CONCLUSION:
The IVOLVE +THRIVE Difference
Executive Summary
For many business owners the potential gains from joining a mastermind group or advisory board are enticing. Gains include accelerated sales and growth, improved productivity, and enhanced decision making. However, due to confidentiality issues, an unregulated industry, and poor efforts to track KPIs, it is difficult to determine the ROI an owner can expect by investing their time, energy and money into a support group of peers.
As an owner considering an Owner Advisory Board, key questions to ask include:
This paper serves as an effort to define what an Owner Advisory Board is and the value an Owner Advisory Board can provide. Utilizing an owner advisory board built with intention and care accelerates the growth of owners and their businesses. This creates stronger businesses, enhances decision making, reduces isolation, and gives owners back time to reinvest in their business, family, or in other aspects of their lives.
Ultimately, the value gained from participating in an owner advisory board requires a carefully structured process, a curated and exceptionally constructed board, and supportive facilitators providing expert insight into a myriad of business skill sets, knowledge trees, and behavioral science.
While there are many avenues to provide business development and ownership self-development, traditional models fail to both harness the collective wisdom of a true owner advisory board with a structure and process designed to equally develop both the owner and the business.
Introduction
Anyone who has run a business has faced the unpleasant task of having to decide on where to invest their time, energy, and money. Owner’s regularly deal with overwork, limited resources, and an array of choices on how to spend with little insight into where the best possible investment lies.
While dealing with uncertainty is expected as an owner, decision making needs to be thoughtful, intentional, and needs to drive positive results. Owner’s today are faced with a variety of choices in how they choose to continue to develop their business acumen , leadership skills, and decision making.
There are many methods of development available to owners. One method of development owners is the ‘mastermind.’ Napoleon Hill originally said that ‘when two people got together and worked on a problem or towards a goal, a third mind was created,’ what we know of today as a mastermind.
Today’s mastermind can be strictly defined as a group of people who support each other in personal and professional development. Masterminds typically include brainstorming, accountability and support in a group setting. Masterminds can differ in organization, structure and intention creating a fragmented market without clearly defining what a mastermind is.
Traditional masterminds fail to provide the best possible results due to poor structure, compromised selection of a curated peer group, and limited facilitation and support.
In this paper, we’ll identify how Owner Advisory Boards address the failures of traditional masterminds through exceptional structure, intention, and support.
What is an Owner Advisory Board:
Owner advisory boards (OABs) bring groups of diverse business owners together with intention. The creation of OABs are thus determined and narrowed by the profile of the business and owner. The role of owner has unique challenges and complex needs that require both true peers to offer each other quality advisory services and for owners to share common intentions that are critical to the success of the OAB. This also means that the creation of the board must be composed of owners with businesses that share similar characteristics of age, stage, and complexity.
Owner Advisory Boards are further enhanced by including various types of business both blue and white collar to avoid creating owner echo chambers and incorporating perspectives that are too similar. The structure in and around the owner advisory board meetings is developed with the intentions of the business owners at the core.
Most owners share universal challenges that apply across business, such as:
Isolation
Blind Spots
Overwork
Skill Gaps
Business Gaps
Background and Context
The Owner Advisory Board has been developed as an innovation and evolution on the traditional mastermind popularized by Napoleon Hill and today many small business owners benefit from the value of an Owner Advisory Board to help enhance decision-making and address the root causes of poor decision making, namely isolation, overwork, blind spots, and decision-making fatigue.
Universal Challenges
Owner’s today struggle with some universal challenges that are difficult to overcome on their own.
Isolation
Overwork
Blindspots
Isolation
Although we are more connected via technology than ever before, more often than not small business owners struggle with isolation. Studies have suggested that owners (willing to admit to) struggling with isolation can be as high as 30% to upwards of 50%! In fact a recent study found that 53% of owners worry about ‘doing it alone’ as well as the impact ownership has on the people they care about – friends, family etc. Inc.com
With isolation comes the troubling consequences of limited perspective, increased stress, and decision making fatigue. We have found that owners do not want to burden their partners and spouses with business stress and are less likely to ask for help when needed. This creates a reinforcing behavior and challenge that continues to isolate owners and is a major deterrent to accelerated growth and sales.
Overwork
In what’s become culturally embedded and not just accepted but lauded, overwork is a serious challenge of business owners today. Beyond the typical work that is involved in running a business, owners must now also have virtual storefronts and face pressure to cultivate an image of success.
Business owners reporting more than 50 hours per week
Reporting more than 60 hours worked per week
Overwork creates additional stress on owners and directly impacts an owner’s ability to make consistently strong decisions.
Blindspots
Owner’s today frequently face the challenge of the unknown unknown. For many owner-operators (the vast majority of small business owners) they have proven to be highly skilled at the technical work involved in their business. What many owners lack is any sort of formal training in business. In fact less than 50%of small business owners have a degree and owners without formal training are shown to fail more frequently than owners with degrees.
Owner blindspots attribute a significant amount of friction to small business growth. Unless an owner has been willing to implement a full suite of key personnel they are frequently at risk of blindspots that come from much of what they don’t know they don’t know.
Universal Goals
In addition to universal challenges, owners have Universal Goals they are frequently working towards
Accelerated Sales and Growth
Freedom
Agency
Successful Exit or Continuity Plan
The structure of a highly effective OAB requires formalized and consistent meetings for owners designed with a strong and repeatable process. This process must show clear and long term correlation between efforts and results.
OABs also demand a formal process and facilitation in place between meetings, to best assist owners in successfully achieving results.
While traditional masterminds try to help owners achieve these goals, without structure, intention, and robust facilitation, they fall short. The best owner and business results are driven by having a proven process, clearly defined intention and a formal structure.
The IVOLVE + THRIVE Structure
PEOPLE: The Foundation of IVOLVE + THRIVE Success
PROCESS: The Engine of IVOLVE + THRIVE Functionality
SUPPORT: The Safety Net for IVOLVE + THRIVE Members
People: The Foundation of OAB Success
The success of IVOLVE + THRIVE boards hinges on its members. Cultivating a group of true peers is essential, requiring a meticulous vetting and curation process to ensure alignment in business challenges, stages, and opportunities. This alignment fosters a fertile ground for peer advisory, where every member’s contribution is both relevant and valuable.
Vetting for Complementary Strengths:
Each potential board member undergoes a thorough interview process to assess their business's stage and challenges, ensuring they align with the board's collective needs. This careful selection process ensures that owners bring diverse yet complementary skills to the table, enhancing the board's overall effectiveness.
Building Mutual Trust and Understanding:
By prioritizing the cultivation of true peers, OABs facilitate the development of meaningful relationships. These relationships are built on mutual trust, shared experiences, and the recognition that everyone's input is valued, addressing the common issue of owner isolation
Process: The Engine of OAB Functionality
A well-defined process is critical for the success of IVOLVE + THRIVE boards, dictating the flow and effectiveness of both meetings and the intermeeting period. Our OABs include Monthly Intensive Meetings and Intermeeting Dynamics:
A robust process helps owners prioritize effectively, delegate more comfortably, and make better decisions, ultimately reducing overwork and dependency on the owner.
Monthly Intensive Meetings:
These meetings, whether in-person or virtual, focus on peer advisory, allowing members to share challenges and opportunities, review progress, and set clear goals for the future.
Intermeeting Dynamics:
The period between meetings is just as crucial, with systems in place to foster accountability and support the continuous progress toward quarterly and annual goals.
Support: The Safety Net for OAB Members
The right support mix is vital for the thriving of business owners within an OAB. This includes: Expertise in Behavioral Science, Business Acumen and Life and Goal Planning Expertise.
Support within and between meetings ensures that owners have both peer and expert resources to tackle any challenge or opportunity, fostering resilience, perspective, and growth.
Expertise in Behavioral Science:
Providing owners access to knowledge and strategies for improving mindset and decision-making.
Business Acumen:
Connecting owners with seasoned entrepreneurs who can share their journey and insights.
Life and Goal Planning Expertise:
Helping owners to maintain focus on their long-term vision, beyond the immediate business needs
Unleashing Growth In Action
The adoption of advisory boards underscores their value for business owners. Research, including our findings, demonstrates a significant ROI from participating in an OAB. Businesses and owners alike see considerable benefits, both tangible and intangible. We’ve identified four key outcomes highlighting the impact of OABs, addressing the return on investment and beyond.
Accelerated Growth
Greater Revenue
Businesses with an advisory board were:
Nearly 2x more likely to never have a flat or negative year.
Almost 2.5x more likely to hit 20%+
Higher Sales
Improved Productivity
0
x
Within our own boards, findings on revenue, sales, and productivity have been considerably higher. Many of our clients have experienced results in excess of industry norms.
Enhanced Decision-Making
Leaders felt that owner advisory boards had a significant impact on their business success. The primary reasons cited were the need for advice and enhanced decision-making.
This finding shows exactly how profound the impact of an owner advisory board can have on a small business. Out of the myriad of intangible benefits that arise from an OAB, enhanced decision-making is a crucial benefit that cannot be overstated.
These results clearly show that an advisory board improves the company’s vision and enables better strategic decisions. Moreover, an advisory board encourages entrepreneurs to think long term and define a direction for their company.
Respondents note that advisory boards had a direct, positive impact on:
- Company vision
- Innovation within the company
- Risk management
- Company profitability
- Company survival
- Sales growth
- Labour relations
- Hiring the best employees
CONCLUSION:
Given the amount of tools available for owners to help develop themselves and their businesses it’s no surprise that owners struggle to decide if Owner Advisory Boards are an appropriate investment of their time, energy and money.
Additionally, with the fail points found in traditional masterminds, owners should be concerned with any mastermind or peer advisory group that doesn’t have exceptional structure, process and facilitation. Traditional masterminds create reduced results. A highly effective OAB requires an extensive investment to design and facilitate and cannot be done by an owner ‘on the side.’
What sets apart IVOLVE + THRIVE is our no compromise approach to the PEOPLE, PROCESS, and SUPPORT. Our OABs have been reverse engineered and we have developed a proprietary process over 12 years creating the best possible results in the shortest amount of time. Our owners invest the least amount of resources for the greatest return on investment.
We invest considerable time and energy to cultivate true peers in our OABs. Our board invitations are exclusive to owners that demonstrate the right mindset, diverse strengths and businesses that are in similar stages and ages to their peers. Our selection process addresses one of the most common criticisms we hear from owners about other masterminds; ‘these are not my peers.’
3 Key Elements
Our process incorporates three key elements unique to IVOLVE + THRIVE that you won’t find anywhere else.
Science
We embed doctorate level behavioral science and mindset into our OABs. This is the most comprehensive behavioral and mindset expertise available and assists you in overcoming challenges faster and more consistently.
Tracking
We help you track KPIs through a robust intake and an online, SOC compliant repository. We implement positive accountability and emphasize results during and between our half-day monthly meetings.
Confidentiality
Our owners achieve best in class results through a no compromise approach to the integrity of our boards. We allow no visitors to your board meetings and never sacrifice your results to grow our business.
Empowering Ownership with
IVOLVE + Thrive
The IVOLVE + THRIVE approach is meticulously designed to enhance the experiences of business owners. Our OABs are distinguished by their high member retention, with board members averaging over 6 years of tenure. This statistic reflects the value and satisfaction derived from participation and illustrates the commitment and stability inherent in our community. Such long-term engagement is critical, as it fosters deep trust and sustained collaborative growth.
With an impressive re-engagement rate of over 90%, it is evident that the majority of owners recognize the boards as indispensable tools for personal and business development. This overwhelming approval highlights the success of our approach.
Owner Advisory Board Impact
There is clear evidence that illustrates how impactful the return on investment is for owners that join our boards. You’ll experience increased productivity, improved sales, accelerated growth, and enhanced decision making. You’ll experience significant measurable benefits in addition to a number of intangible benefits such as addressing isolation and cultivating a community of peers.
When considering the best options available to maximize an owners and business development, IVOLVE + THRIVE Owner Advisory Boards serve as the best vehicle to achieve the greatest possible results.
Register for one of our upcoming workshops and begin your journey with IVOLVE + THRIVE today.
To learn more join us at one of our upcoming workshops:
Published by:
Josh Blum Partner
IVOLVE + THRIVE
jbandthedoctor.com
Sources:
The Degree-less Entrepreneur, Lissa Mahler
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/degree-less-entrepreneur-why-56-small-business-owners-lissa-mahler/
Small Business Mental Health, Small Biz Silver Lining
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-new-study-says-75-percent-of-entrepreneurs-are-concerned-about-their-mental-health.html
Entrepreneurship Can Be Lonely, Justine Parsons
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/entrepreneurship-can-lonely-doesnt-have-justine-parsons/
Advisory Boards: An Untapped Resource for Business
Business Development Bank of Canada
Thrive Group, LLC
The findings in this study are based on the research of the above articles, studies, and our internal statistics derived from over 12 years of owner advisory board experience. Each individual and board will experience unique benefits that may extend beyond material covered in this article.