: by accident and design

Like many advisers, Eichhorn’s entry into the profession was anything but intentional. “There was absolutely no thought process,” she says. “I had finished my business degree, I was at home with my kids, and I thought, ‘I should probably get a job.’”

What she found was an associate role in a financial planning practice. At the time, she didn’t know what financial planning really was. The technical terms and acronyms alone were enough to signal a steep learning curve. But something clicked.

“I just kind of worked my way through all the different roles,” she says. “And along the way, I worked out that there was a reason I ended up here. I absolutely love it.”

Morris’ path, by contrast, began earlier – and with a nudge. At a careers fair, aged 16, she was looking for a future in hairdressing or beauty. Her father had other ideas. “He said, maybe you should look at business – you could own your own salon one day,” she says.

That suggestion set her on a different trajectory. By 17, she was working in a financial planning practice, having been poached – within two weeks – from an accounting role by an adviser who recognised her potential. “That was when I actually learned what financial planning was,” she says.

Morris studied for degrees in business and commerce; both added the financial planning qualifications to their CVs. Between them, they now have about 25 years of experience. But their shared story only really began when they started working together.

A partnership built on alignment

Morris and Eichhorn spent four-and-a-half years working side by side before launching their own firm. During that time, they built not just professional trust, but a deep alignment in how they approached advice.

Interestingly, they didn’t immediately realise how far back their connection went. “We found out that our mums grew up together,” Tayla says. “We had actually crossed paths when we were younger and didn’t know it.”

That sense of familiarity now underpins a partnership that feels unusually seamless. “We have differences in our personalities,” Morris says. “But our values and our drive for the business are the same.” That alignment meant that when the idea of starting their own firm emerged, there was little debate about what it should look like.

“There wasn’t a ‘blank-piece-of-paper’ moment,” Eichhorn says. “We already knew how each other worked, how we wanted to serve clients. It was more about – how do we actually do this?”

Starting from scratch and doing it their way

One of the first decisions they faced was whether to buy into an existing business, acquire a client book, or start afresh. That choice would shape the foundation of their venture. In the end, they chose the hardest option, according to Morris.

“We were most confident with starting from scratch and building it the way that we wanted to”.

That decision set the tone for everything that followed.

In the early months, they didn’t even take on clients. Instead, they focused on building the infrastructure. This includes processes, systems, website and workflows, that as a result, would underpin the client experience. They envisaged the client experience they wanted to provide, and designed everything in their practice around that.

“We walked out of our old roles on the Friday and started Tayme on the Monday,” Eichhorn says. “We had done nothing in the lead-up, because we wanted to be fully present in the business we were leaving.”

It was a deliberate reset.

By January, they had around 50 clients, and they say that number is “growing steadily.” Asked where their total funds under advice (FUA) sits, they’re genuinely baffled; that number, they insist, is not the point. “We don’t track funds under advice,” Eichhorn says. “It’s not how we measure the business.”

A different definition of success

In an industry often driven by scale, revenue targets and exit strategies, the duo’s approach stands out.

They have no intention of hiring staff; no plans to merge or acquire other practices; no ambition to build a business to sell. Instead, they are building what they describe as a boutique, premium, lifestyle‑focused practice, one that prioritises quality of advice and personal balance rather than growth for growth’s sake. “We’ve talked about capping it at around 110 clients each,” Eichhorn says. “And that’s it.”

The reasoning is simple: quality over quantity. “For us to deliver the service we want to deliver, there has to be a ceiling,” she says. “We don’t want to be working 12-hour days, 52 weeks a year.”

That philosophy extends directly into the advice they give.

Advice beyond money

At the heart of their approach is a belief that financial advice is not really about money.

“Clients come to us thinking they have a money problem,” Eichhorn says. “But they don’t. We can make the numbers work. The real question, she says, is about lifestyle. “We ask them, ‘What do you actually want to do? That’s what we’re solving.”

That mindset shapes everything – from how they structure advice to how they run their own lives. “We’re comfortable telling clients that we’re not working on a Friday, or that we’re unavailable for part of a day, because that’s what we’re encouraging them to do, too,” Eichhorn says. “Our philosophy is based on helping clients achieve their desired lifestyles, rather than purely financial outcomes. We can’t do that if we’re not doing it ourselves.”

A digital-first, nationally connected model

Their business is also defined by its structure, or lack of a traditional one. They have no physical office; no central location. Instead, they operate entirely remotely, with a virtual office and a client base spread across Australia. In doing so, they’ve embraced flexibility while maintaining reach.

“Most of our clients are online,” Morris says. “They don’t want to get in the car, drive to us and find a park – they can just meet us on their lunch break, or wherever they are on their travels.”

Referrals come through a network of aligned professionals – mortgage brokers, solicitors and other advisers – many of whom they have never met in person. “What matters is values alignment,” Eichhorn says. “If we serve clients in the same way, the relationship works.”

Building something different

For Morris and Eichhorn, the business they are building is as much about personal fulfilment as professional success. It’s about control – over how they work, with whom they work and what kind of advice they deliver. It’s also about challenging assumptions.

“We don’t look like the typical business,” Morris says. “We don’t have the same goals.” But that, she believes, is precisely the point.

“I think it’s important for people to know that advice doesn’t have to be what it’s always been,” she says. “There’s more to it.”

In an industry grappling with identity, scale, and succession, their story offers something quietly radical: a reminder that success in advice doesn’t have to follow a single path. Sometimes, it just starts with a question – asked in the right place, at the right time. Even if that place happens to be a pool in Bali.