Archive for February 2010
The U.S. Small Business Administration is searching for participants in this year’s Emerging 200 Program.
The goal of the SBA Emerging 200 initiative is to identify 200 inner-city businesses across the country that show a high potential for growth—and to provide them the network, resources and motivation required to build a sustainable business of size and scale. The initiative will run executive training series in a number of urban areas and Native American communities during the 2010 cycle.
This initiative is a jobs and growth stimulation effort targeting promising inner-city small businesses. It focuses on small, poised-for-growth inner-city companies with potential for job creation. The six month intensive and comprehensive curriculum focuses on winning local strategies and attracting capital to fuel growth. In addition to 40 hours of class instruction, this includes 14 hours of mentoring.
The program is free of charge and will run from April, 2010 to November, 2010. All that is required on the part of the small business is a time commitment (60- 80 hours total) by the senior executive of the firm and a desire to take your business to the next level.
Small business owners interested in the E200 program are encouraged to contact their closest local office and/or the Emerging 200 Program at e200@sba.gov.
I won’t kid you, establishing an advisory board takes time and effort if you want to do it right. I use a multi-step process. If you haven’t recently completed any business or strategic planning I would recommend you plan to complete all the steps.
How long it really takes is completely up to you. Exhibit 19 in the Advisory Board Kit is a chart detailing the steps and the time line for completing each. I summarize it here:
Month One:
- Develop company vision
- Complete SWOT* analysis
- Identify skills & talents needed
- Develop the advisor profile
Month Two:
- Set advisor compensation
- Create the statement of roles & responsibilities
- Develop the advisor pitch
- Identify information to give prospective advisors
- Identify & prequalify prospective advisors
- Interview prospective advisors
- Check references
Months Three & Four:
- Continue to interview prospective advisors
- Continue to check references
- Pitch the prospective advisors
- Invite the prospective advisors to serve
- Orient the advisors
- Plan the meeting
- Run the meeting
In a perfect world expect the process to take 90 to 120 days. At the end of that time you will have a board comprised of people you really want to take advice from and be accountable to.
Want to learn more? Then check out the Advisory Board Kit: A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing an Advisory Board. The book and related programs are now available.
*Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats
A recent Small Business Trends blog post provided a good analysis of Anita Campbell’s webinar “How Can You Secure Credit for Your Small Business in Today’s Market?”. To learn about some of the options click through and read the post.
