Read about Maya Hiort-Soele’s experience as a self-employed entrepreneur who created structure and order in her advisory board using the BetterBoard Board Portal.
Customer Case
Maya Hiort-Soele, CEO & Founder Maya Soele
Effective management of the advisory board with the BetterBoard Board Portal
Maya Hiort-Soele is a self-employed entrepreneur with experience in the commercial sector, she chose to establish an advisory board at the same time as setting up her company and immediately connected to the BetterBoard Board Portal. Although there are not the same legal obligations with an advisory board as with a real board, it was important for Maya to have a structured approach to the work. The board portal helped Maya create this structure from the very beginning, including an annual cycle, minutes, documents and meeting agendas, so that the transition to a real board would be smoother going forward.
The passion behind Maya Hiort-Soele’s entrepreneurial dream is beautiful wooden figures that celebrate vocational education and training. Her products have already attracted interest in the industry as she received orders even before the prototypes were finished and several shops are ready to take her products.
Structure and Security
In order to achieve structure around the advisory board, a digital solution was necessary. As Maya Hiort-Soele is active on social media, she repeatedly came across BetterBoard, but it was actually the chairman of the board who suggested the platform to get things right from the start. She quickly realised that BetterBoard had “a clean slate” just like she wanted for her company.
When we ask why Maya Hiort-Soele chose to use a board portal already when setting up the company and the advisory board, Maya answers,
“To create a place where all our documents could be safely stored and where a structure could be created from the beginning.” Maya Hiort-Soele continues, “When you start a business, there are many documents, information and company data, including sensitive business documents, that have to go back and forth. It was therefore important to be able to create structure right from the start. By having all documents safely stored in one place and accessible to everyone, it was easy to create an overview and work structured in this start-up phase and continue the work with the advisory board”.
“When you start a business, plenty of documents, information and company data, including sensitive business documents, have to go back and forth. It was therefore important to be able to create structure right from the start. By having all documents safely stored and accessible to everyone on the board portal, it was easy to create an overview and work structured in this start-up phase and continue the work with the advisory board”, says Maya Hiort-Soele.
What does the use of the portal mean for the company?
This means, first and foremost, keeping track of documents and their sharing among the board. “It becomes a natural part to remember that if something concerns my board, with a single click I can share new documents or information with all the members, that way communication is just easier” says Maya Hiort-Soele.
Although the company is relatively new, Maya has already experienced how easy it is to onboard a new board member due to the portal’s high degree of user-friendliness.
When we ask Maya Hiort-Soele what features she uses most, it is the ability to create and read minutes directly on the portal, browse meeting books and get a general overview using the annual wheel. Features that all support the important parts of working with production plans and prototypes in a start-up company. In addition, statutes and company documents are easily accessible and stored in a structured set-up, which provides an efficient work process according to Maya.
Does the board portal add value to your business?
“It does”, answers Maya Hiort-Soele immediately. For her, it is about making daily communication with the rest of the board easier. The board portal is an “easy knowledge-sharing and information platform” where you can gain access to all documents related to your company in one place. This creates an efficient and secure workflow from which everyone can gain access from anywhere.
“It’s important to me that we don’t waste each other’s time when we meet, so it’s reassuring to be able to see the preparation score and have an overview of which documents I need to read before a meeting”.
Maya continues: “It gives me, as an owner, a peace of mind that it is clear that everyone around the table takes the work regarding my company seriously – and here we are back to the fact that I also get ‘order in my own pencil case’ with a board portal,” concludes Maya Hiort-Soele.
Maya also highlights how easy the BetterBoard board portal is to use. It is easy to create structure, it is easy to notify the rest of the board when there are new documents “It just makes it easy”, says Maya Hiort-Soele.
