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Being a cleaning business owner means wearing many hats: marketing, bookkeeping, human resources, not to mention cleaning for your clients. With everything you have to do in the day-to-day operation of your cleaning company, you might lose the "big picture". So what can you do to stay on track? Forming an advisory board that consists of diverse business people in your area can keep you focused and keep your cleaning business growing. An advisory board is a network of experts and specialists in various fields. Large corporations often use advisory boards, but they can also be a great benefit to a small business. Board members will not have "voting power" to tell you what you can or cannot do in your business. However, the members of an advisory board are professionals and will give you practical advice and offer ideas for long-range planning and growth. Their input will be valuable to your business. Do you have to pay your advisory board members? You can compensate board members in various ways: with nice dinners, honoraria (from a few dollars to several thousand dollars) to stock options. But advisory board members also serve on boards for no compensation - they are serving as mentors for new and growing businesses. In some areas of the country, there are also business development centers that may have mentors who would be willing to sit on your board. Once your cleaning business has grown and is making a profit, you can give some type of compensation to your board members. How often you hold board meetings depends on the particular needs of your cleaning business. You might need to hold them more often while just getting started. Many companies will hold quarterly or semi-annual meetings. You can also call on a board member as you need to, in order to get information about his or her area of expertise. Talk to each of your board members and ask them how much involvement they would like to have and how much of a time commitment they are willing to invest in your cleaning business. Besides helping your business stay on track, tapping into the expertise of an informal group of advisers is helpful for other reasons: *The advisory board members can provide more networking opportunities. *They can give added credibility to your cleaning business. *Board members may be able to open doors to potential clients. *They will be able to keep you up-to-date on developments (software, marketing, research) that you don't have the time to keep up on. *Board members may also be able to help with getting loans and financing. Where do you find advisory board members? Look for four or five experienced people in your area. You can also call your local small business administration center or your local chamber and ask them for names of individuals who are interested in being mentors. Do not look for people who have the same experience as you do. The idea with an advisory board is to gather people from various fields that can broaden your areas of expertise. Look for professionals from the following fields: *Accounting *Human Resources *Marketing *Financing *Technology Don't sign up just anyone for your cleaning business' advisory board. You want people who not only have experience, but whose advice you respect. Set up a meeting with potential board members. Find out why they are interested in being a board member, what experience they have, and the time they are willing to commit. Also ask if they are easily accessible for a quick question or short meeting on urgent issues that may come up. Once you have your board assembled and running, keep your board members on track with what's happening in your cleaning business regularly. This can be a short note, newsletter or e-mail, but let them know that their expertise is helping your cleaning business grow and become profitable. Being a small business owner doesn't mean you have to be an expert in all fields. Putting together an advisory board to help you with issues you are not familiar with or know how to handle is one way to tap into the minds of experts. For a small time commitment on your part, your cleaning business can have a staff of professionals from every field at your fingertips! Copyright (c) The Janitorial Store (TM)
Article Source: http://www.cleaningarticles.com
For more cleaning tips and information on starting and running a successful cleaning business, visit Jean Hanson at www.TheJanitorialStore.com. And while you're there, sign up for Trash Talk: Cleaning Tip of the Week. Read cleaning success stories at www.cleaning-success.com.
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