You might ask why would you consider bringing a Non-Executive Director (NED) into your food or drink business? After all, no-one knows your business better than you, you know it inside out!
Sometimes that can be an issue in itself. A business owner or MD runs the risk of being too involved or close to the business to see where there are weaknesses, or fails to see the bigger picture when deciding in which direction to grow the business. Because a NED is not involved in the day to day running of things, they will view your business with a fresh pair of eyes and offer solutions and suggestions that you may not have ever considered.
Add to that the years of experience a NED will bring. They will have probably been around the business block a few times in their career and have an envious little black book of tried and tested contacts they can call on. You can’t really put a price on that!
And finally, flexibility. You decide how much or little input you need from a NED. Weekly, monthly, quarterly. What’s right for you and your business? You may need more input initially and reduce it as the business grows, or even find that you need different NEDs with different skills along the business’ growth journey.
Interested in learning more about how NEDs can benefit your business but think it’s too complicated or time consuming? Try these 3 simple steps:
1.Download and complete our Board Skills Matrix to identify possible skills gaps
2.Look at the NED profiles on our website – do they have the skills that you’re missing?
3.Talk to your SSU Cluster Manager or Joan Edwards about our NEDs Programme