Since the 2008-2009 economic collapse, the business environment in the U.S. has been struggling while small business owners have attempted grow or at least maintain their businesses.
The challenges they face have been increasingly difficult as the entire global economy shrank, resulting in reductions in purchase orders, construction and business expansion.
Some business owners, however, have managed to grow profits and thrive even during these difficult times. What is their secret and how have they managed to beat the odds even in this economic climate?
The secret is in the advice these business owners receive from their peers for suggested solutions to the challenges confronting them. Business owners worldwide are finding that the best advice often comes from their peers – other business owners who have faced similar experiences and developed real-world strategies to sustain or expand their businesses.
One organization that offers these types of resources to business owners is The Alternative Board (TAB). TAB builds boards of non-competing business with average revenues of $1 million to $100 million, where owners meet monthly to tap into the wealth of experience and insight their peers bring to the table. Each peer advisory board is typically comprised of up to 10 business owners, CEOs and presidents. According to a recent survey conducted by The Alternative Board, of 300 small business owners, 60% of those who made a profit in 2011 were TAB members – or 1.5 times greater than non-TAB members.
The same study further noted that 67% of TAB Members trust advice from their board versus only 29% for non-TAB members, or more than 2 times greater. This peer think-tank format has been successful for tens of thousands of business owners globally since 1990.
Neil Katz independently owns and operates The Alternative Board in Baltimore, MD. According to Neil Katz, “We help small business owners achieve their personal and business dreams by bringing the expertise and knowledge of a collective group of business owners to the table. That’s very powerful.”
TAB-Certified Facilitator/Coaches help business owners spend less time working in their business and more time working on their business. This shift from tactical to strategic leadership often enables leaders to begin achieving what they originally set out to do as business owners.
TAB tools include a gap analysis tool to reorient priorities and resources to the most important business areas, a personal and company vision tool to ensure dreams are captured and a strategic business leadership tool that provides a detailed roadmap for achieving each vision through establishment of goals, strategies and action plans.
Neil Katz stated, “The way to survive and prosper in tough times is to surround yourself with smart non-competing business peers who can help you see your business blind spots, navigate the treacherous competitive waters and emerge victorious in what is truly one of the toughest economic environments to do business in our lifetime.”
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
Tags: Advisory, Small Business
