BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL
profile
Simplifying
Life
Ari Fischman
Young company provides personal, professional returns.
Monica Luoma
challenge was good for me because it
Special to the Jewish News
gave me more focus and helped moti-
vate me to create a new business and
ri
Ai
Fischman made the decision
in 2006 to move his family
will save money without reducing ben-
efits," said Fischman.
And that's exactly what happened
Fischman credits his personal and
professional success in Metro Detroit
to the warm and welcoming Jewish
marketing plan based on my past expe-
riences," said Fischman. "And without
for one of Fischman's clients, Howell-
based auto supplier Spiral Industries.
community. He mentions Jack Zwick
from Detroit-based Zwick, Maddox and
from New Jersey to his wife's
ome state of Michigan and
start a new life.
the long commutes, I have more time to
spend with my family and focusing on
my growing business."
The company approached Fischman for
a quote last year to help them reduce
their benefits cost. Having recently laid-
Bayai, PLLC, who has referred several
clients to him, including the National
The native New Yorker left behind a
career that was gaining momentum,
his own family and childhood friends,
For Fischman, the key to his success
relied on two things: providing significant
cost-saving solutions to his clients and
off workers, they needed an effective
benefits and insurance plan for their
remaining employees that saved them
but acknowledges that he also left a
grueling commute, stressful traffic and
congestion, and expensive housing. He
building a network of reciprocal referral
partners. "It is just part of our culture
in the office to continually look to help
other businesses grow through cost-
the most money yet kept as many ben-
efits as possible.
decided to exchange it for a better life-
style for his family and the challenge of
building a business from the ground up.
That decision has paid off.
Fischman, 31, had a solid background
in the insurance industry, having spent
savings strategies and always looking
to put resources together through refer-
rals which further help overall business
development and growth," he said.
four years working for New York Life in
Manhattan. After moving to Southfield,
According to Fischman, businesses
must look at getting the most for their
money in benefits and insurance plans
he continued to grow his NYL practice
but decided to start his own company
to address the benefit concerns of
for their employees and not just auto-
matically make a decision to cut ben-
efits altogether. Business owners may
many of his business owner clients and
friends. He founded Simplified Benefits
(www.simplifymybenefits.com), an insur-
be pleasantly surprised about the better
pricing options on their plans without
having to cut important benefits prod-
ucts offered to their employees.
ance and benefits brokerage firm also
located in Southfield. He was driven to
make the business successful, even in a
depressed economic climate.
"From a business prospective, the
"Before a company makes drastic
cuts or changes to benefits, I strongly
encourage a simple policy review,
which can usually identify options that
After analyzing their existing plan,
Fischman saved Spiral Industries about
51 percent on their benefits, more
than $200,000 in savings, with very
minimal reductions on the products.
This allowed the company to continue
to subsidize a generous portion of the
benefit and insurance plans for their
Hockey League's Florida Panthers.
Fischman's recommendation to the
team will save them about 30 percent,
without the need to cut any benefits.
In the four years since Fischman
moved to the Detroit area and started
Simplified Benefits, the firm has grown
to three employees with approximately
$200,000 in revenue in the past two
years.
Fischman said with a solid founda-
tion now formed in Metro Detroit, one
of his objectives in 2010 is to identify
employees and families while saving a
substantial amount of fees.
and actively look to refer clients to each
other to create more business and grow
their business as well.
Recently, Fischman was named to
the exclusive "Court of the Table" of the
Million Dollar Round Table, a premier
association of financial professionals,
Fischman, his wife, Monica, and
their daughters, Erica and Tamar,
reside in Southfield. The couple are
active at Young Israel of Southfield,
an accomplishment that is honored for
the top quarter of 1 percent in the life
insurance industry. This achievement
places Fischman among the top profes-
sionals in the global life insurance and
with Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and at Akiva Hebrew Day
School in Southfield. Li
financial services industry.
PublicCity PR in Beverly Hills.
Monica Luoma is an account manager at
June 10 • 2010
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