This economy has certainly battered my business around a bit. There are times I’ve felt like a ship in a storm-tossed sea. But I have been able to stay on a relatively even keel and keep my sights set on my destination, thanks to my advisory team.
“Advisory team.” It’s a highfalutin’ term for what some people consider good friends who will be a sounding board for you in a pinch. Whether you pay them or you don’t, have formal arrangements with them or not, they are crucial in one major respect: You can’t build a successful business without them.
I’ve learned from personal experience that I really flourish when I have others helping me keep my eyes above the dashboard, making sure I keep working toward my strategic goals. Without them, I’ve gotten stuck in my own mishegaas, like a dog chasing its tail. I have people I’m accountable to (other than me, my own worst taskmaster). People to keep me focused so that I don’t spread myself too thin. People to share the victories with. Two who come to mind are Dawn Fotopulos of SmallBusinessHow2.com (”simplify, focus and leverage” is her mantra for me) and Rochelle Lisner of DynamicBusinessGrowth.com (who reminds me to “speak in stories” not “information dumps”). And there are more! I wouldn’t be where I am without them.
You can build a dream team of your own, too! For tips on how to do that, sign up for a complimentary copy of my Entrepreneur’s Business Law Primer, available at GreatBusinessLawResources.com/bizlaw. It includes an audio clip on “how to choose an advisory team” that I think you’ll find helpful. Let me know if you do!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am and is filed under Business Planning, Running Your Company, Your Advisory Team. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
