Networking for growth

When I first started my accountancy practice 12 years ago I asked a contact who had run his own business successfully for several years for some advice. 'Use your network' was how he put it succinctly. We expanded on this on what he meant was keep in touch with people who know you, be they ex work colleagues, friends, local business owners etc and let them know your plans. Keeping in touch could be the occasional email, meeting for coffee or lunch or maybe a phone call. These days the explosion of social media has made it much easier to stay in touch through a variety of tools.

There was wisdom behind this advice. The network you have built up through friendship or shared work experience already has a foundation of trust. If these people already know you they are much more likely to be supporters of your business, either directly by becoming clients or by spreading the word.

I was very lucky in that many of my old work colleagues became clients and many are still clients to this day. I hope we are continuing to do a good job for them. Even now, 12 years after leaving my previous employer we still receive referrals from 'Someone who knew someone I worked with who said you had an accountancy practice'. It is amazing how word gets around and people want to work with someone they have personal experience of or are recommended by someone they know and trust.

So that was great advice that I'm very glad I listened to and acted upon. Since forming my own business I have also done lots of networking with local groups. This has ranged from the tightly structured, such as BNI to the more informal. Both have their place and often it is about finding a group which suits your business and your personality.

After careful thought we are about to launch our own networking group at Base52 called the 'Growth Club' staring in October 2015. The name of the group gives a clue to its focus. We will be doing our best to help visitors grow their businesses. Anyone is welcome, be they clients of Base52 or not. The format of the meetings will be a guest speaker and some facilitated networking. Surprise , surprise, the speakers will usually be fellow business owners and entrepreneurs I have met on my own business journey. In the main, they will be speaking about aspects of business growth, drawn from their own business experience. The structured networking part of the meeting will give visitors an opportunity to raise the profile of their own business and meet other business owners who could be potential customers, suppliers or supporters.

For more details of our first Growth Club meeting and to book your place, please follow this link http://www.base52.co.uk/events. Tony Blair once famously said his three priorities for government were 'Education, education, education'. For business owners a good mantra could be, 'Network, network, network'. I hope you can join us.