Sep 28, 2026 · 38 min · 9 segments
N8N is the best-kept secret in financial planning tech, and I say that as someone who can no longer run Arboretum without it. Phil Teale of Teale Pen & Pixel builds n8n workflows for advice firms…
Phil TealeGuestTomHost
Yeah, I think, well, you know, you're a case in point and others that I know as well.

The sort of smaller businesses, the one man bands are often who've got maybe the motivation to learn this.

The trade-off is time and complexity and troubleshooting because these things do break sometimes.

And you can't completely rely on AI to tell you what to do because often the advice it gives you is out of date.

It's running off an old interface and You have to sort of be able to work it out and do some problem solving.

So, yeah, I think maybe the sweet spot is between maybe a three to even 30-person firm.

You know, it's brilliant for the advisor who's got a bit of flexibility over their tech stack and back office.

The very large firms, maybe, you know, they're in-house custom software and things, but perhaps not.

But I think it's perfect for the typical independent financial advisor in particular.
agree.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, yeah.
Well, you say when it gets to that sort of size, then maybe you're looking at in-house stuff.
But even, you know, like you say, like very small businesses, this is typically something that they will do a lot of themselves.
If the medium size, this is where they probably want someone in maintaining it.

Yeah, I think, well, you know, you're a case in point and others that I know as well.

The sort of smaller businesses, the one man bands are often who've got maybe the motivation to learn this.

The trade-off is time and complexity and troubleshooting because these things do break sometimes.

And you can't completely rely on AI to tell you what to do because often the advice it gives you is out of date.

It's running off an old interface and You have to sort of be able to work it out and do some problem solving.

So, yeah, I think maybe the sweet spot is between maybe a three to even 30-person firm.

You know, it's brilliant for the advisor who's got a bit of flexibility over their tech stack and back office.

The very large firms, maybe, you know, they're in-house custom software and things, but perhaps not.

But I think it's perfect for the typical independent financial advisor in particular.
agree.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, yeah.
Well, you say when it gets to that sort of size, then maybe you're looking at in-house stuff.
But even, you know, like you say, like very small businesses, this is typically something that they will do a lot of themselves.
If the medium size, this is where they probably want someone in maintaining it.
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