Give your business a boost with your own advisory board

It can be lonely being a business owner.

Most of us need an outlet, a sounding board to share the highs and lows with, ask for advice and to provide support. It could be a spouse, a trusted member of the team, an old business pal, a paid advisor - I've offloaded to all of these over the years and continue to do so.

But what if you could have your own informal board of fellow business owners? A group of people who understand the issues and challenges you face, who want you to succeed and are there to help you. Wouldn't that be great?

Well it is. I can say that with confidence because I've had my own informal board for the last few years. We meet every couple of months or so and take it in turn to be the host - providing a meeting space and copious amounts of coffee and biscuits.

We met this week and we were reflecting on the amount of change we have seen in the few years we have been getting together. We have all seen significant change, both in our personal lives and in our businesses. Nothing stands still.

For me, the main purpose of groups like this is to support and challenge. Our group is particularly good at the 'support' bit. I think we are all naturally helpful people so we look for the positive and try to encourage and motivate each other. 

For me that has been brilliant. I have floated a number of what I thought were crazy ideas with the group. They have built on these and offered encouragement and I have gone on to launch them successfully. A couple of examples which spring to mind are starting our own networking group, 'Growth Club' and developing and launching our own printed newsletter, 'Beans Talk'. 

I don't know if my colleagues would agree with me but something we are perhaps not so good at is challenging each other. We do it but our challenges can be subtle and nuanced. I'm sure that some groups are more direct and as a consequence their meetings may be more uncomfortable. It comes down to what works for a particular group. Having a disruptor or two amongst you may add some value but it may mean that a group is short-lived.

So if you get the opportunity to form your own group I would recommend it. A good place to start is to chat with some business colleagues you already know and trust and see how they feel about making a commitment to meet regularly. It could just be one of the best business decisions you make.

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