Improve Your Business by Getting Your Own ‘Dear Abby’

Entrepreneurs and small business owners often feel like they have to go it alone when it comes to building their organizations; but wouldn’t it be great if you had your own personal “Dear Abby” source of business advice?

Ever Wish for Your Very Own “Dear Abby” to Help Run Your Business?

Small business owners would have a lot fewer sleepless nights if they had their own “Dear Abby” source of expert advice when it came to solving business challenges. Find out how to create and run an expert advisory board to help take some of the weight of business problems off your shoulders.

Dear Abby was the title of a newspaper feature which became an iconic part of American culture as first Pauline Phillips, and later her daughter, Jeanne Phillips dispensed expert advice on a variety of societal, relationship, etiquette and other topics under the pen name Abigail Van Buren, whose fans addressed letters her affectionately as “Dear Abby.”

Entrepreneurs, independent agents, consultants, small business owners and owner/operators often feel that they are going it alone, with no one to share the burden of worrying over or coming up with solutions to their professional challenges.

However, we came across an interesting idea this week on foxbusiness.com which suggested that small business owners and entrepreneurs could essentially create their own go-to advisory boards by tapping peers, local experts and possibly even customers to participate in a brain trust which could provide valuable expertise and advice for these business owners.

5 Questions to Ask and Answer When Selecting a Small Business Board of Advisors for Dear Abby Guidance

How Many People Should You Include?

Start with a group of 3-5 people on your small business advisory board. This is a small enough group that it should be fairly easy to coordinate schedules and accommodate the meeting space needed.

Who Should You Invite to Participate?

Think carefully about the type of people you want to advise your business; after all, you may base some important decisions on their input. Best friends, investors, family members and even key employees or customers might come to mind; however, they might not be the best choices.

Ideally your small business advisory committee would be comprised of people who have expertise in running a successful business, industry knowledge, technical know-how in areas where you lack and who have the ability to be objective and truly put the best interests of the business first.

How Often Should Your Advisory Board Meet?

Meeting too often can become burdensome, especially for volunteer participants. Initially, try setting two meetings a year on the calendar, and consider group text or email services you could use to ask questions in the interim or get expert advice when urgent or unusual challenges arise.

What Will the Meeting Format Be?

Unless it’s a formal board, you may dispense with mastery of Robert’s Rules of Order when it comes to conducting your board meetings or making decisions. On the other hand, determining a basic agenda and structure which will be used for each meeting, deciding who will take notes or provide reports and setting boundaries (such as confidentiality of information discussed at the meeting and whether or not the board will have any decision-making authority) ahead of time can make your time much more productive.

How Can You Get the Most Out of your Advisory Board?

• Respect the time of board members. Adhere to scheduled meeting dates and times, and try not to request many alterations to the schedule.
• Good will can quickly turn to goodbye if participation becomes a burden. Don’t let meetings run long or burn out advisors by bombarding them with insignificant questions at or in between scheduled meetings.
• Come with a meeting agenda, not a personal one. Let someone else in the group play the role of devil’s advocate. Listen carefully and try to absorb all opinions expressed by meeting participants, leaving judgment or criticism of ideas for later on.
• Be appreciative. Thank participants after each meeting and recognize the group or individuals within it who provide valuable ideas which you use to solve problems or improve your organization.

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