For business families and advisory board members
An advisory board creates value — when tasks, composition, and collaboration are right.
A professionally structured advisory board strengthens family businesses at decisive phases of their development. INTES supports business families in building, developing, and staffing effective advisory boards — and helps advisory board members fulfill their role responsibly and with clear added value.
What makes a good advisory board?
An advisory board is far more than a supervisory body. Properly staffed and clearly integrated into the governance of the family business, it becomes a valuable sparring partner for the business family, the shareholders, and management.
With its experience, its independent perspective, and its professional expertise, an advisory board helps make strategic decisions on a sound basis, recognize opportunities and risks early, and guide the long-term development of the family business. At the same time, it provides orientation during phases of growth, generational transition, or the professionalization of leadership and oversight.
Whether an advisory board makes sense, which tasks it should take on, and how it should best be composed depends on the individual situation of the family business. What matters is that the advisory board creates real added value — for the business, the business family, and the shareholders alike.
When does an advisory board become important?
As a family business develops further, the demands on leadership, oversight, and strategic decision-making often increase as well. One owner becomes several shareholders, the company grows, the next generation takes on responsibility, or external management is brought in.
In these phases, a professional advisory board can provide decisive impetus. It contributes independent perspectives, complements missing competencies, and supports business families in developing their governance structures sustainably.
Typical occasions for establishing or further developing an advisory board include:
- the generational transition in the family business
- the professionalization of leadership and oversight
- the introduction of external management
- growth and increasing business complexity
- new demands on specialist expertise, for example in the areas of digitalization, sustainability, or artificial intelligence
- the desire for stronger exchange between the business family, the shareholders, and management
Every business family has different requirements. That is why there is no single right advisory board — only the solution that fits the goals and structure of your family business.
How INTES supports you
Creating the right framework for successful advisory board work.
An effective advisory board begins with a clear objective. Together, we develop an advisory board concept that fits your family business — from tasks and competencies through composition and working methods to clear integration into your governance structures.
→ More about building an advisory board
Finding the right personalities for your advisory board.
An advisory board is only as good as its members. INTES supports business families in staffing their advisory board and guides the selection process with an eye to professional competence, entrepreneurial experience, diversity, and the personal fit of the candidates.
→ More about advisory board composition
Developing the competence for responsible advisory board work.
Anyone who takes on an advisory board mandate bears responsibility for the future of a family business. Through the qualification programs of the INTES Academy, we prepare entrepreneurs, executives, and prospective advisory board members specifically for their tasks on the board.
An effective advisory board doesn’t happen by chance.
Establishing an advisory board requires clear goals, the right composition, and well-considered governance. Discover how INTES supports family businesses in building high-performing advisory boards.
Voices from practice
Reaching the goal with structure and intuition.
„As the owner family of Beulco GmbH & Co. KG, we look back on an extremely successful collaboration with INTES in the course of restaffing our advisory board. Throughout the entire process, we experienced a high level of professionalism and clear structures at all times. We would particularly like to highlight the excellent network as well as INTES’s keen instinct for identifying personalities who fit our company culture optimally, both professionally and personally.“
Trust develops over time.
„The collaboration showed a high degree of empathy, expertise, and genuine passion for family businesses. Together we developed concrete options to secure the future with regard to the next generation.“
Advisory Board Workshop
The demands placed on advisory board members are constantly evolving. With the Advisory Board Workshop of the INTES Academy, we offer a modular qualification program that conveys up-to-date expertise, fosters the exchange of experience, and prepares advisory board members specifically for their responsible role in the family business.
„A competent and responsible advisory board can contribute substantially to business success and sustainable corporate development. With our comprehensive seminar program, you gain the tools for successful advisory board work.“
Still have questions?
An advisory board supports business families and management with strategic questions and helps secure the long-term development of the family business. It contributes independent perspectives, entrepreneurial experience, and professional expertise, guides important decisions, and strengthens the company’s governance structures. Unlike management, the advisory board does not take on operational responsibility; instead, it advises, challenges, and provides impetus for the future of the family business.
An advisory board makes sense in particular when family businesses grow, when the shareholder structure becomes more complex, or when a generational transition is approaching. It can also make an important contribution when external management is introduced, when leadership and oversight are being professionalized, or in the face of new strategic challenges. Whether and in what form an advisory board makes sense always depends on the individual situation and goals of the family business.
The ideal size of an advisory board depends on the size and requirements of the family business. In practice, many advisory boards consist of three to five members. However, what matters is less the number than the right composition. The decisive factors are professional competence, entrepreneurial experience, personal integrity, and the ability to contribute different perspectives constructively.
The selection of advisory board members should be guided by the strategic goals and the competence needs of the family business. Alongside professional expertise, entrepreneurial experience, industry knowledge, personal independence, and cultural fit with the business family play an important role. A professional selection process helps assemble an advisory board that guides the company effectively over the long term.
INTES supports family businesses at every step of building an advisory board — from analyzing the individual needs through developing a suitable advisory board concept to staffing and qualifying the body. Together with the business family, tasks, roles, competencies, and working methods are defined so that the advisory board creates sustainable added value for the business, the shareholders, and management.
The right advisory board doesn’t happen by chance
Whether you’re building an advisory board, developing existing structures further, or looking for the right personalities for your body — together we develop a solution that fits your family business and your long-term goals.
