BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 92.

Hello, hello! Thank you so much for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. I am your host, Bird Williams. And today we're asking the question, do I need a board of advisors? 

So I've mentioned having a board of advisors in a few of the recent episodes here on the show, and I knew I would need to have an entire podcast episode dedicated to it, because I have heard story after story of entrepreneurs feeling so alone, feeling overwhelmed by having to make so many decisions by yourself. And just having the support of something like a board of advisors is hugely helpful. 

You might have people in your network, your colleagues, mentor, other leaders in your industry, who would love to support you in a more structured way. That's why you should consider having a board of advisors. I can't wait to get into all of it, because while this is a quick episode, we're going to talk about the difference between a board of advisors and a board of directors. We're going to talk about what you need to consider to have in the contract and how you should communicate with these folks, and how to find the right people strategically. So it's going to be a good one. 

But before we dive in, I want to do something that I haven't done in a very long time. I want to do a listener shout-out. You're able to leave a review on Apple Podcasts for Bird Means Business, which I would absolutely love for you to do. And I like to shout some of them out every now and then. 

I share so much. I can't believe it's 92 episodes on the show so far. It's been wild. You know, there's all this great free content. There's content galore on social media. You're going to hear one business maven say one thing and another say a different thing. And there's so much information to kind of digest. At the end of the day, you've got to figure out what you resonate most with, where your business is, the resources you have at hand, and how you're going to move forward, and then do what Russalmighty is saying. Execute on it. No one is going to do that part for you. So you could take in all the information and all the content you want. But at the end of the day, you got to say, okay, I'm gonna make a decision to move forward strategically in this direction. 

There's one from Russallmighty, and this is what they say, "Great applicable information. Outstanding podcast. It's awesome to hear viewpoints from other entrepreneurs. Even though we're not all in the same industry, we face similar problems and in this podcast, you can listen and try tips and tricks given through Ashley and her awesome guests. A lot of free game, we just have to execute." I just love that so much, especially the last part. He's like, this is just a lot of free game that you have to execute. 

Again, I never want to tell you what to do. With all that I've shared here on the podcast, in my emails, on social media, I don't want you to come to the podcast and say, okay, Bird says to do this, I'm going to just do that. I want to teach you how to think, think about the season you're in, the resources you have. And by resources, I mean the money you have, the time you have, the energy you have, and the vision you have for your business, and think strategically about how to get there. Think about the different phases of your business and all of that. 

So I know that was quite a tangent, but I just really loved reading that review. So thank you Russalmighty. If you're listening, it meant so much to read that. And if you're listening in and you haven't left a review for Bird Means Business podcast, it would mean the world for you to do that. On Apple Podcasts, you can just go there and leave a review if the podcast has helped you in any way. That would be awesome sauce. 

All right, well, let's jump into the episode. Now. again, the importance of having something like a board of advisors is to really just have support. I have heard, like I said, story after story of entrepreneurs, especially right now in the climate we're in, feeling just overwhelmed with all the things. I was actually interviewing a podcast guest recently who's actually going to be on the show next week. And she was saying, you'll hear in that episode, I'm just tired of making decisions. Like there's so many decisions to make. Having a sounding board, especially if you're a solopreneur, meaning you are the only one working in your business. The only owner I should say in your business, you're a solopreneur. Having a sounding board, other people who have your best interests at heart, who are on board with your vision, who have extra resources to help you. It's huge. So your board of advisors consists of people who are invested in the success of your brand and helping you make strategic connections and providing guidance. They're kind of like allies in your business's growth. 

So they may be a group of people who maybe are leaders in your industry. Or maybe they have success that's relevant to your business. Or maybe they're connected in some way to your ideal client or your audience. They have some kind of path to them that makes sense for them to be on your board of advisors. Another thing is, they just might be someone you really trust. 

You may have heard the term board of directors. So unlike a board of directors, your advisory board, they don't make business decisions. And they also can't hire or fire you, the CEO. Advisors typically aren't paid in equity or cash, which is typical of a board of directors for a for-profit entity. So if you're on a board of directors for a corporation, you're typically going to be paid in some way. That's not the case with a board of advisors. 

Typically, in general, a board of advisors' role is much less powerful than a board of directors. And that can give you more comfort as a CEO. Some people hear board of advisors and they think, oh, are they gonna be able to tell me what to do? They don't have that power, so they're just really there to help give you that support like we talked about. 

So it's so important to lay all of these terms out, all the terms of your relationship out upfront in a contract so that everything is super clear. Meaning if you're asking someone to be on your advisory board, you want them to know that there won't be pay if that's the case. You want them to know what the time commitment might be. You want them to know what their role will look like. You want them to know that they won't be making business decisions, as an example. So you just want to make sure that it's very clear exactly what they're going to be doing and what that role will look like. And that it's all in an actual contract. I'm gonna say it again for the people in the back. Have an actual contract, even from your mama, if she's on the board. I want her to have a contract too. That is so incredibly important. 

Now, let's talk a little bit about how to find the right people strategically. I want you to be super intentional with who you choose to sit on your advisory board, and also with how you engage with your board members. So I want you to choose people who really align with your core values. Defining your core values and understanding what that is for your business is so important. And it's one of those fundamental foundational things because your core values will literally flow into everything else you do in your business - how you design your products, how you market your business, what you have in your place of business, all kinds of things. So that's again another little sidetrack. But your core values will actually help you determine people who should be on your board of advisors, because you're gonna say, "Do we have the same core values?" It's going to be important that you're aligned there. 

And also you want people on your board who are aligned with your vision. You don't want someone on the board who you as a CEO, you're saying this is where I'm trying to go. This is how the brand develops. This is the phase I think we're in now. And this is where we're going next. And they're not in agreement with that, and they're trying to kind of deter you. You don't want that. 

Now, of course, you want suggestions and feedback. Absolutely. That's the whole point of having people on the board. But you want someone who is excited about your vision and wants to support that. 

Another thing in terms of being intentional around how you engage with your board members, I want you to set a schedule for how often you'll meet with them. Again, I want it to be intentional. And I want you to think about what updates you'll provide in those meetings. So for example, it could just be quarterly. It could be bi-annually. It can just be annually. It depends on how you want to engage with your board. But you want to really think about what am I going to be updating them about? Is it about new partnerships, new product offers, just kind of what's going on? Is that like a 30-minute catchup, or what does that look like? Is it a Zoom meeting? Is it a phone call? Like really think and be intentional about how that looks, because again, that's going to help when you are communicating to the people you're asking to be on the board. It's going to help them think, okay, they really know what they're talking about. They're really serious about this, they're being intentional. And it's going to make them feel more excited, I would think, to be on the board as well. 

Now, again, your advisors are going to help hold you accountable to your goals and to your vision. So you're going to want to feel comfortable opening up to them about all of that. 

Some things I want you to think about. First of all, maybe ask yourself why they may have said no, or why they may not have responded. Maybe they're just not a good fit. Maybe they read your email or listened to what you had to say, and it was just like, I don't think I'm really a good fit for an advisory board. Or maybe it's just not the best season of their life, and they just have a whole lot going on and they don't think they can provide as much value as they would want to in this season of their life. Maybe they just don't want to. And that's okay, too. Because, again, you want people on your advisory board who want to be there who are excited about supporting you. So that was the first thing. 

One thing I just want to note. I want you to remember that these are people who are giving you their time, and their resources, maybe their connections, and all of this sometimes for free, if you choose not to pay your advisory board members. So just make sure you recognize that and be really respectful of that. And again, the more information you give them upfront, the easier it will be for them to make a decision. And I know I've mentioned it a couple of times because I actually had a client. She was in my Prove It Plan course. It's my online course for developing a strategic business plan. And we go into much more detail about your advisory board and your team in general. Anyway, she reached out to someone to ask them to be on her board. And she was telling me, she was like they never responded, and was trying to figure out what went wrong. 

So a few things. This is what I asked her to analyze or think about and I'm giving you this example in case this happens to you. If you listen to this episode, and you're like, okay, this is great. I think I need a board of advisors. They're going to help give me more support. I'm thinking of people who could be great for that. I'm so excited, and then you go reach out to them. And it's like crickets. 

When we first started I mean, I was coming from New York City where I was working on Wall Street as an investment banking analyst. So I had some business background, but it was really more so like IPOs and market stuff. And Terry had great experience as a fitness trainer here in Houston. But we'd never run a business. We didn't know exactly what we were doing. And we wanted that support. And so we structured a board of advisors and we had our young adults pastor on our board. 

We had a friend from college who worked at a local news station, which was huge. I'm actually going to shout her out because I know she would love this. Nayla Cantu. That's my girl. I know I probably shouted her out on podcast before. We met in college. We were college friends, and you never know how people can really impact your life later. Well, fast forward to us launching a gym, she was so pumped and so hype about it. She was excited to be on our board. And when I tell you she wanted to support our vision and use her resources to do so, she was always pitching The League, our gym, for media stuff. "Oh, y'all need a trainer? Y'all need a nutritionist. And you're talking about like January. It's a new year. Oh, I got your people, Ashley and Terry at The League." We were on television so much, so much, so that friends and family were asking us like, "Are y'all paying for these spots?" And we were like, "No, it's just Nayla. She's amazing." And so she was on our board. And because she felt excited and empowered to be on our board, she felt like it was an honor to be on our board as a friend of ours. She was excited to use her resources, her platform, what she's been exposed to, to help us. So that's something to just consider. 

But we had all different types of people on our board. I think we had about four or five board members and we would mainly send them updates here and there. But the biggest thing was an annual update. We would send them a PowerPoint presentation that would outline like where our numbers were, where our partnerships were, what that looked like, how we were adjusting our packages and pricing, and things like that. Just basically kind of updating them and saying like, hey, if there's anything, if you want to share the word, if you have something that you could help us think about in terms of marketing, like, holla. It was not a whole lot of pressure on them or work for them. It was more like hey, this is what we have going on. Give us your feedback and help us grow the brand however you can and that sort of thing. So that's just something to consider. I wanted to give you kind of a real-life example of our gym business and how it works for us. 

Another thing is just asking yourself if they had questions that maybe were unanswered. Could you have been more upfront about things? The more clarity you provide, if you can go to someone and say, hey this is my business, if they don't already know about it. This is where I'm trying to go and I really need some support right now. Whether it's just you, or maybe you and a partner. This is what I'm trying to do. I'm starting an advisory board, a board of advisors, and I would love for you to be on it. We'll meet quarterly. It'll be just 30 minutes on Zoom. I'm not going to expect a lot. You know what I mean? Making sure that you really tell them exactly what it looks like so that they can kind of frame it and see if it can fit in their life. 

If you go to them and you just say, "Hey, I'd love for you to be on my advisory board. Would you like to do that?" That's more vague. If someone came to me with that, I would think, oh man, do I really know what I'm getting into? Am I going to say yes and then they're going to expect a whole lot from me that I can't give? So again, that clarity is so important.  And again going to them and saying, "Hey, there's a contract." Again, that helps. It's like this is legit. This person is very serious about this and my time will be respected and protected. So that's just something to think about. 

If someone says no, or if someone doesn't respond, just try again. If someone says no, ok it’s all good. No ba blood. I always tell people that too if I'm asking them to do anything for me related to my business. "Hey, if you don't want to do this, I will love you no less." Because, again, you want people who really want to be there and who don't feel bad so they're doing it, right? No matter what you try again. You find someone else. When you ask someone, put yourself out there, it can feel scary, it can feel vulnerable. But, do it and you never know what response you might get. 

I'm going to give you a little example of my business. If you don't know, I have a gym here in Houston, Texas. It's called The League. We've had it since 2013. So it's about to turn 8 years old in December. It was our first baby. We love the gym. It's been amazing. Anyway, I'm not going to go into all of that.

Another thing is a tiebreaker if you have a partnership. Me and Terry, there were times where we were arguing about silly things like the retail, the design for it or something or whatever it might be, and we just could not agree. And we would say okay, let's take it to the board of advisors. Let's ask our team, you know, other people to help us kind of get a tiebreaker. So there's so many different ways that your board of advisors can provide support for you and your brand. And if it's right for you, I'd love for you to consider it. 

So what I want you to do is evaluate where you are in business. I know some of you listening might be not in business yet, you're just planning and thinking about it. Some of you are actually in business. Maybe you've been offering your business for a few years now. Think about where you are and what you need, and decide if this is right for you or not. And maybe it's even like, for this strategy firm, I don't have a board of advisors yet, it's something I want to do at some point in the future when the business is in a different place. Again, it's something that you have to really think about what you need, and whether or not it's something you do right away, or that you do down the road. 

You can already start just jotting down a list of people who could be on your board, and maybe even prioritize them because you don't want a whole lot of people on your board. For me, personally, I probably wouldn't have more than like, six or so, seven, maybe. Outside of that can start to get a lot. And then depending on how these board of advisors want to interact with the business and all of that, it can get tough as a CEO, as a solopreneur, trying to do all the things and also having to manage connecting with these people. 

So again, think about what's right for you. Prioritize your list. And when the time is right, go to the first person on your list and ask them, see what they say. If they say no, or they can't or they're not sure or if they don't respond, then tweak how you pitched it as you go to the number two on your list and go down that way. I think that if you could really get this right if it works for you, it could just be a huge source of support. A sounding board. Hey, I just can't decide. 

Okay, so as always, thank you so much for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. Thank you for subscribing on Apple Podcasts so that you don't miss any episodes. And you could also follow the show on Spotify. Please, please, please tell every entrepreneur you know about this episode, so that they can consider if they need a board of advisors too. 

Alright, talk to y'all next week.