By Jennifer Lawton
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Net Daemons Associates (NDA) is a fast-growth company. I wouldn't have realized this had I not joined Young Entrepreneur's Organization. I would have continued to wonder why I always felt, at the end of another year of doubled revenues and employees, that I needed to hibernate so that I could wake up and do it again. I'd always thought, in my infinite non-schooled sense of the business world, that this was just the way it worked. "That's how it works. It just IS!"
I needed only one YEO forum meeting to realize that I was wrong. I have since come to realize that there are many other aspects of the business world about which I have sometimes been wrong, sometimes right, and sometimes both right and wrong. A common thread in my awakening has been my use of and participation in a number of groups and boards that continue to broaden my vision.
Building on success
NDA is not only rapidly growing and on the edge of the "really happening" business world, it is a cool and fun company. I am the co-founder, and have no prior business experience or education. We are a completely bootstrapped company that has been profitable from day one, based nearly entirely on word-of-mouth marketing. We are successful by many definitions of success. Again, without the help of others looking in, I would not have realized that not only am I successful, but so, too, is NDA.
NDA has an advisory board. This group consists of six individuals, each with solid expertise and a reputation in a different area of business. These advisors meet with our Board of Directors on a quarterly basis. They are not paid beyond the "take home value" of our meetings, and the ability to participate in what we are doing.
More than a board
In the process of using these boards, we have developed an expanded view of the advisory board role. Our COO and I are both members of YEO, and of forum groups within YEO. I participate in a very informal "e-dinner" (a monthly entrepreneurial gathering) and am on the board of the Enterprise Development Institute. I am also a member of the Advisory Board of Natural Intelligence (as is our COO), and am on the Board of another company, Virtuflex. Additionally, NDA's Board of Directors works with a strategic planner, and has a list of other trusted advisors.
I find that, on a daily basis, I draw upon the information, commentary, interaction or experiences of someone within one of the many groups I am a part of, or have formed for NDA. I feel like not having been through business school is less of a vulnerability with these groups behind me. I know that my life, and NDA's well being, are enriched by these invaluable interactions. I find that in working on the boards or advisory boards of other corporations, what I learn is worth as much, or more, than the information.
Ongoing planning is key
I consider NDA's success and growth somewhat accidental. No, I don't think that it is all by chance, or that we are not true leaders; the accident comes in not really having considered NDA as an organization that should need planning, molding, and direction until we'd already been in business for about two years. From that point forward, though, much of my day-to-day life as the CEO has been dedicated to gaining more knowledge about how the world works, weighing it with our goals and mission, culture and style, and then blending in the good information and ideas with our practices. When I am not tending to the business, I read extensively and spend time with my two young boys. Here, I find that with each fun outing, each successful boundary and each limit used, that I am adding to my business acumen.
It is important to simultaneously be confident with your knowledge and abilities, but also to remain very cognizant of the fact that there is just no way you can have all the information and answers to every nuance of the business world. At first, this doesn't feel so hot. For one thing, it can feel threatening and put you on the defensive to realize that there is so much that you don't know.
The past few years have taught me to approach business with a lot of ear and a lot of thinking. I spend my commute time mulling over past events and exchanges with people; and trying to piece it all together so that I end up with not only just the sum of many parts, but much more.
If you are not involved with some group of advisors, or with a single mentor, or in a facilitated communication group, or with someone who can assist in strategy, then you have much to learn. Maintaining my involvement in these groups appears to take a staggering number of hours, yet it has paid huge dividends for NDA. For each hour I've spent with these groups the payoff for NDA, and for me personally, has been in many more hours saved, and in much gained wisdom.
In case any of those anonymous advisors mentioned above are reading this article, I'd like to close with a message of my gratitude. I thank you all for helping me to make NDA a better place. I am a wiser person for our sharing, and I can only hope that you are, too.
This article was provided by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation through its small business Web site www.entreworld.org. EntreWorld is an online information resource for entrepreneurs and supporters of entrepreneurship. EntreWorld provides a solution to information overload on the Web by providing highly filtered information coded by stage of business development. |
