If you’re a small business owner, you may be fantastic at coming up with creative solutions for the tactical side of your business. But, what happens when you encounter a problem and, even after considerable time and effort, you are unable to devise an effective solution? That’s when a third-party perspective can be an invaluable asset to your business.
What is a third-party perspective?
Smaller businesses generally don’t have a board of directors. The Alternative Board® (TAB) is able to fill that function. TAB members have valuable expertise, but they also have enough distance from your business to enable them to have a different perspective. Often, it is this different perspective that allows TAB members to see options and solutions that you or someone from within your business might not.
Whose perspective is it?
TAB members are business owners, helping one another – peers who don’t have a financial interest in your business but who want to see you succeed. TAB members often bring informality and humor to the table, but they are also professional. Their time and your time is a valuable investment, and the feedback received is well worth it.
How does this perspective work?
This third-party perspective goes beyond just bouncing ideas off of each other into the realm of what small business marketing specialist Ann Farnsworth describes as “expanding your thinking, expanding your options.”
This works by focusing on TAB’s core values of clarifying business problems and getting good analysis and solutions. Members challenge one another, helping each other to hone what they do best. At the same time, members also hold one another accountable for implementing these solutions through these third-party perspectives and are also there to celebrate with you when you succeed.
What are the benefits of a third-party perspective?
Having more resources and advisors ultimately results in increased bankability as any weaknesses in your business are discussed and remedied. Your business benefits as you receive feedback and advice from individuals who are independent from your organization and who are not intimidated. Therefore, they feel free to speak their minds, and opinions are voiced that might not otherwise have been shared.
Credibility, trust, and mutual respect develop among TAB members through this frank and open discussion. Additionally, the third-party perspective approach results in not just one solution, but it can actually also deliver a range of varied solutions for you to select from. Your business also benefits from the collective creativity and years of experience brought to the table by TAB members.
What is your perspective?
What is your experience with third-party perspectives? Do you have more questions on how this might work for you and your business? Leave us your comments below.
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