AUDIO: A cure for business nightmares

WESTMINSTER, COLO.
June 23, 2008 12:01am

For owners of small businesses, getting the right answers can make the difference between solving a serious problem and growing from it -- or letting it cripple operations.

But consultants can be expensive and often too specialized. And a business owner’s own network may be too close to the problem or simply unskilled in offering solutions.

During a recession, the wrong advice can be fatal for some companies.

Enter Tab Boards International Inc., which operates under the brand “The Alternative Board.” The privately held company describes itself as offering peer advisory boards and consulting for other privately held businesses.

“The peer-to-peer is probably one of the greatest things … to really help business owners get through this tough economic time,” says Jason Zickerman, president and COO of the company, based in Westminster, Colo., north of Denver. The Alternative Board operates through franchises,

“When you’re sitting around a peer advisory board with 8-10 people, you have that many more perspectives,” says Mr. Zickerman. “And you have several hundred, very often, collective years of experience to present on your problem.”

(Jason Zickerman talks about his firm’s approach to peer counseling in today’s CVBT Audio Interview. Please click on the link below to listen or to download the MP3 audio file to your computer or iPod.)

“The small business owner is engaged in physiological warfare with the recession,” says Mr. Zickerman, contending the impartial outside observations from seasoned businesspeople who are not competitors may be what’s needed.

Mr. Zickerman says a peer board or coach can be the needed “business counselor” for entrepreneurs during difficult economic times. “This is the place where you can ask simple, basic, candid questions where you don’t have to worry about exposing your lack of experience,” he says. “Your peer board is your sounding board.”