Your Advisory Board Needs These Kind of People for Success

After receiving funding for startups, leaders often create strategic plans to invest in the company. From a company location, product investments, and employment companies develop these plans to develop short-term and long-term growth. Another key area of investment is in a company’s advisory board.  
 
Leaders can’t reach success for their company alone. Advisory boards come in many variations as they relate to the organization, and they provide outside skill, advice, and expertise to help keep companies intact. Formal or informal, consulted once a week or once a month, advisory boards help mentor and guide organizations on how to grow, scale, and how to create strong relationships in the industry.   
 
But there are many factors to consider when selecting the best advisory board for a company. Size, meaningful contributions to the company, and costs are just a few. Here are three good tips to consider: 
 
Create your visionary plans for the organization, first
Before bringing any employees or board members to the table, make sure you have foundational elements for the company in place. Your board members are going to want to consider your sound and strategic plan before committing to the growth of the company. Provide them with a strong mission, your target audience and clientele, your values, and your current plan of scale – give them something strong to consider.  
 
Select board members that fit the stage of your company
Time is of the essence, and it’s important to select members that will help you reach your current or short-term goals. While visionary thinkers are excellent additions, you’ll want to find members that can help you maximize the company’s immediate business objectives.  
 
Establish terms for your advisory board members
Similarly, to the first tip, setting term limits help create a board that reflects the current needs of the company. Limits help board members transition in and out smoothly – meaning, if the board member serves excellent purpose through their first term, it makes sense to renew their second term. If the board member turns out to not be a great fit, or if life happens and they aren’t able to contribute as well as when they first started, the term sets the precedence for their exit.  
 
Just starting your business? Get creative with compensation 
Advisory board members often have other primary streams of income. For new startups, a bartering system may work better for advisory board members than monetary compensation. Can your company offer connections or resources? Opportunities for your members? Cut back on immediate costs by exchanging value.  
 
Advisory boards are meant to provide organizations with solutions to challenges, and help them execute their strategic plan. Being intentional about your member selection and setting a strong foundation beforehand is one closer step to reaching company goals.  

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