The 7 Levels of Scale: Building Your Advisory Board

When it comes to growing and scaling your business, the 7 Levels of Scale give you everything you need to know and do—and in the exact order you need to do it.

 

In previous episodes, co-hosts Roland Frasier and Ryan Deiss have walked through levels 1-4 of their proven and powerful framework, The 7 Levels of Scale. In today’s episode, they’re unpacking Level 5, Build Your Board. This board of advisors is a carefully curated group of people who will help guide you in the direction you want to go with your business.

 

The sequence of these levels is crucial here. The framework only works in this order: 

 

Level #1: Sell and serve 10 customers.Level #2: Build a growth flywheel.Level #3: Build an upgraded scalable operating system.Level #4: Double your take-home pay.

 

Level #5: Build your advisory board.

 

Level #6: Complete an acquisition for expansion.Level #7: Hit your number.

 

So catch up on episodes if you need to, then listen in for everything you need to know about Building Your Board.

 

Two Kinds of Boards

 

When you have a corporation, legally, there are different levels of people who have a role in the company. The first level is the owners, the shareholders. They elect the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is responsible for creating the strategic vision of the company. Then, to execute the vision, they elect officers like CEO and President. 

 

Roland and Ryan are talking about a different kind of board: a Board of Advisors. This board of people will give you guidance toward moving in a direction you want to go. The biggest distinction between the Board of Directors and the Board of Advisors is this: The Board of Directors is really there to advocate for the shareholder, to make sure everything at the company is happening like it should. That may or may not include you. The Board of Advisors, on the other hand, is primarily there to support you. 

 

The nice thing about a Board of Advisors is that you can have as many as you want, helping in all the areas you need help in, and they don’t get to control anything. They’re truly just giving you advice. 

 

Who Should Be on This Board? 

 

Broadly speaking, your Board of Advisors should be made up of two types of people: mentors and peers. Mentors are the people who have been where you want to go. Obviously, they’re a critical aspect. They’ll help you with your endgame and close skills gaps, broaden your network, and hold you accountable.

 

You also need peers. A mistake a lot of people make is filling their Board with only mentors. You need peers who are also in the trenches, but maybe in slightly different areas. These peers will help you through some bottlenecks, call you on your shiny object syndrome, commiserate on losses, and also help you celebrate some wins. 

 

After mentors and peers, there are two more categories you might consider. The first is strategics, people you aspire to do business with, people who are a connection to a business you want to get, people with a big network you want to tap into. Can you get someone on the board that’s part of a business you want as a strategic business partner? It doesn’t hurt to get to know those people upfront, sooner rather than later. These could be people with a financial or legal background, or a traditional retail background. Basically, anyone who knows things that will be valuable to you.

 

Roland likes to add an optional category: celebrity. Celebrities can bring huge