One of the Micro/Small Business Woman of the Year award finalists sharing business tips at an event last week mentioned a board of advisors.

This is an incredibly important team that every business owner should meet with.

It doesn't matter how small your business is, you should have a board of advisors.

A micro-business needs just one or two advisors, while five or six are sufficient for a larger business.

The principle is to appoint people who can bring a range of diverse and complementary skills to your organisation.

They should have successful businesses themselves and understand the typical issues confronting a growth-orientated organisation.

The members should not replicate your skills and definitely should not be “yes” women or men. Rather, they should fill gaps in your skills and provide additional expertise that may be beneficial to the business.

If you already have an informal version of a board of advisors involving a group of friends, consider making it formal.

Schedule quarterly meetings and be respectful of their time by conducting these professionally.

Prepare an agenda and distribute it in advance, along with financial statements (scary as this may be) and other information supporting items up for discussion at the meeting.

Make sure you keep the meeting on track and finish it on time.