Each Sunday our goal is to share a piece of gold with you. Some small piece of information that helps you to have a better week and achieve a better outcome.  

One of the best moves we have made in this history of JMARK is putting in a Board of Directors. When I speak with other business owners, they are often surprised that we have one, and utilize it as a full operating board with governance, decisions, budget review processes, and more.  

What I have realized over the years is that most problems in business have already been solved or navigated by others in the world. By having a board of amazing people who have been exposed and solved many challenges, it allows us to accelerate through issues without having to recreate the wheel.  

We put our board in place when we were around 60 people. However, I wish that I’d done it much sooner. If we had, we would have likely grown in revenue and profitability much sooner and more effectively.  

Here are my top 6 recommendations to consider in establishing a Board of Directors.  

  • Identify the top challenges that the organization will face in the next 12 to 36 months. Then, determine if you have the knowledge and experience to turn those challenges into opportunities. Here are some examples:  
    • Do you have the right legal structure to serve the organization? 
    • Do you have the right protections in place for the risks in the business (legal, financial, insurance, etc.)?  
    • Do you know how to scale to achieve the short-, mid-, and long-term objectives of the owners/investors?  
    • Do you have a multi-year financial plan to serve the business with the proper safety in the business (a cash plan)?  
    • Do you have access to industry best practices to help ensure you are able to benchmark your performance and constantly improve? 
  • The board should be the size necessary to bring the right set of skills to the table to serve your business. You need skills focused on growth, operations, financial management, legal & governance, and best practices for your industry. You might find these capabilities in 4 people but will likely be 5-7. 
  • You want people around you who are focused on the success of the organization, but also focused on success of the people leading the company. Similar to how leaders within the business serve their team, a good board will help serve the leadership of the organization to ensure there is proper balance, care, and be willing to challenge the leaders. 
  • Surround yourself with truth-tellers. This is true at the Executive Level and at the Board Level. It provides no value if you put in place a board that simply agrees with you (or the other leaders) and doesn’t push you. Find people who have the knowledge, experience, and personality to challenge you to be better, bring new ideas, and help you see things from different perspectives. 
  • Find energy producers. A good board meeting will help fill you (and others) with energy and enthusiasm. The meetings should not simply be a “return and report”. They should be focused on innovation, improvement, and helping to accelerate the business. This team of experts should help fill your energy cup to fuel your focus and determination for the next period. I promise, this is a gift that keeps giving! 
  • Lastly, a good Board should be reimbursed for their time. If you are truly bringing in experts, pay them a proper value for their time. Not just the time spent in preparation and meeting time, but for the years of experience they bring to the table. The proper team will more than substantiate an amount you invest. The ROI will be there in spades.  

Putting a proper board in place was one of the best decisions in our history. I am a big believer that if you are scaling and growing, it is in your best interest to utilize experts to speed up your ability to overcome challenges, identify “gotchas”, and improve the organization.  

The goal of AoD is to build better leaders who run better companies and change the world. If you’d like a copy of our minimum cash calculator, purchase your copy of Adapt or Die here and then go to adaptordie.com/assets to get started.