Recently we had our first experience with The Alternative Board after being invited by the highly qualified Claire Wilson. We were never sceptical of the program but were unsure if it was the right fit for the company as we are only newly established. Some of the other businesses involved are much larger with more staff, higher turnover and at different stages. Cash flow is also especially important during start up so we need to make sure our expenses are prioritised. During the session we were pleasantly surprised, what concerned us at the beginning was actually an unexpected benefit.
Others on the panel had fresh new ways to looking at challenges we had been facing because they had already been down that path with years of combined experience to leverage off. They questioned what we believed was fact opening up new doors and new opportunities. Not once did they propose a magic bullet, how to run our business, assume they knew our industry better than ourselves or that we had been doing something wrong.
It was a very positive conversation asking the right questions to come to our own conclusions. One of the reasons we found it so valuable is because it was an honest representation of what our clients would be thinking which allows us to connect better to our market.