Investigatory matters
What if ...?
Nah ... wrong question
How would you and your business respond to having access to a select group of experienced business thinkers on your team, providing you with options and alternatives to specific issues you are facing?
Does that sound attractive?
A wide range of businesses, and I mean a wide range, from your local coffee shop to Airbnb have groups such as this, focusing on critical issues and growth opportunities as they recognise that external thinking will add critical input into their decision making.
So what do these groups do?
Whether your business is emerging, growing, making a huge shift or exiting, having appropriate skills and ideas can achieve things such as providing ....
- A space to share your vision
- Options to streamline your business practices
- Overseeing your risk management
- Protecting your IP, both formal and informal
- Structuring and implementing R&D
- Transaction readiness - debt, equity, exit
- A space to share challenges
- Provision of care and advice
Now is the time to Be Strategic
This group of people is called by many names including Advisory Board, a Strategic Council even a Think Tank. What is critical is that it doesn't advise you, doesn't direct you, it's just a group who provide you with an external ideas resource, assisting your business to achieve it's full potential.
So what is an Advisory Board?
Business owners and managers require critical thinking and more importantly future-focused insights to navigate market volatility and industry change, regardless of size.
We all recognise that businesses need to future-proof, and most importantly they need a future-plan. It is just as important to understand which of the possible futures are most likely to occur, and the resulting impact and opportunities each one presents.
Your Advisory Board is an independent group of individuals that meet regularly to provide you with options, for you to make decisions about how you are going to create a bigger future for your business.
It can be as diverse as one of the following
- Pop-Up Advisory Board
- A Project Based Advisory Board
- A Formal Advisory Board
Regardless of the type of board, they are each working with your Directors and key management team to create a bigger future for the business.
It could be that your business lacks a specific skillset internally, is struggling with groupthink or is seeking external input to solve a difficult or complex problem, an Advisory Board acts as a sounding board to support your internal business decision-makers with critical thinking, robust analysis and strategic insights.
An important thing to understand is that while your Advisory Board may provide pivotal advice and support to your business, the independent members of the Board do not have any fiduciary responsibility, they are not authorised to act or make decisions on your behalf or that of your company.
Now is a good time to discover the Power of Collective Ideas
Are you seeking to expand the skills base at a strategic level of your business?
Unsure as to who to choose or how to go about structuring or facilitating an Advisory Board?
Let's have a conversation with a purpose relating to your implementing an Advisory Board.
Certified Chair™
By engaging a Certified Advisory Board Chair you have access to:
- best practice support in the operations and performance of your advisory board
- clear professional guidelines and values to provide expertise and networks
- the very latest international research and application relating to Advisory Boards and their operations.
Background
I've been involved in establishing Advisory Boards, under many names and structures, for over 20 years, and have recently become a Certified Chair™ as part of The Advisory Board Centre’s Certified Chair™ program.
This framework provides you with additional connections into a global network of business leaders and advisors.