By: Eric Ferkenhoff

November 8, 2004, Crain's Chicago Business

Minding a pair of small businesses has left Frank Ross with barely enough time to sleep and eat, let alone the time to mind his personal wealth.

So a decision Mr. Ross made long before his first business opened has worked out well. In 1987 he turned over all the day-to-day management of his portfolio to a personal financial adviser at a large brokerage firm.

''I don't have to worry about reading about what is the hot mutual fund, what's the hot stock or where the dollar is trading against the yen,'' says Mr. Ross, 42, managing director of Pro Active Solutions, a product return management services company, and R3 Systems Group Inc., a consumer electronics asset recovery and remarketing firm. Mr. Ross declines to disclose sales for either of the businesses, which are based in Carol Stream. Pro Active Solutions launched about 10 years ago; R3 started about three years ago.

Pick the surgeon, let him cut

One of the ways entrepreneurs get rich is by keeping close watch on the books. While they're doing that, it's easy to lose sight of their personal wealth.

For entrepreneurs who don't have time to manage their money, it's important to find a financial planner early on whom they can trust.

Mr. Ross began seeing an adviser to manage his wealth 17 years ago. In the early years of the relationship he made weekly calls to check the value of his worth and to find out what trades the firm had made on his account. These days, however, his faith in his adviser is such that he meets with his adviser just once a year, then backs that up with a handful of phone calls.

''You pick the surgeon. You don't tell him where to cut,'' Mr. Ross says.

Advisers to avoid
Choosing an adviser may seem like another imposition on valuable time, but it's worth the hassle.

''I know there's not enough hours in the day to do it,'' says Steven Rogers, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. ''But they need to avoid people who are not accredited, sort of fly-by-night financial advisers who allege they have expertise.''

Seek references on potential advisers if they're not affiliated with well-established, reputable banks, says Mr. Rogers. He also encourages entrepreneurs to ask colleagues about advisers and use the resources of groups like the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization or the Young Presidents' Organization, which sometimes endorse institutions with qualified advisers.

The adviser should understand your risk profile, get to know you and try to understand your tastes and wealth objectives in the short, medium and long term, Mr. Rogers says.

Mr. Ross cautions against hiring someone who is too quick to trade on trends or someone who pesters clients with unnecessary phone calls. Mr. Rogers says owners need to maintain oversight of their wealth.

''Don't give them carte blanche,'' he says. ''Things still have to come through you.''