Why do we network?
Opportunities
As I mentioned above, a lot of our business comes from networking, it’s brilliant because you’re able to build a network of different businesses, knowing you can recommend one another. It’s often an ongoing cycle, one opportunity may lead to another and you never know how far one opportunity may take you. We have won many clients from referrals we got through BNI years ago, and have had many clients through BNI who we have worked with for many years on much more than the initial project we were put in touch with them to complete.
In fact in the last 12 months, between them Larry and Doug have enjoyed in excess of £185,000 worth of business through BNI!
Share the love
Networking isn’t just great for business opportunities, but also for shared knowledge. By having a close-knit group, you can easily gain feedback, learn about other businesses and people and also see things from a different perspective. It opens up an opportunity to learn but also share your knowledge, and in our experience the more you give out – be it referrals or just time, the more you will get back.
Connecting
It’s not just about growing your network with the people in the room, it’s about connecting with their network, too. If you make an initial good impression on them, they’ll continue to put you in touch with their connections, creating an ongoing cycle.
Awareness
Networking is more than just connecting with people and gaining new opportunities, it allows you to become more established, especially if you’re networking in your local area. People will start to know and recognise your name and brand, thus increasing your credibility.
Support
We have always had tremendous support through the networking events we run. Indeed the charity golf day we now run annually in aide of ellenor and now Taylor Made Dreams (aside from this year because of the Coronavirus Pandemic) is massively supported by our BNI group. We have multiple BNI members participating and bringing guests along and some have contributed fantastic prizes over the years. We firmly believe our golf days would not have been as successful as they have without the support of our BNI groups.
Grow personally
Networking enables you to push yourself, you meet new people, often from all sorts of different walks of life, it’ll help you push yourself and build your confidence. As someone who owns or runs a small business, this is a great attribute to have as it shows you’ve got the capability to be confident in what you do! Let us know if it's something that interests you!
