The Power of BNI

As a small business owner I’ve tried various networking events over the years. One day I received a call from someone inviting me to a BNI Meeting. I had heard of BNI but had never attended a meeting.

The following day, I got up early and attended the breakfast meeting. I was pleased with the efficiency of the meeting and the professionalism of the members. This particular meeting was pretty far from my home, so at first I decided not to join. Then I discovered a new chapter was forming 3 miles from my home so I jumped on the chance to join in September 2014.

When you work in a corporate environment as I did for so many years, there are so many resources that come with your employment. As a small business owner, the resources are limited. You may have a great team of employees, but having this BNI group has helped me make quality connections and they are my business support team.

Joining BNI was probably one of the best decisions I made for my business. My goal was to grow my business, and my business has definitely grown with my BNI membership. But BNI has done so much more, it has helped me connect with other business owners all over the Hudson Valley. You hear about issues they are facing and how they handle them. You see what works for them and it gives you ideas to incorporate into your business. But most of all, I value the friendships I have built over these last 6 years. Although our weekly meetings have moved online to Zoom, we still connect, discuss issues facing our businesses and pass referrals.

Are you interested in more business? If you’ve never attended a BNI meeting, you are welcome to visit my chapter, please send me an email and I’ll make sure you get all the details you need to attend.