BOSS group start up meeting

Are you a business owner who is being kept awake at night by various business issues? A BOSS group may be for you. BOSS, or Business Owners Sharing Solutions, meets once a month to provide feedback tailored to specific business issues such as opening or closing a location, hiring and firing, marketing and expansion. A new group is currently in the process of coming together.

The key is this group can be a board of directors for you,? said Sam Sargent of Human Resource Asset Management Systems, who has facilitated BOSS groups for 10 years. ?They will give you diverse and honest feedback.?

Group members take turns presenting challenges, thoughts and plans, one person per month. After sharing, the other members share feedback from their unique areas of expertise. To provide a breadth of feedback, only one person from each field (i.e. tech support, marketing, retail sales, etc.) is allowed in each group. ?They don?t have to be an expert to be in the group,? Sargent said. ?They just need to be able to share their perspective.?

Barrett Blank, owner of BB2e.com, a website development and Internet marketing company, said as a small business owner he feels isolated at times. Working with just one or two other people cannot provide the depth of feedback he needs at times. His most recent BOSS group experience provided just that. ?It was one of the most powerful groups of people I?ve been a part of,? he said. ?It offered a level of experience I wouldn?t be able to get unless I?d hired consultants. It was the breadth of experience I?d always been looking for.?

Larry Durham, owner of 3PS Inkjet and Laser Supplies, has participated in six BOSS groups and facilitated four. Durham said he appreciates how people share the reality of their business, rather than the rah-rah comments you may hear at a networking event. Everything remains confidential so he has been able to build trust with the other group members, and longstanding relationships. ?What?s appealing to me is the ability to meet people and really form relationships,? Durham said. ?Over the course of a year you really get to know these people and their businesses well.?

While the BOSS group environment is difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced it, past and current members encourage newcomers to give it a try. ?I would say to definitely do it if you have the opportunity,? Durham said. ?It has been an incredible, worthwhile experience for me. I have seen businesses be transformed in that room.?