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Business Value Acceleration
Advisory Board
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When establishing a business, the last thing many consider is creating an advisory board. The daily operational tasks are consuming enough - and by the time you manage your cash flow, create a sound marketing plan and establish a world-class team, there remains little time or effort left for anything else. This issue is especially prominent among small to medium-size enterprises, where resources are spread thin.
You may find yourself thinking - do I really need an advisory board? The answer is a resounding YES no matter how big or small you might be. The most successful businesses have regular access to outside advisors that provide sound advice and information to fill potential knowledge gaps. An advisory board acts as an advocate, supporter and a resource for your company.
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An active advisory board can have many advantages for your business, including:
Diversity of Opinion
Forming an advisory board with members with different areas of expertise will provide a variety of perspectives to strengthen your company.
Sounding Board
The advisory team offers a judgment-free zone to bounce off new ideas before spending time and resources implementing them.
Unbiased Opinions
When you face a difficult situation, you may tend to approach it emotionally. Your advisory board will likely offer a practical solution without bringing emotion into the picture.
Focused Input
When you require advice or assistance in a specialized area, your advisory board can focus and find solutions for this specific issue.
Business Development
The board will provide the company with additional skills, technical expertise and knowledge that may not be found within current staff members.
Preparation for Board of Directors
Some companies may form an advisory board before deciding on the appropriate Board of Directors. This will help identify a group that works effectively and cohesively towards the benefit of the company.
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Many experts suggest the optimal size of an advisory board is between 3 to 5 members. They also suggest that having too many advisors can make decision-making more difficult. Your board should be comprised of advisors who are experts in different facets of the business and others that understand the big picture of your industry. When recruiting advisors, it’s essential to start by looking at the holes in your business that need to be filled. If you need some extra help in finance or are lacking marketing expertise, this is a great way to access resources that will build your business.
The best approach is first tapping into your own network (personal and professional) to find individuals with the requisite skills and expertise. You should consider approaching professionals such as your accountant and/or lawyer to see if they are willing to contribute. You may also know people that have been successful in business that are willing to lend you their knowledge and expertise. By looking for people that are willing to contribute to your success you may well find It won’t cost you a lot of money to get access to the expertise you need. There are likely to be many people that want to see you succeed and all you have to do is ask them!
Employee Engagement
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Ownership Thinking is a proven process that will move your employees from “me” to “us,” creating a better work environment and significantly improving financial performance.
Ownership Thinking is dedicated to unleashing the potential of its client organizations by providing the training and tools required to develop a workforce of "ownership thinkers" who become active participants in their company's financial success.
Since our inception, we have implemented this way of doing business in over 1,500 companies, and with guaranteed, quantifiable results. This is not a job for us, it is our passion.
Ownership Thinking is the cure for the entitlement mentality in the workplace, and the path to a mentality of earning.
As a business owner or leader, you’ve probably agonized over the following questions at some point. Why can’t my employees see the issues I see? Why don’t they focus their attention on the important issues? Don’t they understand the cost of doing business?
The problem is not that your employees lack the interest or capacity to contribute, but simply that they haven’t received the education and tools to begin thinking and acting like an owner. Owners are focused on the company: sales, cash, profitability, the marketplace. Employees tend to focus on “me”: compensation, benefits, job security, getting my work done. Ownership Thinking is a proven process that will move your employees from “me” to “us,” creating a better work environment and significantly improving financial performance.
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The Right People
Having the right people to move the business forward
In the high visibility/accountability environment created by implementing Ownership Thinking, the cream will rise to the top. Your best employees will latch on to the opportunity to become more actively involved in the business. Incentives and/or equity will be important to them, but it will not be their primary motivator. The primary motivator will be the opportunity to contribute and the clear association of the work they do to the success of the organization. Research from the National Center for Employee Ownership suggests that companies practicing Ownership Thinking retain employees at a 200% better rate than other companies.
The Right Education
Business and financial education for all employees.
If employees are to become more actively involved in the financial performance of the business, they must have a fundamental understanding of business and how companies make money. Teaching employees about finance is not as difficult as you might think – companies run much like a household. Ownership Thinking uses this analogy to make learning about finance enjoyable and less intimidating.
The Right Measures
Using critical key indicators to drive financial performance
If we are to proactively manage our financial performance, we must identify the measurable activities that drive our financial performance, and get our employees focused on these. We call these measures Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs.
Key Performance Indicators are the most powerful method available to drive accountability in the business and improved profitability. Companies will obviously benefit when employees can readily understand what needs to be done through the presentation of easy-to-read dashboards allowing them to make the most effective follow-up decisions.
Ownership Thinking will work with your leadership team to identify the appropriate KPIs for your business.
The Right Incentives
Design and implementation of incentive and/or equity plans that are self funding to benefit both employee and employer.
Ownership Thinking utilises modern methodologies to create incentive plans that are self funding and clearly aligned with business objectives. In addition, we provide employees with the education and tools required so that they can become actively involved in funding their plan.
We help you design short term incentive plans which are designed to provide reward for effort as a way of increasing remuneration for employees who achieve their targets. We also help you design and implement Employee Share Plans which are an great mechanism for engaging and retaining high performing employees in the long term.
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Ownership Thinking is dedicated to unleashing the potential of its client organisations by providing the training and tools required to develop a workforce of "ownership thinkers" who become active participants in their company's financial success.
Elements of our program sometimes may be referred to as employee incentive programs, employee ownership programs, employee ownership training, and employee empowerment. Since our inception, we have successfully implemented Ownership Thinking in over 1,500 companies, with guaranteed, quantifiable results.
This is not a job for us, it is our passion. We know the damage that entitlement is doing to our country and its business community, and we know that dependence ultimately crushes potential. Ownership Thinking is the cure for the entitlement mentality in the workplace, and the path to a mentality of earning.
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“We implemented Ownership Thinking in 2008 – Our profits have tripled, and we have paid out over $300k in profit sharing."
“In six months we reduced our cost per package from $2.00 to 80 cents”
“Making money is great, but having a positive impact on employees’ lives is truly rewarding”
“Employees are on track to earn twice the bonuses of last year”
“We are now in the top 5% of our industry”
“We beat our revenue goal by 67% and our profit goal by 340%”
“Our sales increased by 10% and our profits more than doubled”
“This is the best decision we’ve ever made”
Employee Share Plans
The most important asset of any business is its people. The management and motivation of staff is one of the biggest challenges a manager or employer will face in the course of business. To be able to attract, motivate and retain top personnel is the single advantage which will provide a single competitive advantage against your competitors.
If you're going to sell the business to your employees, which in my experience almost always comes up as a high priority for a lot of business owners that are thinking that they are going to exit within the next five or so years, they really want to take care of their employees. In an ESOP structure, at least, which is obviously the most tax advantaged way to exit a business by far, then the company typically uses borrowed funds to do it.
Employee equity can be provided under a number of methods and structures. These may involve such things as option contracts or unit trust structures, which are appropriate for the circumstances of the particular employer organisation and its employees.