Business Networking Groups

[JTilling]

HI all

I recently was invited to visit a business networking group locally to me. Afterward I was (predictably) asked to join. I politely declined saying I would think about it. In total with all membership fee's etc it is around £1400 per year to be a member.

I wondered if anyone here has ever been or is currently a member of one of these groups? Has it been beneficial to you?

Just looking for thoughts. When I asked a few questions at the event I was told that I should look at it as an investment as I would get a large return from it due to their 'referrals' system.

It seems like a large commitment as someone representing the company MUST go EVERY week to talk about your company any what its been up to etc as well as to talk about what referrals you have made that week etc.

 

Also its on a friday morning! As many of you will appreciate fridays are hectic in this industry without having to be at a breakfast meeting at 6:30 every single friday!

 

It would be great to hear your thoughts about it as I cant decide if its a good idea in terms of ROI or not.

 

Thanks

[musht]

Any good at golf....

[sandall]

Sounds a bit like a cross between time-share / "investment" seminars, LinkedIn & pyramid-selling. If you can afford to gamble £1400 p/a on something so speculative you are obviously doing all right financially already.

[Stuart91]

If it's just local businesses sharing intelligence and referrals with one another, where on earth does £1400/pa come from? Somebody is making money out of this.

 

Many years ago I got an invite to a free "business improvement seminar" at a pretty reputable local venue. The programme for the evening looked OK, but it turned out to be an almost cult-like setup, with devotees whooping and cheering during the main presentation. It seemed designed to get you signed up with a "mentor" and they had endless materials that you could buy. It felt like scientology, but without the science fiction.

 

They managed to mis-spell my surname on the registration badge (probably couldn't read my handwriting) but it was quite interesting to see how much other rubbish got sent to me with that spelling. Selling on the contact details from uninterested punters is probably a decent sideline for them.

[kerry davies]

If you don't have to roll up your trouser leg and wear a pinny it isn't worth £1400.

 

Not that I would ever consider masonic mumbo jumbo.

[Junior8]

Weekly commitment on a Friday and it costs 1400 GBP? It wouldn't do for me.

[lonemorf]

Sounds like BNI. £500 to join, and then 52 breakfast/meeting fees (alledegdly non profit making, all goes to the venue?!).

Reality:

I was a member of a BNI chapter back in 2010 - was the 2nd largest chapter in the UK, with some 40 members. I had a sales force of 39 people, for "free". A lot of them were useless holes, people trying to punt on utilities warehouse or some other MLM crapesque scheme, and trying to use the memebr base to punt it on for them. But, there were also some *really* good contacts I made in there, who I still work with/talk to/refer business to today, some 7 years after I left.

The key to this being a success for you, is the size of the chapter, the quality of the people within it, what they do, what circles they operate in, and ultimately what it is you are wanting to "sell".

I ran a company doing network installs for offices, houses, data centres - this led nicely into other avenues of work too, but that was my core business. Off the back of that BNI chapter, I landed the sunguard offices install (some 3 thousand network points), a full datacentre build, and several others - totalling over £1M of business. As a consequence, I used the accountant at the chapter (he was better than mine, and I could talk openly with him!), the mortgage broker, still to this day does my mortgage, the air con company still maintains all my offices I work at now (2 jobs later), etc etc. You see the point?

 

With all that said, I made it work for me, in the right place at the right time, with the right people and the right offering - I also worked at it. I have seen *many many* people sign up, and fail then blame the chapter. Sometimes it *is* the chapter - it can be full of tosspots. Sometimes you are going in with something so niche, it doesnt fit the environment. There are loads of chapters - go visit a few - find a well established, long standing one with a decent member count, and you will *probably* do ok - avoid at all costs the new start up ones. The new start up ones try to make you recruit new members for the group, citing "you will be the one who benefits" (which is ###### really, as you wont get the £500!), and all the members are new and learning how it works - kinda resembles an 18th century press gang. Established groups with long standing members know how to make it work, and *should* make it worthwhile for you.

 

Last thoughts - BNI is a business. They operate a MLM model. Regional directors, area directors, etc etc. They all get a cut of your £500. They are generally either has beens, or young ignorant inexperienced chuffs who can't find a real job, and want to cite themselves as "entrenpeneurs" (which they aren't, they are part of an MLM). They are taught from on high to "bang the drum" to the tunes of "you get out what you put in", and "BNI won't fail you, only you can cause failure" - therefore attempting to insulate them from the reality that if a chapter is full of inept f**kwits, its somehow your fault!

Research, visit, find a good one, and you can do well out of it.

[Junior8]

The word Chapter and the faintly offensive odour of Multi Level Marketing would be enough to put one off I think.

[lonemorf]

Was for me too - but I got past the stigma and the "cult like" perception, purely due to the people I met there. Nothing to do with the BNI people, but the members. That said, I went to some other chapters, and it was farcical. It really requires research to make it work - but if and when you find the right place, with the right people, and you have the right offering you are trying to sell on, you can really open some doors - as I say, in my 2 years there, I got over £1M of work out of it. But successes like that are cited as "usual" by BNI - its not the case in my view.

All Im saying is "don't dismiss it, but research it - it *might* work for you, if you get the variables right".

[sandall]

It obviously worked for your particular business, but it's hard to see how it would work with the OP's skill-set & ambitions, unless it is a very entertainment-oriented group.

[lonemorf]

Exacfly - all part of the research - seeing whats at the various groups that provide good synergies. Also, bear in mind, that just because there is an "accountant" at the group, doesnt mean he wife doesnt work for a big events company or things like that. It takes time and research to see if there is a benefit. Mine, agreed, was far easier, and I did get lucky with some of the people there - The stationary guy was also a non exec director of sunguard ;) But thats the "magic" I spose.

[JTilling]

Thanks everyone especially to lonemorf.

It is indeed a BNI group!

Really good to hear your experiences of it. I think I will visit another couple of times and have a think over the next month or two.

As others say I am unsure if it will benefit my business as it is full of accountants/brokers etc but as you say thats not to say they don't know others who need events or work for events companies etc. This particular chapter has around 40 members so I feel like thats a good size compared to some of the others I was told about that are much smaller.

[lonemorf]

Aye, all it takes is one member of the group to be in touch with the right person, and you get your £1400 back in spades. The friday thing is a pain though - they are usually on Wednesdays.

Either way, best of luck either way.

[Pete McCrea]

You need to work out what your desired customer looks like, then work out where they hang out.

 

We want to do more touring music work. I’m pretty sure they TM’s and PM’s don’t tend to go to BNI Meetings, so I’d be hesitant signing up. But if you’re looking to provide services that are more ‘mass market’ then it might work. And in my limited experience networking events tend to be full of designers, web site and seo people, accountants and MLM Electricity/beauty people - they are services most businesses use. By contrast services of the industry tend to be used a lot less seldomly by the average attendee at these events.