Q & A with Alfredo Puche

What is The Alternative Board?

The Alternative Board is a membership organisation of business owners, CEOs and directors who spend time working on their business by attending monthly board meetings and one-on-one coaching sessions. At these meetings, the members will discuss issues and opportunities that they face within their company in a relaxed and confidential atmosphere. The Alternative Board has hundreds of board meetings in 21 countries and has been present in almost all regions of New Zealand since 2012.

What are the benefits of joining The Alternative Board?

When members present a challenge, issue or opportunity to the board, the other members will offer practical solutions and advice. Members in each board collectively have hundreds of years of business experience. 80% of problems and challenges are the same for all businesses, regardless of the type of business. The diversity of the backgrounds of the members provides an array of ideas that can be applied, acting as a sounding board for analysis that also brings accountability.

How do you choose your members for the boards?

The potential members have to be forward-thinking and wanting to improve their businesses and lives. They need to be willing to help other board members and open to accept advice and ideas from others. The existing board members need to accept the new member. It is key that the new member is not a competitor, a major supplier, or customer of any of the existing members. In choosing the right board for the new member, I consider several factors such as the company’s annual turnover, number of employees, as well as the type and complexity of their business.

What are typical issues that are brought to the monthly board meeting?

Basically any topic, both strategic or operational that a business owner needs to manage. Some examples are:

• Cash flow/financial issues

• Marketing and sales challenges

• Staff issues

• Leadership

• Changes in markets, economies and technologies

• Balancing personal and business life

• Succession and retirement planning

• Family business and partner issues

The main point of accountability is the board. Every member has to commit to certain actions to the other board members and has to report to them. In the one-on-one coaching sessions, we work on 90 day goals, yearly plans, and long-term strategic plans which we review each session.

How do you keep your members accountable?

If you had one piece of advice to a business owner, what would it be?

Work on the business, not only in the business. Create a written vision and share it with your team. Create a plan all together to achieve it. Execute it keeping everyone accountable.

How do you think local businesses are doing in the current situation?

There is a lot to talk about here. At The Alternative Board, we do a regular Pulse Check Survey to monitor how businesses are managing during Covid-19, their views on current challenges, what support they need, their confidence, and the opportunities ahead. The health and viability of our SMEs and the business owners within it is at the heart of all we do, which is why we feel the regular Pulse Check is critical. The results are shared with the Government and media and publicly shared. I will upload the next results for example on my LinkedIn profile.

As someone who has had several businesses, what would you do differently now?

Look for help. In almost all the board meetings with our members, I have the same thought: I wish I would have known about The Alternative Board when I had my first business. The shared knowledge from all the different members is incredibly valuable. Don’t try to do everything yourself. I used to work long hours in the business, but it was mostly firefighting. I should have worked more on the business, defining the strategy, planning it properly and executing it. Being a leader and promoting the right values in the business is also important, including setting clear expectations, goals and keeping all employees accountable.