As an entrepreneur do you feel it's important to be a part of a board of directors for other companies/organizations or to have your own board to help with business growth?

August 17 2005 - Syracuse Post Standard

Tracy:
Creating a board for your own business, especially if it's a small business, is a great suggestion. I never created a board for my first company but I created one for my second company. Since my second business, Women TIES, focuses on promoting women entrepreneurship, I wanted a board of accomplished businesswomen to provide advice, suggestions, and focus. Boards can be created for many purposes so make sure you understand why you want one. Be realistic with them on time commitments and responsibilities and stick to what you promise. Create a board with a varied background so you get diverse advice. Always be respectful of what you ask them to do for your company. Lastly give back to them by supporting their own corporate goals or requests. For a small business, creating an advisory board might be one of the best business decisions you make for your company.

Julie:
I do think it's important to volunteer on at least one board of directors. You will make connections with other business people who you wouldn't normally get a chance to work with. Networking is all about developing relationships, and working together on a cause that you believe in is a great way to do that. The catch is that they can take up a tremendous amount of time, and your primary responsibility needs to be your own business. Right now I'm the chairperson of two boards and sit on a third one. It's become clear that I can't participate fully in these groups and still do a good job running my own business -- that is, unless I'm willing to give up sleeping. Volunteering your time is great, but not if it's hurting your business and you're not fulfilling your obligations to the boards you work on. Know your own limits and learn how to say no.

Ann Marie:
I do not have my own board of directors, though I have given it some thought. Instead I bounce ideas off of a small circle of business owner friends that I speak with regularly. They are great sounding boards when I am about to start some new advertising project as well as a great source of business tips and news. As far as serving on serving on boards, volunteering is as integrated into the fabric of my life as shopping for shoes. Serving my community is something that I find extremely rewarding as a person and it has often times been beneficial to me as a business woman. I sit on several boards and have found that we "Volunteer Types" are usually interested in doing business with people we work with on various boards or philanthropic projects-and why not? Bottom line: being a joiner can be good for your Karma and your bottom line.