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I never really thought about where I go for business advice until two different coaches tried to recruit me for their programs. I am an unlikely prospect for formal coaching. I write a business column, after all, and I read about and talk to people every day about business models, budgeting, invoicing, marketing strategies, and other core aspects of running a business. So I get that it’s hard work—and that you can’t do it all yourself.
Whether you are a freelance writer or an independent consultant, or run a small business with several employees, you’ve hopefully figured this out too. Which raises the big question: Who do solopreneurs and small business owners turn to for advice?
Shawn Kinkade, a Kansas City-based business coach and founder of Aspire Business Development, is an advocate for peer advisory boards, which give people an opportunity to get ideas, feedback and perspective. He told me that “whether you participate in a group facilitated by a business coach or start one of your own, the concept works really well and is a great resource for business owners.”
I’ve always said that my approach is to have an informal advisory board of smart people. Mine have great business instincts, good marketing ideas and business development savvy. And they’re not afraid to tell me when they think I’m off base.
“Being able to accept advice is key,” said Len Porcano, chief technologist at Novisi LLC, near Allentown, Pennsylvania. “As a business owner, it’s critical that you learn to seek out that criticism. You have to ask for it, or else there’s no room for growth. You stall out; you don’t get any better.”
Porcano joined a formal business-coaching program shortly after he started his company. He said the program, which involves a combination of self-study and weekly group conference calls, has two concurrent tracks: goal-setting, and sales and marketing.
Porcano told me that the coaching program has helped him “to understand what is possible as a small entrepreneur.” As an example, he cites his dilemma over hiring a salesperson to help generate revenue—but first needing revenue to pay for the position. “At least five people said the same thing: If the person is really good, they won’t need a salary,” said Porcano. “It shifted my perception of what was possible.” He recently hired someone who had brought in US$15 million in sales last year for another IT company.
Creating your own advisory group
While some people thrive in a formal setting, others have developed their own advisory group models. Becky McCray, a small town entrepreneur based in Alva, Oklahoma, and author of the popular Small Biz Survival blog, formed her own five-member Business Advisors Group in June 2008. Its focus: big-picture thinking. The group holds a monthly phone call, and members leave the meeting with their own to-do lists. “Our goal is to raise our heads up from the minutia of running a business to focus on goal-setting and establishing milestones,” said McCray.
McCray told me that, at the outset, she established a couple of ground rules. First, every person who was added to the group had to be unanimously approved. McCray noted that she felt it was important that all the members knew each other prior to joining the group. “We didn’t want people that someone didn’t know,” she said. “While we’ve learned a lot about each other, there was some interaction to build upon—along with trust.”
Second, McCray stressed that the process needed to be cooperative and not competitive. She added that she didn’t want people whose approach is to benchmark their success against other bloggers and small business owners.
McCray also identified another element to consider, whether you’re establishing a formal group or seeking advice more informally: Make sure your business advisers share your business philosophy.
This is really important. I don’t believe in asking for a finder’s fee when I refer business, so being in a business group with anyone whose tendency is to put a transactional value on everything would be the wrong fit for me. Similarly, there’s been a lot of discussion lately in the blogging community about sponsored posts and when and how to monetize your work. It’s not that there’s one right or wrong answer—there are just different approaches. But McCray’s right, your business advisers can serve you best if your fundamental approach and business values are in synch.
Ad hoc works too
While Porcano and McCray are using formal business advisory structures, they’re also bouncing ideas off colleagues, family and/or friends. And, it seems, so is just about everyone else.
“I have tried to build a team of people who know what they are talking about,” said Brett Hart, founder of n3 Technology in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “I bounce ideas and strategy off my mentors, my team of professionals and my employees. I try to encourage my employees to become stakeholders. I want to know their opinions.”
Meanwhile, a lot of people could also learn from Sami Rageb’s approach. Rageb, a freelance IT consultant in the Chicago area, said he “took a course on business planning, got involved with [his] local entrepreneur community, and read a lot about start-ups, case studies and small business resources.” He added that he “watches other companies’ successes and failures, business models, financial models, positive and negative moves made by the competition, and concepts successful in other industries that haven’t been translated to mine.” Rageb also bounces ideas off friends, family and mentors from his corporate days.
While it’s great that we’re smart enough to ask for help, it’s up to us to sort out what will and won’t work for our businesses and to be comfortable in our decisions.
And thus, I go back to something Hart told me. “Of course, the ultimate decision on what we do as a company and what chances we take are mine,” he said. In other words, seek advice, ponder and learn—but recognize that, at the end of the day, you’re responsible for what you opt to do.
Daria Steigman runs Steigman Communications LLC, and advises clients on business and communications strategy and public affairs. She also blogs about business, entrepreneurship, and social media on her Independent Thinking blog. She can be reached at +1 202.244.7651 or
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