Colleen Ferrary Bader is the Founder and President of Small Business USA and she said:

“The power of many will always exceed the power of one.”

In my experiences in committees in professional organizations and working in schools and school districts of various sizes, I have seen the power of many to help with taking action and benefitting from diverse ideas.

There is truly strength in numbers.

Sitting on committees and teams and working with others who have different areas of specialty. Those who are subject matter experts in fields different to mine, brought perspectives and lessons learned that I did not think of or even considered.

When we have ideas, we tend to sit and work in our own bubbles. Putting in so much time energy and effort to formulating that idea and even in executing that idea.

When it works well we are ecstatic! But then we might struggle with how to get that idea to the next level and improve it

Now let’s talk about when the idea we executed it and it didn’t work

Which is what tends to happen with a lot of us. When that happens what do we do?

Sometimes we might give up and think that it was a crappy idea anyways, even when we don’t truly believe that....

Or we might try implementing the idea in a different way, but that still doesn’t work!

Or the worse one of all….and that is continue to implement the failed idea in the same way over and over hoping somehow to get a completely different result.

Why do we do that to ourselves?

Why is it that think that we need to take on everything ourselves and not ask for help?

By the way, I have a video on the topic of asking for help. Check it out for more information to support you.

But back to our discussion of doing everything ourselves in our business.

There’s tons to do when we are growing our businesses.

And when we take on everything ourselves and we try to figure it out all on our own, we can lead ourselves down the path of burnout and our wellbeing suffers which ultimately impacts our businesses in a negative way.

So what is the alternative to doing it alone?

What can you do to help you?

Coaching is a great opportunity for you to get help, but sometimes, we may need to work in a group to get added perspectives.

Remember the quote that I started with “The power of the many exceed the power of one.”

So this where a peer advisory board can come in handy for you and your business.

There are several different types and levels of peer advisory board and I highly recommend that you research your options instead of picking the very first one that you come across.

Some of them are based on the amount of revenue you make or on a specific geographical location.

Don’t worry, there are some, like the ones we offer, that are available virtually.

But you have to do your research to find the one that fits you.

So what are peer advisory boards anyways, you might be thinking?

Peer advisor boards provide business owners to access expertise and solutions that they don’t typically have access to.

Let’s be honest, many small business owners are entrepreneurs or solopreneurs. So we don’t have a huge team of executives readily available to meet and brainstorm ideas.

So that’s where a peer advisory board comes in.

They are comprised of business owners from different industries…this means that they are non-competitive

They support and share their experiences about the things that worked for them and that can help you to grow your business.

You get that outside perspective that your business needs to help you get over roadblocks. You get to be in a group where you are not only supported, but that you are encouraged. But this doesn’t mean that it’s all roses and an easy walk in the park.

Your peers are going to ask you difficult questions. Not to make you feel bad about your business, but to help you to see alternatives, identify weaknesses, and embrace solutions so that you can use to move your business forward.

To truly benefit from the peer advisory board experience, you will need to be open and honest.

You are held accountable and are pushed to achieve your goals.

You get to build relationships with other business owners, founders, and entrepreneurs.

One of the many benefits of belonging to a peer group are the referrals that you share with each other.

Because, no 2 people on the board are from the same industry. So you have the opportunity to refer others.

Peer advisory boards are confidential!

They are small groups. So this means that they do not exceed 15 or 16 business owners.

For each peer advisory board, there is an individual who is the facilitator and coach that guides and frames the discussions so that meetings are kept focused and meaningful. We want those peer advisory boards to be productive.

You can also choose to have 1:1 coaching sessions with that same coach so that you can get further individualized exploration into your specific issues, if needed.

Know that being a member of a peer advisory board takes commitment. You are committing to meeting regularly and to supporting other members in your board.

It will help your business out tremendously, because you get to discuss issues and solutions that are related to strategic planning, marketing, efficient operations, how to allocate your time, when to delegate, partnerships, and more!

Before I go, I just wanted to clarify that peer advisory boards are NOT the same as networking groups.

Remember that peer advisory boards are comprised of members who are not from the same industry and who do not have any vendor-client connections. The networking evolves naturally!

End your frustrations and stress and get started in a virtual Peer Advisory Board with us to get back your joy of having your business!

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Dr. Priscilla Kucer "Dr. P"

Founder & CEO

Priscilla Kucer Consulting Solutions, LLC