As business owners, you may have your staff and team ready to go, but where do YOU go for coaching, support and ongoing training?

Build your Mastermind group

Who are the members of your Mastermind? This is your team of people who support you through business no matter what. They may be in the form of a formal board of directors, or more informal.

There are a few specific roles you need on this team. Do you have all of them?

1. Your Cheer Squad / Emotional Support

Have one / or a group of supporters and business allies you can rely on to bounce ideas off and share stresses when things may get too much.

Don’t do business alone.

If you don’t have an immediate support network, find a virtual one – there are plenty of Free Facebook groups and other online networks you can join that are accountability and support groups for being in business.

Find people you can trust, who you can be completely, rawly honest with, who will not only support you, but also be honest back to you – who will listen, but also pull you up on your own blind spots.

2. Your Finance Guru / Accountant

Who has “been there, done that” when it comes to building a profitable, financially thriving business?

Making big financial decisions can be tough when you feel like you’re making the decision yourself, without being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel of your decision.

It’s also important to get a really high-quality accountant who is continuously up to date with current requirements and compliance.

Find an accountant who is transparent, knows their stuff, and also not only submits your tax, but looks at the big picture. This can save you thousands in the long run.

3. Your Legal advocate

Having a good lawyer on your side can help you steer your business forward with confidence.

When developing contracts, overseeing new partnerships or bigger business deals, having a lawyer who has your absolute, non-conflicting best interests at heart is critical.

Find someone who will explain things to you in a way that you clearly understand and can break things down to you so you know what you’re signing, or what’s involved in a binding contract.

4. Your dream Agency

Whether this is a creative agency, web, marketing, PR, Events, BD, strategy or other external servers, there are a range of things that you can do to ensure your experience is a positive one.

Have a clear contract in place. Make sure expectations are understood on both ends of what the key deliverables, on what time frame and budget.

Be clear on concerns you may have, and don’t be afraid to ask a range of questions or clarification on areas that may not make sense to you, or unclear. The clearer your definition of working arrangement is, the better your experience will be.

Ensure they value transparency and are able to provide a clear set of metrics or measurements of project success, with the ability to review performance, or report back.

Avoid “in-house” metrics & reporting systems, and request original metrics data – EXAMPLE: Request Facebook ads performance from Facebook, instead of an in-house metrics measurement of what Facebook ad activity they have measured.

5. Your diverse business Board

Is your board made up of a diverse mix of skills, attributes and personalities?  Enabling a range of differing opinions can offer a balanced view of your business, as well as developing a competitive edge.

Make sure everyone on your board is humble in the pursuit of business excellence. They understand that business success is at the forefront of all key decision making, and put this beyond themselves.

Be wary of large organisational quotas – are you filling a position to fill a quota, or hiring on excellence, capacity and competence?

These are just a few of the key areas of your external cheer squad. To find out more about building dream teams, head to www.90dca.com.au.