Having a Board of Directors or Advisory Committee

No one knows everything. No one has all of the best ideas. Everyone needs help, suggestions and advice. So are you getting the help from others that you need?

I am a strong believer that getting help, suggestions and advice from others is a great asset for business owners. Unfortunately, many just want to "go it alone." I don't know why. Maybe they consider it a sign of weakness. Maybe they don't know who or how to ask for help. (See http://www.squidoo.com/businesshelper) . Maybe they think others just don't understand their business or problems.

No matter who you are or what business you are in, you don't have all of the answers. You don't have all of the best ideas. Others can help you.

Having a board of directors or an unofficial advisory committee can be a great way of getting ideas, suggestions and advice for your business. The key, of course, is choosing the right people. Let me start with the "Don't List."

Don't put people on the board or committee that work for you. If you are signing someone's paycheck and giving them orders on a daily basis, it is highly unlikely that they are going to disagree with you. Do you really think they will say, "That's the dumbest idea I have ever heard?" ....... and sometimes you may need to hear that !!!!

Don't put your attorney, CPA and insurance agent on the board or committee. You already have access to them. You already get their advice and opinions in their areas of expertise.

Don't put close family members on the board or committee. A personal disagreement can easily carry over to business meetings or a business disagreement can carry over to Sunday dinner.

If your business has sales of $250,000 per year, don't select someone who has only worked for a multi-billion dollar corporation. They can't relate to your business. I have seen these types of individuals try to start small businesses after retiring and fail miserably. If you want specific examples, email me at ron@sentrabusinesssolutions.com and I'll be happy to share a few with you.

The "Do List" is quite simple. Do select individuals that have business experience (6 or more years) with a business of your size (regardless of product or industry) and are willing to share their knowledge. What's magic about six years? A great majority of businesses never last to year six. If they make it that long, they are doing lots of things correctly.

Here are a few "extras." If you can select people who do not know each other, that is best. If four of the people you select play golf together every week, they probably aren't likely to disagree with each other. Try to select at least a few who are well-known in the community. This can be an extra help for your business. I am sometimes asked if picking a well-known sports person or other type of celebrity is okay even if they don't know business. The answer is "Yes," if they are an extra person and they know that their responsibility is to bring attention to your business. In other words, if you want seven people on a board, make the celebrity number eight. They can be a help for getting attention to your business. If you are choosing them just to brag that they are on your board, forget it. You are wasting a spot.

Those are my thoughts. If you have other suggestions, I would like to hear them. Please feel free to comment.