About a year ago when I started looking at Organization Networking in Glasgow, I went along to many chapters of
BNI Glasgow,
4N or 4Networking,
Fortunetwork and a few other people.
My mind started spinning at all these networks. Which ones to go to? Which ones would work for my enterprise? I didnt have a clue. And I did what most Business Owners do - attended as several as I could.
After visiting a couple of
Glasgow BNI Chapters, I joined a particular chapter referred to as BNI Dynamo.
BNI is fairly well regimented. You will find a number of chapters of BNI in Glasgow. And every chapter meets once a week.
There can be only 1 member from one profession in one Glasgow BNI Chapter.
The advantage of BNI is since there can be only 1 member of one profession in one chapter, other members of that chapter are supposed to pass organization to that 1 member by referral if they discover any enterprise that matches what that member does.
The disadvantage is that if that member is not honest, then with out written complaints the leadership generally can't do anything.
The other disadvantage is that if two members are doing the same work but, apply for membership under various professions, then it really is up to the member to raise objection. This does give rise to controversies.
In general, BNI works well. But the emphasis is on passing company to every other.
The fees are around 500 + VAT a year.
The next network - 4N or
4Networking has several groups - 4N Glasgow Merchant City, 4N Glasgow South, 4N Glasgow North, and many others outside Glasgow and across UK.
As a passport member of 4N, a member of 4N Glasgow can visit other 4N groups anywhere in UK.
There is no uniqueness. So in one 4N group, you could have three Accountants, 4 Web Designers and 5 IFAs. Will they all get organization? Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on their pitch. And occasionally, some men and women have got great pitches. But they might not be great at what they do.
And 4N itself does not accept any responsibility on the top quality of their members work.
You'll find few rules. And 4N is normally geared up towards helping you get as a lot of business contacts as rapidly as feasible.
Fees again are around 500 + VAT per year.
Fortunetwork Glasgow is different. The emphasis is on collaboration. And members try and work with every other to try and get larger projects.
At the same time, if a new prospective member does exactly what an existing member does, they get to have a meeting to discuss regardless of whether there's a common ground. And the new member is allowed to join only if there is typical ground.
Fees are 500 + VAT per year.
All of the above are company breakfast groups. The cost of breakfast is typically between 10 and 15 per week.
So annual cost will probably be from 600 (20% VAT in 2011) + 520 (1120) to 600 + 1560 - if you go to three events of 4N per week - (2160) per year. And then, in the event you determine to do it all, the cost can go as high as 8000 or far more per year.
Eventually I started a Enterprise Network of my own -
Glasgow Enterprise Network.
At
Glasgow Organization Network we have a combination of Business Networking Events and Social Events.
This network meets in the evening. Enterprise Networking Events generally cost 5 and Social Events normally cost 10.
But there's no annual membership. As a result, the annual cost would be 240 (20 a month). This compared with 1120 to 1560 of attending events of other Company Networks suddenly looks much more attractive.
And also the event format is really a combination of 4N (3 10 minute 1-2-1s) and Fortunetwork (Collaboration and not hard sales). As a result, members can get a lot a lot more from Glasgow Company Network for a lot less.
And obviously, unlike other Company Networks where the fees go towards administration (someones pockets), any surplus from
Glasgow Enterprise Network is donated to local charity Sense Scotland.
Interested to locate out far more? Then go to
http://www.glasgowbiznet.com for details and to join on the web.
