A network
It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog post, but I’m still coaching owners of startups and growing businesses 😊. This post was inspired by a client who is looking to change her networking group because she hasn’t received a good enough return from her current one. I decided to find out more about her options and share this information with you.
Whether you are starting your business or growing it, meeting up regularly with others in business can help you establish relationships, discover opportunities, share information, find potential partners, and gain new customers. There seems to be an endless number of these groups, and I was surprised to learn how much business is generated by them.
yes, Business networking can help you
Establish effective relationships with key people
Find solutions to your business problems
Access new markets and form new partnerships
Access new recruits
Enhance your professional reputation
Measure your business performance against other similar businesses and find out your own strengths and areas for improvement
Meet potential customers and suppliers you can trust
Access the latest industry information
Combat loneliness
Build a referral network
Build brand awareness
How much time do you need?
To get the most out of networking, you need to join a group that offers events and services relevant to your business and get involved. I was surprised to learn that, according to BNI[1], People who say that networking played a role in their success spent an average of 6 1/2 hours a week networking and had half of their clients from their networking time. However, people who did not invest as much time networking also did not report as much reward. Therefore, spend about 8-10 hours per week networking and do the right things to build the relationships first when networking.[2]
How do you choose?
Networking groups can be local, national or global and focus on specific types (eg service, tech based, manufacturing, retail, etc) and sizes of business. Trade associations focus on one specific industry, while chambers of commerce attract all types of industries. Some organisations offer face-to-face networking, others online, and some offer both. You may feel uncomfortable if others in the group are much younger than you. On the other hand, they my be well-placed to help your business or refer you to potential customers. You really do have to test out a few to find the right one for you.
Years ago, I found my Institute of Directors and Chamber of Commerce memberships helped me build new relationships, learn new skills and gain contracts, but it’s been awhile. To learn more, I spoke to Naomi Jane Johnson, owner of two businesses - Value Added Video and Designed by Naomi – and leader of a Facebook group Visual Design and Marketing Ideas for Your Business which has 1,200 members. Before the pandemic, Naomi gained a significant proportion of her business from networking but as the face-to-face events stopped (and are just beginning to start up again), she found online networking to be less productive. Rather than join the larger, more established groups listed below, Naomi opted for small, friendly and more affordable ones local to her, which are less formal and are not pressurized (they have been included on the list). People should also consider joining one or more Facebook groups, and of course there are countless social media networks to consider. If you’re a networker you may be interested in Naomi’s book ‘Networking Notes’, available on Amazon. The book can help you track your meetings and record essential notes and contact details. Why not have a look? (I don’t get any commission for this, by the way 😊).
If you scroll down, you will find a list of national, regional and local business and networking organisations in the UK, but there are so many more! I have included any review scores I could find, where there are enough reviews to be meaningful.
If you lead or are part of a group or groups not listed here, I would be grateful if you could let me know about them, so I can add them to this list. Also, if you have any comments about them, please email me or leave a comment below.
List of associations and groups
Associations
Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (established 1999)
Primary location: LondonMembership: approx. 16,000 members
Fee: From £8.50/month to £30.50/month[3]
IPSE is a not-for-profit association for contractors, consultants, interims, freelancers and the self-employed. It provides representation and lobbying on behalf of the freelance sector, tax investigation insurance, template contracts, advice and guidance, work hubs, membership benefits, events, legal support, networking opportunities, training, self-employment news, and IR35 information. There is an incubator package for people new to self-employment. Trustpilot: 12 reviews, excellent[4]
British Chambers of Commerce (established 1860)
Primary location: London. There are 53 accredited Chambers of Commerce in the UK.Membership: approx. 100,000 members
Fee: From around £300/year to £1150/year (plus VAT) depending on the size of the business. Some promotional offers are available.
The Chamber network supports and connects companies, brings together firms to build new relationships, share best practice, foster new opportunities and provides practical support to help member businesses trade locally, nationally and globally. To join you should first seek out your local chamber which can be found here. Particularly suited to B2B brands and professional services firms.
Enterprise Nation (established 2005)
Primary location: London. Online and meetings around the UK.
Membership: A community of 75,000.
Fee: Free to join. You pay for the services you need, although advisers pay a fee to be included on the website.
Enterprise Nation is a small business network and business support provider, consisting of small businesses and business advisers. Members can access support at a selection of events throughout the UK, or online via a personalised platform. Its aim is to help people turn their ideas into successful businesses through expert advice, events, and networking. Trustpilot: excellent 93 reviewsFederation of Small Businesses (established 1974)
Primary location: Blackpool. Located in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales. Regional offices: North West England, Yorkshire, Humber and the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, Greater London, South West England South Central England, South East England.
Membership: The membership is 200,000+ if Joint, Associate, Retired, Connect and Business Creation (pre-start-up) affiliates are included.
Fee: £30 registration fee + from £147 – approx. £1,000 per year (VAT exempt)[5]
The FSB represents small and medium-sized businesses, offering events and networking, a legal advice hub and protections scheme, cyber protection helpline and insurance, tax investigation protection, debt recovery service, health and safety advice, plus a range of benefits and discounts on typical small business services from third-party providers. FSB is also a campaigning pressure group that promotes the interests of businesses in the UK. Trustpilot: excellent 391 reviews
The Forum of Private Business (established 1977)
Primary location: Knutsford, Cheshire
Membership: 25,000
Fee: Sole trader £120 plus VAT/year, medium business £540 plus VAT/year. Large businesses (500+employees) prices on application.
FPB is mainly aimed at companies that employ between 1-50 employees. It offers small business advice, business growth and development, guidance and support on employment law; health and safety; HR; purchasing and cost; finance and funding; legal cover protection; leadership and management; marketing and sales; compliance; legislation; and late payment.
Institute of Directors (established 1903)
Primary location: London. There are regional locations including London, West Midlands, South West, Yorkshire and the North East, South, East of England.
Membership: Approx. 25,000 full members, from companies of all sizes and from all industries. Around 70% are self-employed or work for small and medium-sized enterprises. You do not need to be a registered director or working in a commercial entity to be eligible for Associate status but only practicing directors can obtain Member and Fellow status of the IoD.
Fee: From £17/month associate membership, £35/month full membership
The IoD offers business information and advice, networking, director training and development, hospitality and events, influencing policy, business premises and virtual offices, business library, board evaluation, board development, non-executive director directory. There is a members-only LinkedIn group.
Networking groups
4Networking (established 2006)
Primary location: Taunton. Local meetings around the UK.Membership: 50,000. There are 5,000 local meetings around the UK plus 70+ online meetings each week.
Fee: £200 for the first year and £365 for each subsequent 12-month period (plus VAT). You also pay a fee per meeting, although there are ways to reduce this cost.
With a strapline of “50% social 50% business” 4Networking is a community of business owners who connect, share ideas and pass leads on a daily basis in order to propel them, their business and their network further. Targets micro to small business owners with less than 10 employees. particularly technology-based SMEs. Offers business networking, social media, business development, and leadership development. Members get access to all online networking meetings running 6 days a week, from 8am – 8pm, plus access to the Facebook group. The owner has recently (Oct 2020) started 1Networking, which appears to be an online version of BNI (see below), but costs are not apparent until you sign up.
BNI (established1985)
Global Primary location: Charlotte NC
Primary location UK: Watford, with chapters around the UK.
UK and Ireland membership: 13,000
Fee: Registration fee £180 (plus VAT), 1 year subscription £565 (plus VAT) or 2 year subscription £900 (plus VAT).
BNI is a global networking group helping members increase their business through its referral marketing programme. There are 25 local chapters, and one person per trade is allowed in each chapter.
Meetup (established 2002)
Primary location USA: New York
Primary location UK: London
Membership UK: 9,300 members
Fee: Free to join, although you may have to pay to join a specific meetup group or event.
Small business networking groups are organised via the meetup.com platform. UK-based meetups include: Entrepreneurs in London; Networking 4 Business; BOSS CEOs London; Pathway2Grow; Master Mind of Entrepreneurs; Manchester Small Business start-up support group and many more.
Network B2B (established 2008, incorporated 2021)
Primary location: Durham
Membership: 762 members in 81 groups
Fee: £35 (plus VAT)/month, minimum 1 year, plus a small meeting fee of under £15 unless the meeting is virtual. The membership fee refundable if a member has no success after 12 months.
Originally created as a business network for the Northeast it has since expanded to a UK wide networking group for businesses of all sizes. Weekly meetings, the first two are free meetings before you decide to join. You have an exclusive slot in one group. Google reviews 4.5/5 (44 reviews)
The Business Network (established 2009)
Primary location: Manchester, with local chapters in Birmingham, Chester, Exeter, London, Manchester, Peterborough, Hertfordshire, and Humberside.
Membership: Number unknown.
Fee: Unknown (you have to contact them for this information). Online meetings cost £15 and lunch events cost £42.50.
This network offers members the opportunity to make new contacts, collaborate and share knowledge, and build a support network through networking seminars, lunches and online events. “Connect, converse, collaborate’. Monthly digital magazine.
Women in Business Network (established 2007)
Primary location: London. National online meetings. In-person events in London and across the UK: Bedfordshire and West Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, London and Bishop’s Stortford, South Essex, London and Colchester, West Essex and North East London, Berkshire, Cheshire and Liverpool.
Membership: 608 listed on the website; 7,000 members on LinkedIn. Members are women who own SME businesses, are self-employed or work as professional service providers for small businesses.
Fee: £240 (local) - £275 (national) per year plus monthly meeting fee of £14 (local) - £24/month (national) plus cost of meals if relevant.
A membership organisation and forum for women who wish to gain new business opportunities through strong business relationships. Members benefit from referring each other’s businesses, mutual support, collaborations and more. Professional exclusivity.
Women in Rural Enterprise (established 1998)
Primary location: Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire. Groups located in Cheshire, Dorset, eastern Shires, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, North and East Yorkshire, North Cumbria, North East Wales, North Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, South Suffolk, West Devon, Wiltshire.
Membership: Number not certain. There are over 50 network groups.
Fee: £50 (incl VAT). Some in person events request a small fee.
WiRE is a not-for-profit enterprise that promotes, supports and develops women in rural enterprise. ‘Warm, welcoming and non-scary’. Events are online or in-person.
Regional/local groups
3Cs Networking (established 2016)
Primary location: Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire with events in Retford, Worksop, Edwinstowe and Rotherham
Membership: Small, but about 20 members per meeting
Fee: £75 per six months, with a small charge per meeting.
Informal but structured networking group open to business owners, business development managers, sole traders or solopreneurs, based in or around North Notts and South Yorkshire.
Latte and Live (established 2020)
Primary location: Hull. Online events only.
Membership: Small
Fee: £20/month
An online networking group with weekly hour-long meetings or learning events including introductions, breakout rooms and one-to-one chats.
MINT Business Club (established 2017)
Primary location: Consett, Co Durham, with events located in the North East.
Membership: There are 2,000 Facebook page members (free to join this).
Fee: Community £25/month; Community + Training £39/month.
MINT is a membership club of self-employed and micro business owners (less than 10 people), offering training, support and advice. Training is online and face-to-face (if you’re in the North East). Members only Facebook group. Kickstart gateway. Reviews: Google 5/5 (63 reviews); Facebook 5/5 (134 reviews).
The Growth Community (established 2020)
Primary Location: Doncaster with groups located in Lincoln, Grimsby, Selby, Chesterfield, Berkshire, Worksop, Doncaster, Beverley, Gainsborough, Hull.
Membership: Small
Fee: from £40 plus a meeting fee.
Informal and friendly fortnightly networking and referral meetings, face to face and online.
The Yorkshire Mafia (established 2008)
Primary location: Leeds, with events in the Yorkshire region.
Membership: 23,000 members
Fee: free to access
Brings together executives and stakeholders from the Yorkshire business community to meet, network, share experience, learn, build relationships and ultimately trade. Membership is held exclusively on LinkedIn. Affordable networking.
Special request
It would be very helpful if you could send me the names of any groups you know about that are not mentioned here. Also, if you have any comments about them or any on this list, please email me or leave a comment below.
Happy networking!
Viv
[1] The largest global networking organisation
[2] https://www.bni.com/the-latest/blog-news/how-much-time-should-you-spend-networking
[3] https://www.ipse.co.uk/become-a-member.html
[4] https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/ipse.co.uk