Peer Advisory Councils

A candle loses no light when lighting another candle!

Eighty percent of the problems that business owners encounter are common to every business. When you compare business owners in the same industry, this percentage gets even higher. Still as business owners we spend the majority of our time reinventing the wheel; trying to find solutions that other business owners have already found. Many business owners, presidents, and CEOs have discovered a powerful tool that not only saves them time and money, but also helps them fundamentally improve the profitability of their business - Peer Advisory Councils.

Peer Advisory Councils (PACs) are a partnership of business owners that meet on a regular basis to help one another improve their businesses. Members bring problems and issues to the table, and the other council members suggest real-world, proven solutions that they have implemented in their own companies to address similar situations.

Peer Advisory Councils can have up to 20 members and a facilitator. These members can either be from different geographic areas within the same industry or from different industries within the same geographic area. In either case competitors are never allowed to serve on the same council!

The formula is simple, but the results are staggering. Business owners eliminate trial-and-error from their business strategies and focus on ideas and solutions that work!

Who participates in Peer Advisory Councils?

Peer Advisory Councils are comprised of a combination of business owners, presidents, CEOs, and top management; people who are the decision makers in their organizations. People that are able to immediately implement the ideas that their Council suggests to them without having to get the approval of others.

As business owners themselves, members all have substantial business experience and are able to help solve the problems and issues that other members in their group may be struggling with. PAC members don't just talk the talk; they walk the walk! They go to work as the heads of their own organizations every day, and practice what they preach!

What are the qualifications to serve on a Peer Advisory Council?

Besides being the decision maker of their firms, candidates for Peer Advisory Councils need to be open about business matters. They have to be able to admit that life isn't perfect in their organization and that they some times don't have all the answers. In order to get help, they need to be willing to ask for it.

Candidates must also be supportive of their Council. Being successful in their own right, members need to share the secrets of their success with other members on their council. They in turn will receive information from other members that will be equally as valuable and helpful to them.

How often do councils meet?

Once a Peer Advisory Council is formed, a meeting schedule is established by its members. Meetings can be held telephonically and / or in person and can be held weekly, monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually.

What is the agenda for a Peer Advisory Council meeting?

While every meeting is different, Peer Advisory Councils generally follow a similar agenda. The meeting begins with a discussion of a topic of general business interest. Sometimes the facilitator presents this topic or sometimes outside experts are invited to speak to the group.

After the "Topic of Interest", the facilitator usually conducts a "Member Roundtable." Each member has the opportunity to update the other members on "What's New in Their Business" and present a "Problem or Opportunity" that they would like help on from there members. Members of the group respond by providing advice to the presenting member. They explain how they have solved or would solve the issue in their own business.

Typical issues addressed in meetings include improving management skills, strategic planning, new government regulations, hiring and firing practices, financing, motivation, technology, balancing business and personal issues, succession planning, and exit strategies.

The meetings usually end with a "Best Idea" discussion, where each member shares a recent success and what they believe to be an outstanding business improvement idea with their fellow Council members.

What is the facilitators role?

Facilitators are provided by American Business & Financial, Inc. and have a strong background in business and peer mentoring. During the meeting, the facilitator's job is to guide discussions without dominating, and keep the discussions on track.

In addition to the regular meetings, members of Peer Advisory Councils receive monthly private coaching. Through one on one telephone conferencing, the group's facilitator helps members focus on the advice received from the other members and assist in implementation of this advice. The facilitator is a business consultant, that helps the individual member establish long-term goals and develop action plans to accomplish those goals.

What benefits do I receive from a Peer Advisory Council?

In general, Peer Advisory Councils help members become better business people. This makes life more fun and rewarding for the group participants and all the employees of their companies! Peer Advisory Councils provide:

• Affordable, practical business advice,

• A sounding board for ideas,

• Resource sharing among members,

• National networking,

• Practical solutions to problems, not just theory,

• Development of long-term strategies,

• A safe environment,

• A support group,

• A group of like-minded business people that will bring additional accountability to you and your business.

What other services are included when I participate in a Peer Advisory Council?

A Business Answer Line - The Peer Advisory Council supports a telephone and email based service that places an MBA at your fingertips. If you can't find the answer to a business related question, our staff can do the research and deliver market and industry answers to you. It's like adding an additional hardworking and qualified MBA to your staff.

A Business Forum - Through this web based tool, group members have the ability to communicate and tap into one another's expertise to solve their ongoing problems between regularly scheduled meetings.

Business Benchmarking - While all business owners want to improve their businesses, they often have difficulty setting worthwhile and meaningful financial goals. The Peer Advisory Council helps prepare benchmarks for your business to achieve. In setting your desired targets you are benchmarked against both yourself and against your peers. As a result business owners are able to better measure and focus on their improvement.

Distance Education - In addition to facilitating Peer Advisory Councils, American Business and financial hosts regularly scheduled Distance Education Business Courses. As a participant on a Peer Advisory Council you are eligible to participate in regularly scheduled Distance Education courses at half the normal cost. Courses are delivered in a Virtual Class Room, eliminating the need for travel time, expense, and other hassles. Click here to see a list of current course offerings.

Testimonials On The Value of Peer Mentoring

"Having ongoing contact with a group going through some of the same challenges as ourselves is not only a great business decision, but an excellent personal decision as well." - Colleen Cowles, Cowles Legal Systems

"Being part of a local advisory council brings me a world of experience from other businesses in different industries experiencing similar challenges. Ideas are exchanged with others who understand my situation and have dealt with the same issues." - Jim Meyers, Bumper to Bumper

New ideas and new perspectives from other members have helped to eliminate the box. Once the box is gone, thinking outside it becomes easy. - Steve Sletner, TEC Design

"Belonging to your own peer group, where the conversations take place regularly, and are focused on your business and those of your peers, will make a huge bottom-line impact on your company." - Mary Ann Fisher, Daily Grind

"You get new ideas and perspectives from people you trust, and reduce the stress of making decisions alone." - Gloria Fant, Designs and More

"Boost your effectiveness with insights from your friends. Get help from people who have 'been there' and 'dealt with it.'" - Wayne Messick, Messick Construction

"You'll get advice that can only come from people who understand your situation... Because they've been there" - Hugh Standard, Hilltop Motors

"The process of thinking through other members problem has helped me clarify my own issues." - Don Fielding, Fielding Instruments

"Your peer group and facilitator will open your eyes to new alternatives and opportunities and will hold your feet to the fire" - Colleen Struck, Lake Marine

"I thought that I had a great relationship with my banker until my PAC challenged me to look at a different institution in town. I was skeptical, but when I did, I found that by changing banks I could save some real money. I paid for my PAC dues many times over through this one piece of advice!" - Gary Fox, Fox RV Sales

"We have found our one-on-one coaching sessions to be particularly helpful. We've dealt with issues that are unique to family businesses or more common things like strategic planning, finance, and marketing. It doesn't seem to matter what the topic is, if our facilitator doesn't have the answer immediately, he seems to know where to find it." - Bill and Ken Gibson, Gibson's Watercare

American Business & Financial uses several different tools with members of its Peer Advisory Councils. These tools are used to formulate and implement strategic plans, do financial analysis, and develop team building and exit strategies for members. Through Peer Advisory Council membership, these tools are made available to all members for use in their own organizations.

Our online SWOT analysis helps organizational leaders determine those areas which are of greatest importance to their organization. (The ones that can be changed the easiest and that will have the greatest impact on their organizations.)

This SWOT analysis can be used as a "Self Diagnostic" by business owners, or a "360 degree Survey" that compares the owner's answers with others around him. Using the "360 degree" format has the advantage of assuring that the owner has considered the input and perspectives of other key employees, venders, customers, and business advisers in addition to his own.

Core Values Selector Tool - This "360 degree" online survey collects data from employees, management and business owners to quantify what they value most within their organizational operation. The results of this survey are a way to determine if all stakeholders are operating from the same page. If they aren't, this information becomes a great launching pad for a discussion on "Methods of developing an organizational culture that emphasizes the values of leadership?"

Conflict Style Analysis - An important part of team building is understanding and avoiding conflict. All team members should take the conflict style analysis to better understand their preferred methods of conflict resolution, as well as those of their teammates. The use of the personality profile and the conflict style analysis together will lead to better communication and teamwork within the organization.

On Line Employee Evaluations - These "360 degree" online evaluations allow employees to evaluate each other in regards to their overall team efforts. On this survey, employees are categorized as management, supervisor, coworker or sub-ordinate. Each employee is evaluated by members from each group. Employees are then given anonymous feedback on how they are perceived by the different groups that they interact with on their team. If the feed back is given and taken appropriately, these evaluations can go a long way in improving an overall team effort.