Every small business owner needs a board of directors, or at the very least a mentor, a business consultant, someone to “do it” with.

Every business owner needs a Board of Directors. Its a fact. First, we do much better when encouraged by others to leap further, stretch more, achieve more, be more creative, do better, etc. We see this in so many places, home team advantage with the crowds screaming encouragement, moms and dads at little league games. We all can accomplish more with support than we can by ourselves, yet most small  business owners do it all themselves with no one to cheer them on, support their efforts, or push them harder.

Coaches know this, everyone has at one time or another experienced this yet were it counts the most, in our business life, we all seem to prefer to do it ourselves, fighting our battles ourselves, alone, winning or losing with our own drive and effort. Its the way we do it.

It makes little sense for so many reasons yet we seem to prefer to be lonely at the top and stay there isolated doing the job the best way we can.

Additionally, with a Board of Directors, a coach, a mentor or a consultant, you not only have a cheering section, a driving force greater then yourself but also checks and balances as well as an unemotional point of view. Its very important to have someone to try your ideas out on, to make certain your thinking is clear, to test your theories and to have someone challenge your logic.

There is always some aspect you just did not foresee, or consider that someone else may think important and challenge you on. This prevents mistakes, oversights, miscalculations. Its performance insurance, success insurance, mistake insurance. A board supports success, helps you reach your goals and achieve greater success then you can achieve on your own.

I highly recommend you ask someone willing to be brutally honest, totally candid, willing to challenge your thinking and your performance, wanting to make you better, unwilling to compromise to be on your board.

Not only is this very important for your overall success by helping you achieve more then you think you can, and prevents mistakes and errors as well as possibly also providing you with new ideas, thoughts you did not consider and ideas you may not have had.

You may consider paying the man to be an outside director, paying a consultant to watch over you, or using your lawyer or accountant to review your work, but an active concerned aware Board of Directors is the best way to achieve this goal. You should meet periodically but often certainly no less then monthly and possibly weekly. You should review all aspects of your business including finance, operations, sales and marketing, with a complete review of all financial reports and key indicators.

The best situation however is having a Board of  Directors of interested participants, be them investors, lenders, friends, family managers. There should be an odd number on the board and majority should prevail unless you decide that unanimity rules. This cannot be a rubber stamp for the owner.

Even if the owner is the majority owner or even the 100% owner, he must allow the board to determine his actions providing checks and balances at the highest level.

The big corporations do this, why not learn from the best and follow suit. It makes sense, it works, we all need the help, support and guidance such a system provides. Your business is important enough. Get help get support, create a Board of Directors and empower them, listen to them.

Hire a Board of Directors now. Call for help 413-549-2966.