By Michelle Kelly
Published: April 10, 2014
As a business person, I found I was faced with challenges running my own business: The day to day administrative challenges, marketing, sales, managing growth, the list goes on.
I also knew that ‘networking’ was a key component to any successful business. And since I was primarily working from home, I found that at times I would seek out other “friends” in business for themselves to bounce ideas off and to generally offer support and feedback.
I was fortunate to connect with some other successful independent business people , and I found that we had much in common- facing the same challenges no matter if you were a mortgage broker, a hair dresser or a landscaper.
I had explored ‘networking groups’ but found that there was never really the right fit my business attitude. I didn’t want to have to join a group that was meeting every week at 7 am, or that was charging exceptionally high annual membership fees.
I wanted something more in line with my style , a supportive group of like- minded business people who were determined to focus on doing business in their own back yard, in cross marketing, in thinking outside the box and supporting one another.
A key component to the group would be that there could only be one person representing each industry sector (in order to maximize the referral opportunities).
I began to realize if this was something that would help me, it would also help other local business people who were in the same boat so to speak and so I decided to start a new group called Network Now Squamish
The first official meeting was this January and we decided to roll out on a once a month ‘breakfast meeting’ approx. 1 hour in length – currently being held at The Living Room on the third Thursday of the month.
The individual group members have the opportunity to have a two minute pitch on who they are and what they do (exchange business cards and any special promo’s coming up) as well as have at least one spotlight offering deeper insight into one particular members business.
We discuss out of the box cross marketing opportunities – all of the annual dues collected from the group go back into promoting the group and the individual members of the group, that is the upcoming “Showcase Event” we are putting on at The Living Room on April 10– with a fashion show from Style Zone Fashions, and the other group members will be on premise to spotlight their particular businesses and offer the people of Squamish a comfortable casual way to connect with them (as many of the businesses in the networking group don’t have storefront locations this is a great opportunity to connect with the public)
How do people join: Simply send an email to Michelle Kelly – Essential Mortgage Co. michelle@michellekelly.ca or call 778 987 1062 or go to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/
