Creating the Seats at Your Table!
What the company does?
Sandi Webster LLC coaches small business owners to form advisory boards that help scale their businesses with a focus on increasing EBITDA towards a successful exit. Business owners learn the difference between a board of directors and an advisory board through an online course or one-on-one coaching.
The Current Landscape
In the current pandemic business landscape, owners are very focused on exiting their businesses. They typically do not have an expert advisory board to help them prepare for a sale. M&A firms are taking the place of advisory boards but are focused on getting a deal. Competitors like Board on Track are moving towards technology to help with board management. Other companies, like Boardsi, are focused on getting paid fractional advisory board members at a steep price. In those scenarios, a volunteer’s long-term, personal advice, and commitment are lost as fractional board members are focused on pay and not necessarily on the outcome.
Company Birth Story
An advisory board was instrumental in helping to scale and grow a previous marketing and analytic company, Consultants 2 Go, owned by Sandi Webster and Peggy McHale, to over $15 million before a successful exit. Regularly scheduled quarterly board meetings kept the owners focused on ensuring the company’s bottom line was profitable and at the level that would interest buyers.
The advisory board workshop was developed and delivered as a part of the company’s giving back initiative to small business owners.
In 2020, during COVID, Sandi launched Sandi Webster LLC to move the advisory board workshop to a virtual platform. Companies were in trouble, and owners didn’t have anyone to turn to for direction. The companies with advisory boards were taking action and pivoting faster – getting advice on PPL loans, being introduced to bankers, introducing new product lines to suit the times, etc. With firsthand knowledge of the value of an advisory board, the online platform could reach owners faster.
The Solution
The online advisory board curriculum resonates with frazzled owners. Enhancing with One-on-one coaching and the Done- For-You consulting allows business owners to select their own trusted experts. The company has also expanded into the non- profit sector.
A Customer Story
The most recent client is a national non-profit company with regional branches. They delivered classes to business owners across the country and wanted to create independent advisory boards per region. After guiding them through a six-month process resulting in a 10-person committee, they now have partners who have also become a resource collective for their business owner students.
The Team Culture
Sandi utilizes an excellent outsourced virtual assistant in the Philippines, which is the perfect fit for a remote environment as it allows for scaling up or down. The challenge is remembering the time difference as he works the night shift to my day.
A founder quote
Need + opportunity + will create success.
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