We are members of the BNI that is held on Fridays at the Mercure Hythe Imperial, the BNI Imperial Chapter (that’s what they call the groups). Well, I say ‘we’, but that’s the royal ‘we’ as Simon, my husband and business partner, is the member and forever complaining that I agreed to substitute for him occasionally as part of the ‘deal’ but that never seems to happen!

I always think BNI is a bit like marmite: you either love it or you hate it, and there are many people who have heard about it, but never tried it because they have decided that they don’t like it already!

In our experience it can be a great way of networking your business locally, and as a result, gaining business but it can be so much more than that depending on your chapter.  The BNI Imperial is a particularly friendly chapter (or so our visitors tell us!) and I think that really makes a difference when you are expected to attend every week at an unearthly hour, as well as to recommend those people to others.

So, what I would say if you’ve never tried it is don’t write it off before you have.  Find a local group and contact one of the members to see if you can attend as a visitor (it will only cost you your breakfast).  The chapters have exclusive business categories so you need to check that you will not be ‘clashing’ with an existing member, but if you would be then just find another chapter – there are so many around you won’t have to travel far.

It was International Networking Week in February and a BNI member from London performed a song about his experiences with BNI, which is on YouTube so I’ve embedded it here for your entertainment (it’s a bit late, so apologies if you’ve already seen it)!