Business support served up with breakfast

The Press

Every Tuesday morning, when most people are reaching for the snooze button, Jonathan Black and 20 other members of The Hub tuck into a weekly mix of business and breakfast.

Despite the 7am start, the seats around the Last Supper-sized table at Eliza's Manor in Bealey Avenue, where the meetings take place, are routinely filled.

The people who belong to The Hub are a committed and eclectic bunch. Among those partaking in the weekly ritual are a cordon bleu chef, an electrician, a masseuse, a furniture retailer, a realtor, a financial adviser and a panelbeater.

After a quick coffee and light banter over muesli, fruit and warm toast, members take a seat at the table, roll up their sleeves and get down to business.

It's the kind of loyalty normally reserved for church-goers and AA members, but this is a scene that is played out all around the globe at breakfast tables laid by an organisation called Business Networking International (BNI).

"Getting up so freaking early is the hardest part," concedes Black, who, after seven years, is one of the longest-serving members of The Hub.

Whatever hardship there might be in waking up with the birds, it is clearly no deterrent to those angling for a spot at a BNI breakfast table.

Since the networking scheme (imported from North America) was introduced to New Zealand nearly 10 years ago as a franchise, it has spread faster than office gossip.

New Zealand has one of the highest uptakes per capita of any nation. There are 93 chapters in this country, 10 of them in Christchurch, with an 11th in the works.

National director Graham Southwell, the fellow who brought BNI to New Zealand, is at a loss to explain its popularity here, but suggests it has much to do with the referral system that serves almost as a dessert at the end of each session. Before members part company, they exchange slips of paper on which are written the names of prospective clients.

In BNI speak, it is part of the give-is-gain reciprocity philosophy. Ordinary folk might be more familiar with the you-scratch-my-back, I'll-scratch-yours idea, but the effect is the same. The more referrals you get, the harder you tend to work to return the favour.

However, members insist the gain runs deeper then the reward of a good referral. They say the social support system is every bit as profitable.

Attendance at a meeting provides some insight.

Every session, regardless of where it takes place and who is present, is run exactly the same way. It begins with a general welcome and greeting, then a customary reading of the mission statement to provide quality referrals to like-minded business people, followed by a brief teaching or insight that is meant to be educational in nature.

Members then take turns around the table introducing themselves (even though they know each other well) and fire off a well-rehearsed 60-second blurb about the nature of their business and the type of clients they want to attract.

Then, an appointed member of the team gives a 10-minute presentation on their business, followed by a question-and-answer session.

It is the same every week by design.The repetition makes members comfortable and confident about talking about their business, so eventually it becomes second nature.

In Black's case, the pay-off is evident. The organisational psychologist is about as smooth-talking as they come, and is clearly the social convener of the group.

"It's a way to learn presentation skills in a safe and comfortable environment ... This is the best place to learn to get up and speak in front of a group of other business people, because everyone, without exception, is supportive," he says.

When it is his turn to report on dances danced, BNI's vernacular for get-togethers with group members outside breakfast meetings, Black reels off a list of at least five such rendezvous.

For Black, the greatest professional gain is obviously on the contact side.

"I'm a shrink. I know nothing about business, but I recognise that this is a way to learn networking skills," he says.

"It's about regular relationship management. You build a relationship and sales come after that and then, when someone gets to know you, the more they can help you."

Southwell says the referral system would not work nearly as well if it were not for the fact that members get to know one another's businesses intimately and build up trust.

"People do it for business and the referrals, but you do form very deep relationships with the people within. It's not who you know, or what you know, it's how well you know them," he says.

Chef Bronwyn Dewar, who runs a catering and cooking school called Blachedivine, says in her first year of business 40 per cent of her clients came from members of The Hub. When members got to know her, the external referrals started to snowball.

Still, Dewar insists the benefit to her has been broader than that.

"It's not only about referrals. It's about the support you gain within the business community," the jovial blue-eyed chef says.

"It's about the different ideas that come around the group. It's great."

Black concurs.

"Sure, there's a measurable aspect to how much business takes place, but the reason why people stay is not because of commercial reasons, but for the friendships and the recognition; they can tap into such an incredible resource," he says.

James Smith, one of The Hub's newest members, says his primary reason for joining the group was to build up contacts.

But so far, the social side of The Hub, particularly the public speaking side of it, has proven most valuable, Smith says.

"For me, personally, I work in an environment where most business is done by word of mouth and, in this case, that 60 seconds of public speaking is a good skill to have."

Whether it is the social or commercial benefits that make these networking systems so appealing, BNI has been warmly welcomed in New Zealand.

"I honestly don't know what the reason is," Southwell says.

"New Zealand has a lot of small businesses, but I'm not convinced it is necessarily higher than any other country. But it certainly has gone down very well."

Having brought the BNI scheme to New Zealand as a franchise, Southwell plans to stick to the formula and to continue expanding, based on demand. But he has also introduced some new features, including a web-based blog and a support programme for new entrepreneurs.

The programme allows individual chapters to offer a free annual membership (worth $500) to a deserving candidate who has been in business less than two years.

Southwell says BNI's core give-and-gain philosophy goes beyond capital gain. To that end, he has aligned BNI New Zealand with hospices around the country, raising money by calling on chapter support.

"I thought there was real synergy between what they were doing providing care in the community and what we're doing, which is business for the community in the community. So there's a real synergy going on, and that's why we aligned with them," he says.

And when it comes to group membership, good alignment is also emphasised. For one, no two members of a profession or industry can be represented within a chapter, to avoid obvious conflicts and competition for clients.

As well, prospective new members are required to attend at least two meetings as a visitor to see what they are joining.

Those who do eventually become members are usually fairly committed at least, they have to be for a minimum of six months. They are also put through some rigorous reference and credit checks, and, finally, a compatibility test with two executive members of a group.

Black says chemistry can make all the difference to finding the right fit.

"Getting the wrong people can make a huge impact later on.

"If you've got a clash between people, it comes across in everything that takes place in the meeting," he says.

Despite all their differences, or maybe because of them, Dewar says The Hub has found a perfect mix.

"We have a high-energy, very talented group, and they also support each other and feel very comfortable in the group they're in."

She says having that confidence in one another is essential to the group's cohesiveness and, by extension, the effectiveness of its referral system.

"You want to know the work (that you refer) is going to be carried out to the standard and level you expect it to. You don't want to disappoint people.

"That's the great thing about our group ... the fact you can refer anything to anyone in the group and you know it's going to be done within the time frame you expect it to be done, and you know the clients are happy with it and you look good."