Who Do You Seek Out for Advice?

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Permalink Reply by Douglas Shore on December 10, 2008 at 1:24pm

Mentor: great if you have one. If not, can you find one? See below.

Board: worth putting together an advisory board, preferably of people who have been where you want to go. How do you find them? See below.

Partner: if you already have a business partner, you should already be bouncing ideas off them. But you also want to get ideas from outside your organization. If you don't have one, do you need a partner? Why? For money? For ideas? For both? Don't seek an outside partner unless you know he or she can contribute something you don't have, and will be compatible with you. This is also potentially the most expensive kind of advice you can buy.

Bar buddy: probably not the best choice, unless it is someone who has been where you want to go.

Networks: groups like this on Folio: MediaPro and LinkedIn may introduce you to potential mentors, board members, etc. You will also get lots of free advice from discussions like this. Be sure it's worth more than what you're paying for it.

Trade associations: join whichever ones you can that are appropriate. American Business Media, Magazine Publishers of America are the two big national ones. Also many local or regional ones: Western Publishers Association, Magazine Association of the Southeast, Florida Publishers Association, Chicago Small Publishers Group. All are places to meet potential mentors, board members, etc.

CEO organizations: There are several organizations for CEOs, such as Vistage, that give you a chance to meet, network, and get advice from other CEOs who are not in your business, but who face many of the same general business problems that you do. Can also offer access to consultants' expertise in various areas.

Consultants: there are plenty around. If you are considering this, make sure it's someone who has real world experience in what you need to do, and check references carefully.

Professionals: you should have on your team professionals (lawyers, accountants) who can share business advice as well as taking care of the basics.

Vendors: printers, fulfillment houses, online services, and others can often supply guidance on particular issues. When you seek out vendors, look beyond the pricing (not that pricing is unimportant) to their experience with companies large and small, and their ability to help you learn what you need to.

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Permalink Reply by Joellen Sommer on January 15, 2009 at 2:19pm

I provide part-time/virtual CFO services for small firms and have a 20 year track record in media and publishing in senior financial and operational roles. Very often, I become the needed sounding board that business owners with a small and young staff need.

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Permalink Reply by Prescott Shibles on May 16, 2009 at 10:41am

My company, Vital Business Media, is in an incubator in NYC, "The Incubator at Rose Tech Ventures". Our incubator hosts "free lunch Fridays" where a speaker comes and talks to us about raising money, running a startup in a recession, technology trends, etc. In addition, being in an office with a bunch of other entrepreneurs is invaluable. There are a lot of incubators across the country. I have a friend in an incubator in East Lansing, MI. Some are run by Angels or VC firms while others are run by Colleges/Universities. Even if you aren't early stage anymore, you should consider reaching out to these folks.

Finally, I'm a huge fan of SCORE.org. If you can find someone with the right experience, it's a huge bit of help.

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