Have You Built Your Personal Board of Advisors Yet?

I hope you’re having a great Sunday. I made my girls Belgian Waffles this morning, and any day that starts with maple syrup is a great start in my book.

I did a presentation about business planning for entrepreneurs at Podcamp Toronto yesterday (a subject that you know I like to talk about), so my thoughts have been on the things that are required to get a business started and off on the right track.

I believe a business plan is huge part of that.  That’s not what I want to talk about today though. Maybe I’ll turn on the mic later and record a podcast about it, but today I want to talk to you about something else. During my presentation, a question from the audience started a great conversation about building a board of advisors.

Many of us are starting very small businesses or even solo ventures. When you’re small, you usually don’t have anyone that you have to run major decisions by for approval. While this is usually a great thing, it has it’s downside too.  We can only bring our own perspective and life experience to our decision making process. Sometimes it can be very helpful to be able to explain why a particular decision is a good idea.

I’ve found that it is quite helpful to run my decisions by others to get their perspective. Getting someone’s opinion is not the same as getting their permission.

Building a personal board of advisors has made a huge difference for my businesses.  I have a few very smart people that I can talk to and rely on for guidance and the occasional introduction. These are people who I respect that are more than willing to tell me an idea stinks. I can’t stress the importance of this enough.

You need to find someone, who you respect for their expertise in a given area, that is willing to tell you that your wrong, or that an idea is bad.  Not a negative person who wants to bring you down, but an honest smart advisor willing to tell you your compass is off.

So how can you build this for yourself?  You’d surprised how willing people are to help if you ask the right things.  If you need marketing advice, asking an accountant is probably a mistake.  If you need financial advice, then asking that sales wizard you know may not be the way to go.

You see what I’m getting at? The more specific you are in what you are asking, and the more related to a person’s body of knowledge that thing is, the more a person will be willing to give you guidance.

We all know successful people.  They may be relatives, or friends, or friends of friends.  Find some people who you know and respect, and ask them if it would be okay to run an idea by them from time to time.  Then when you do, make sure what you are asking is a specific question about something they know a lot about.  People like to show what they know.

When people do help you, make sure to thank them properly.  I like to send a handwritten note.  Make sure they know how much you value their advice.

So start building your board! You won’t regret it.