What Motivates Business Advisors to Help

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Some want to boost their résumés and experience levels for possible forays into their own entrepreneurial ventures. "When you get involved helping a small business, you're going to learn from them as much as you add with your own experience," he says.

The idea for Bubenick's startup, BoardMyBiz.com, came from his own experience as a partner in a telecom startup in 2006. "We had a hell of a time trying to find board members and then when we actually approached some, they were looking for formal presentations," Bubenick says. "We had something [loosely] put together but not a corporate presentation like they were probably used to."

Once he and his partners did put together an advisory board, it was a great boost to the company, he says: "It made a tremendous difference to get new perspectives and be challenged on the ideas we were using." Bubenick figured there were lots of other business owners across the country—struggling to start and grow companies—who could benefit from finding the right advisors.

Hunter, who consults for companies ranging in size from $5 million to $50 million, sees needs every day. "In the case of startups, they don't know about the free resources that are available online and through the government. For companies past the startup stage, most don't have the right people working for them. They might intuitively understand that, but they underappreciate how important that is," he says.

Advisory board members at small companies can sometimes serve the crucial role of playing "bad cop" when tough decisions must be made, says Hunter. "A lot of business owners are technical experts but they don't have the best people skills. Having a third party come in makes it easier because you can say: 'My business advisor is recommending this.' It takes the heat off the entrepreneur."

While most would-be advisors, including Hunter, cannot afford to work without remuneration for a small business, he is one of many that Bubenick has come across who have been strongly motivated by the financial crisis. "Small businesses are what I believe to be the backbone of our country's economy," Hunter says. "I'm very patriotic and it pains me to see these people struggling right now."

Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues.

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