Why do I need an Advisor for my startup?
A very common question that most founders, co-founders, and C-level executives ask themselves and their investors from time to time is “ Why do we need an advisor?” And to which I usually end up responding with a question “ Why do you believe that you do not need an Advisor?”
In simplest terms, a startup advisor is a professional who has expertise in the related industry or activity, providing advice, mentoring, and networking connections in the field of the industry or topic of interest to the startup founder or entrepreneur. In many cases, startup advisors are able to bring the knowledge and experience a startup team might be lacking, and assist in overcoming many pitfalls in starting and growing a startup. Advisors who have actual experience as startups understand the challenges of starting and growing startups, and they can give you insights, advice, and connections with networks that will help you achieve success.
A good startup advisor will have experience finding the right talent to help grow the company, as well as providing guidance in managing the talent that you hire.
Whether your business is struggling to overcome an operational bottleneck, capitalize on a market opportunity, or simply wants to become more profitable, a smart startup advisor for businesses can help you get your strategy in place. They may even be able to provide your company with the knowledge that will help avoid risks and pitfalls in the overall business or changes to manufacturing and manufacturing.
On a more personal note, depending on the relationship, your startup advisor may even be able to assist with relieving some of the pressures and stresses that you might be feeling regarding some issues. Startup advisors also may be able to help you identify weaknesses in your startup idea or business model, and they may generally be able to offer guidance and suggestions for working around those weaknesses - or, at the very least, mitigating the risks.
A design advisor can also help a startup set up a design process that consistently produces quality, consistent work with minimal overhead. Regardless of how a relationship is structured, a design advisor can be helpful to a startup only if they are willing to be helpful.
There are times when an advisor will prove to be so valuable to the startup, that founders want to have them on the team. A startup business advisor will frequently help them land introductions and follow-up calls with investors. A business advisor for startups has expertise in an industry, which helps the new company to be on the right path for business growth.
Finding the right advisor for your company can take some time, as you will want to have someone who has experience as well as one that understands the mission of your startup. It is rare to find one advisor that covers every field of expertise that you will need help in; that is why early-stage startups usually set up an advisory board.
Formalizing the support by creating a small team of advisors (or advisory board) can certainly help your startup. Building an advisory board can speed up the growth of your company in more ways than one, and it helps you get through that all-too-dangerous early stage of entrepreneurship when most businesses are destined for failure. Whether it is navigating a regulatory hurdle, a technical issue, an industry relationship, a critical hire, or an insider tip, having a well-rounded advisory board can help your startup overcome obstacles and reach the next level.
Advisors bring relevant expertise and useful networks that are shared by the advisors, helping startups to get through early growth. Advisors are valuable resources who can deliver the right help, at the right time, to your startup.
Advisors typically help startups deconstruct the majority of their problems, answer critical questions, and serve as advocates of the Devil. Advisors also help give first-time entrepreneurs a confidence boost in trying to improve their reputation with potential investors and partners, and they also act as subject-matter experts in order to bridge gaps in knowledge at a point in time before a startup can hire suitable staff. Not only do advisors usually add some cool names to the page of your team, they also help your company through their connections and networks, helping you navigate challenges, getting their opinions, and opening doors to partners and investors that might normally get closed.
Their relationships with startups are usually formalized through signed agreements, include a defined role or domain expertise, and are typically compensated through equity. Advisors may serve similar roles to consultants, but are more commonly hired to do one or more specific tasks or projects, and are paid in cash.
Whether the advisor is a CMO that can give you advice about marketing, or a lawyer who helps you navigate legal challenges, advisors are meant to complement you as the founder. In this case, you probably want to find a business advisor who is more of a mentor, someone who wants to be involved with your numbers and helps get you bootstrapped. Preferably, your advisors are someone who has been through building the type of business you want to build, multiple times, with successes and failures.
For instance, if this is your first time raising money, you might want an advisor who has a history of dealing with investors. A startup advisor who is skilled in product design also helps guide you in finding the perfect target market, building MVP, and helping find product-market fit. If you are a more early-stage startup or local company, getting a startup advisor with hands-on skills would be most helpful for you; like deep market or industry knowledge, accounting and legal skills, or maybe extensive marketing experience.
While you cannot expect your business advisor for startups to be a part-time or full-time hire, you do not want an advisor that is distracting, impatient, or cannot be reached. Startup advisors share their business skills, networking connections, potential investors, and experience so that start-up founders will not be making many mistakes as they create their companies. Being the rock of experience on which you can lean, giving the founders of the startups both strategic and practical business advice about all of your company’s activities and proposed plans, the startup advisor is also there to serve as your sounding board.
