You're doing OK, but you could use some help. From people who can open a few doors for you, help you with some financial planning, the regulatory environment, social media, IP or international sales.

You don't need these people full time and couldn't afford their consultancy expertise.

It's too early to start appointing non-execs, and anyway, if someone is going to join your board you want to know how they operate first. And appointing a director means Companies House paperwork and formality. You don't need the aggravation.

But an Advisory Board is different - it's a collection of people with a diverse range of skills who come togther every now and again to help you wrestle with some of your bigger challenges. It sounds grand, but there's no formality, you can hire and fire at will and often it's free. You can set a meeting agenda and meet (virtually) every couple of months for an hour. It's an hour of sucking knowledge out of their heads and getting them to do things for you.

Often the people who join Advisory Boards are (or have been) successful in their own businesses and relish the intellectual challenge of thinking about other businesses. They're not in it for the money and they might meet people who can also help them. If they insist on being paid, offer them an annual dinner where you all get together and have a bit of a blowout. If you absolutely must, consider share options.

Advisory Boards are great - they require a bit of discipline on your part (by way of a topic for each meeting) so you get good discussions out of them and you might need to send a current business summary ahead of each meeting. You might even find someone who provides knowledge, intellect, creativity and practical support, who is worthy of being offered a future non-exec position.