The Alternative Board · Northwest Arkansas
The Accelerator Board is part course, part board — a structured 12-month program for smaller and growing Northwest Arkansas businesses where you learn the operating fundamentals and apply each one in your own business, with the accountability and a room of fellow owners that turn everyday firefighting into a business that runs on a plan.
The foundation board — start here, grow into a full peer advisory board when you're ready.
Who it's for
You did what most people only dream about — you started, and built something real. That took courage. But about half of businesses don't make it past five years — rarely for lack of drive, and almost always because of isolation: no outside perspective, no plan, no one holding you to it. The Accelerator Board is where that courage pays off — a real plan, your numbers, and a room of fellow owners building right alongside you.
Working solo is isolating. Get the outside perspective and structure to grow or stabilize — and reclaim your time — with people who get it.
Trades, service, and boutique businesses that want to learn the fundamentals and actually apply them — with real structure and a room of peers, not a one-and-done course.
You learn best beside people who get it — a board of fellow owners, with a facilitator who teaches and guides.
Beyond the free stuff. Free webinars, networking, and seminars all have their place — but they're generic and one-and-done. This is personalized support and real accountability, month after month, built around your business — the kind that helps you still be standing, and growing, years from now.
A Northwest Arkansas board — real owners, building alongside each other.
How it works
It's part course, part board — and the difference is application. You don't just learn each fundamental; you put it to work in your own business the same month, with your peers holding you to it. That's where it actually sticks.
Each month, your facilitator leads a core business topic — the fundamentals that most owners never got taught.
Bring your real challenges to the board and get candid counsel from fellow owners who've faced the same thing.
Take a focused assignment back to your business, apply it in the TAB Blueprint™ — your living plan that you keep and update as you grow — and report your progress next month.
A room built for candor. Your board is a small group of non-competing owners from different industries — the mix that makes it safe to be fully honest, and cross-industry enough to spark ideas you'd never find staying in your own lane.
What the year covers
It starts with an honest business diagnostic and a DISC profile — a clear read of where your business stands and how you're wired — and your strategy and plan are built on what they reveal. From there you work the fundamentals, one month at a time.
An honest read of where you stand today — the foundation the rest is built on.
Understand how you're wired, so the work fits your style and strengths.
Define where you're going and what you stand for.
Learn to work on the business, not just in it.
Turn an honest look at strengths and risks into a real plan.
See where the money actually goes, and find the leaks.
Plan the numbers ahead instead of chasing them.
The few numbers that tell you if you're winning.
Name the handful of things that must go right.
Clarify who owns what, so nothing falls through.
Set the plan, then review and reset.
Build value now for whatever comes later.
Where it fits
The Accelerator Board is the fastest structured way to get your fundamentals and your board rhythm in place. It's a choice to build deliberately from the start — with a clear runway into a full peer advisory board as you grow. Finish the year and you graduate with a certificate to mark it, and a clear next step into that room.
| Accelerator Board | Key Executive Board | Peer Advisory Board | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | 1 year, defined finish | 2 years | Ongoing |
| Best for | Smaller & growing businesses building the fundamentals | A successor — or owner — going deep | Established owners |
| Emphasis | Business & operating foundation | Business acumen plus leadership mastery | Ongoing strategic counsel |
| Then what | Graduate into a peer advisory board | Step into a peer advisory board | Your home base |
By the end of the year, you'll
The TAB NWA Local Difference
Your facilitator
Every Accelerator Board is led by a certified TAB facilitator — trained to teach each topic and guide the room — and backed by The Alternative Board's global community of 5,000+ business owners. TAB Northwest Arkansas was founded by Diana Rogers, who currently leads the boards.
Questions
A structured 12-month peer advisory board for smaller and growing businesses. Each month you meet with a small group of fellow owners — you learn a core business topic, work it live with your peers, and take an assignment back to put it into practice. It builds the operating foundation of your business, in a room of people building right alongside you.
A peer advisory board is a small group of non-competing business owners who meet regularly, with a trained facilitator, to work through real challenges together — combining candid peer counsel, structured learning, and accountability. It's not a class and it's not networking; it's a room of owners in your corner.
Earlier-stage and smaller businesses ready to build a real foundation — founders, trades, and boutique or service businesses who want structure, numbers, and a room of peers rather than going it alone. It's a choice to build deliberately from the start, not a beginner tier.
A full peer advisory board is ongoing counsel for the established owner. The Accelerator Board is a focused 12-month build of the fundamentals, with a facilitator who teaches each month's topic as well as facilitates. Many owners use it to get their foundation and board rhythm in place, then step into a full peer advisory board.
The Key Executive Board is a deeper, two-year program that adds a full year of leadership and people development — built for a successor being groomed, or an owner going deep. The Accelerator Board is one year, focused on business fundamentals, for smaller and growing businesses.
Networking is about contacts, and most masterminds are informal and unfacilitated. The Accelerator Board is a professionally facilitated, confidential board of non-competing owners, built around a proven curriculum and real accountability — you leave every meeting with something done, not just business cards.
One board meeting per month over 12 months — three to four hours depending on group size — plus a focused assignment between meetings that you apply in your business and report back on.
A small group of non-competing owners of smaller and growing businesses across different industries — so you learn beside real peers, with confidential discussion.
Your first step is an honest business diagnostic — a clear read of where your business really stands across the core areas that drive results. It becomes the foundation everything else is built on: your vision, strategy, numbers, and plan all trace back to what it reveals.
DISC is a behavioral and motivational profile that shows how you're wired — how you communicate, decide, and lead. As part of onboarding you complete one, so the work fits your natural style and your facilitator can guide you in the way that lands best.
The Accelerator Board meets in person here in Northwest Arkansas, so you're building alongside owners in your own community. We'll confirm the schedule and location on your fit call.
The Accelerator Board is TAB's most accessible entry point — a lower commitment than a full membership, with a defined 12-month arc. We'll confirm the specifics on your fit call so it's matched to where your business is.
No long-term contract. The Accelerator is a defined 12-month program, but membership is month-to-month — if you ever need to step away, we simply ask for 30 days' notice. Even so, TAB members stay an average of five years or more, and some thirty years or more, with no contract holding them — because it keeps working. We'll cover the specifics on your fit call.
You graduate — certificate in hand — with your fundamentals in place, a board habit built, and a living plan in the TAB Blueprint™ you'll keep updating as your business grows and changes. Many members step into a full peer advisory board — the ongoing room for owners working on strategy and growth.
A short, no-pressure conversation about where your business is and what you want next. If the Accelerator Board is the right fit, great; if another room fits better, we'll point you there honestly.
Book a no-pressure fit call — we'll talk about where your business is and whether the Accelerator Board is the right next step.
Book a Fit Call with Diana →