Impartial business advice comes from people who have no financial interest in your decisions and no reason to tell you what you want to hear. It can be more valuable than relying solely on your own judgement because personal biases, loyal employees and paid...

When you're facing an important business decision, who tells you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear? Business owners rarely lack access to advice. Accountants, consultants, leadership teams and even family members can all offer valuable input. But...

When you’re making a decision about which car to buy or where to go on holiday, chances are you’ll ask people you trust. You want to hear from those who’ve already weighed up the options, made their own choices and can tell you what worked — and what they’d avoid. ...

As business leaders, we all know it can be “lonely at the top”. This is one of the key reasons that so many entrepreneurs seek out a peer advisory group - an organisation whose main purpose is to create an environment for non competitive business leaders to share...

It can be lonely at the top, which is precisely where many business owners spend a lot of their time. Loneliness, however, isn’t known to inspire cutting edge creativity or cost slashing resourcefulness. As an entrepreneur, it’s creativity and economic savvy—among...

The biggest difference between a board of directors and an advisory board comes down to one thing: authority.  A board of directors has formal legal responsibilities and decision-making powers within a company. Directors can vote on significant business decisions,...

What does a Business Advisory Board Do? A business advisory board is a group of experienced people who meet regularly to help a business owner make better decisions, work through challenges and identify opportunities. Unlike a board of directors, an advisory board...

At The Alternative Board, we’re always looking for ways to make the support we provide business owners even more valuable. That means going beyond what we believe works and understanding why peer advisory boards work, backed by independent research. For almost five...

You probably have a picture in your head of where you’d like your business to be in three or five years. Maybe it’s a bigger and more profitable business. Perhaps you want a strong leadership team that doesn’t need you involved in every decision. You might want to...

Many businesses invest time creating a set of company values, but over time they can fade into the background. They appear on the website, in induction packs and on office walls, yet they're rarely discussed or used to guide everyday decisions. Ask a few employees to...

Most small business owners have a sense of where they want their business to go. The challenge is turning that picture of the future into something clear enough to guide the decisions they make today. It is easy for a business vision to become confused with a mission...

Business owners make decisions every day. Most are relatively straightforward. Others can have a lasting impact on your people, cash flow and the future direction of your business. Should you hire another employee? Increase your prices? Invest in new equipment? Expand...

Providing feedback to a manager can be uncomfortable. They're someone you've trusted with responsibility, your team relies on them, and their performance influences everyone around them. It's often tempting to avoid the conversation, drop subtle hints, or hope the...

Many businesses reach a stage where performance levels off, engagement starts to decline, or projects don't progress as smoothly as they should. The instinctive response is often, "We need leadership training." In some cases, that's exactly what's required. In many...

Most managers don't lose control of their week because of one major decision. They lose it to the small things: forgotten commitments, unfinished follow-ups and meetings that continue simply because no one questions whether they're still needed. An effective weekly...