AdvisorsThere may come a time when you need to bring on advisors to help your business get to the next level. In Carol’s recent post on entrepreneur.com, “5 Best Practices When Bringing on and Working With Advisors,” she shares some stories from her personal experience. Carol begins:

“Whether your business is just starting out or you are trying to take it to the next level, having a board can help. Whether your board has formal fiduciary responsibilities to stockholders through directorship or is structured as an advisory board, you need to know how you utilize these advisors.

Here are a few ways to help your advisors help you to be a success:

  1. Be clear on your expectations.

What is it that you want your advisors to assist you with? It could be help with raising capital (through direct contacts or credibility), strategic advice, marketing and PR, product development, business development, sales or a whole host of other connections and areas. You just need to know and communicate your expectations.

Many of the companies that I have been an advisor to have found the most value in using me as a sounding board to keep them on track. That is an underrated value of having someone who can provide that discipline on your board.”

You can read the rest of the post here.