If you have not tapped into the benefits of using an Advisory Board for your small business, you are missing out on a great opportunity to improve all areas of your organization. An Advisory Board can offer important feedback, fresh perspectives and valuable advice. This group of individuals can be made up of volunteers who have a vested interest in your business success and can include current clients, potential clients, business associates or advisors.
Why use an Advisory Board
The benefits of bringing together this group of individuals is far reaching for an organization. The purpose of the group can be what you as the owner of the company, want it to be. The Board can lend insight into decision making, assist with future planning, advise on future business offerings and even participate in brainstorming sessions on behalf of the business. There is nothing bad in consulting with transworld business advisors when you want to improve your small business.
How often should the Board meet?
Since an Advisory Board is geared toward gaining valuable information from trusted sources on your business, the frequency of meetings will be determined by the amount of feedback you desire. It may be prudent to meet on a monthly basis if there are many decisions to hash through or much activity going on in the business. Quarterly meeting are sufficient if the Board can cover all pertinent topics and provide input that can be used or implemented over the next few months.
Keep in mind that Board members are offering their time to your business and holding meetings too often may be inconvenient for them. Meetings should not be longer than 2-3 hours and each meeting should have a set agenda ahead of time. This will ensure the meetings remain tightly focused and stay on track.
Members of the Board
Every business is different and therefore determining the number of members for your Advisory Board will be different for each business. Some companies may want a very small group of close advisors only. In this case, 3-5 members would be sufficient. If you seek input from various viewpoints or you have many topics to bring before the Board, consider expanding membership. Regardless of the volume of topics or who you choose for the group, membership should not exceed 10 individuals.
Having a Board without a leader could result in unorganized meetings and discussions veering way off topic. Select a leader for your Advisory Board that can keep the meetings focused and will follow the set agenda. The leader should be able to bring order to the discussion and provide value to the group as a whole.
The Advisory Board may provide their advisory services free of charge, but keep in mind that these individuals are taking time out of their day to provide valuable insight for your business. Consider a small compensation, reimbursement of travel expenses, free or reduced rate services or other incentives to entice members and ensure that every participant feels appreciation for their contributions.
Start your Advisory Board today
An Advisory Board can add valuable insight and provide great feedback that can help with expansion considerations, services offered, future planning and much more. The Board is easy to bring together and will cost very little. With the value that you can gain from having an Advisory company the best time to get one started is now.