MPL General Counsel Corner – If your BOD is me, myself and I, you may want to think about expanding

Running a business can be one of the most exciting, scary and loneliest things that a person can do.  Many fall into the trap of thinking that asking questions of others is a sign of weakness.  Moreover, some even think they have all the answers and only rely on themselves and the person they see in the mirror for input.

From my own personal experience, I can share that each of these decision-making approaches led me to the wrong answer more times than not.  That is not to say that I did not consider or think about the right decision.  However, whenever I relied solely on myself, I usually overanalyzed the situation and missed an opportunity or just made a bad a choice.

After making some my particularly dumb decisions, I finally came to the realization that maybe I should reach out to other people and get some varying perspectives.  Surprisingly enough, when I engaged in this process, I made better decisions.  It is such a simple concept that is too often ignored.

If this is an approach your considering, I would strongly encourage you to identify and develop your own personal Board of Directors.  This can be professional advisors (business attorneys, business accountants, financial advisors), other business owners, mastermind groups (e.g., Vistage), mentoring organizations (e.g., SCORE, SBDC), and so on.

When you talk with them, make sure to remember that you have two ears and one mouth and to use them in proportion.  At the end of the day, if your own personal Board of Directors is me, myself and I, you may want to think about expanding it.

Below are some articles that also may help:

• How a Personal Board of Directors Can Boost Your Career | The Muse
• Build Your Own Personal Board of Directors (hbr.org)
• Everyone Needs A Personal Board Of Directors (forbes.com)
• www.vistage.com
• www.score.org

Here are a few other things that may be of interest:

• ERTC Reinstatement Bill is Introduced in the U.S. Senate (nfib.com)
• Tax prep overview: out-of-state sales tax for small business (nfib.com)
• Webinar: Managing, Monetizing & Protecting Your Intellectual Property (Part I) (eisneramper.com); 2/23; 12pm-1pm

• Helpful Coronavirus Resource Pages
  • EisnerAmper Coronavirus Hub
  • NFIB Small Business Resources in Response to Coronavirus
  • RKL Coronavirus Resource Page
  • Trout CPA Covid-19 Resources
  • The Tax Warriors Covid-19 Tax Resource Center
  • COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Resources | Littler Mendelson P.C.

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As always, please don’t hesitate to email myself (jsanders@mpl-law.com), Andy Miller (amiller@mpl-law.com), Christian Miller (cmiller@mpl-law.com), Erik Spurlin (espurlin@mpl-law.com) or anyone in our office with questions or comments.