BNI good or not??

jakko86

I've recently been invited to a bni group and it is only in the early stages has anyone any experience of these whether they are worth the money or not? It's 900 euro for membership to the group and you still have to pay for meeting rooms 10/meeting do that's a cost of around 1400 a year and what exactly do I get? It seems to me to really depend on the group your in and how do you know how good it will be as you only get 2 meetings for free then you make your decision.

Borzoi

jakko86 wrote: »

I've recently been invited to a bni group and it is only in the early stages has anyone any experience of these whether they are worth the money or not? It's 900 euro for membership to the group and you still have to pay for meeting rooms 10/meeting do that's a cost of around 1400 a year and what exactly do I get? It seems to me to really depend on the group your in and how do you know how good it will be as you only get 2 meetings for free then you make your decision.

I'm just leaving a group, because we're too busy

join a large group if possible, look at the BNI website for chapter details. You have to figure the cost of your time attending too. I think it works well for small companies trying to grow.

terryhobdell

Why would you join this surely you would be better off going to a local Chamber of Commerce ISME briefing session or a relevant Skillnet locally based meet local business and learn from your peers for little or no money. or go to your local enterprise office. https://www.localenterprise.ie/
who could assist you.

delahuntv

best to see what group represents your business area best and see what you can get out of it for your business.

I'm in retail, so I'm a member of Retail Excellence Ireland - for other companies the local chamber of commerce is best, for many ISME is best and for others BNI is best.

Maybe see who in your field is a memebr and see if they find it worthwhile.

pedronomix

Use the "search this forum" box for BNI on the forum homepage. Plenty of comment on BNI. My 10c, a lot more people selling rather than buying, someone is on a nice little earner on the cash side!!

jakko86

Ya I don't know about it I'm a carpenter and I don't see too many people in the group from engineering or architects to pass on good work and the organiser said Im only allowed to attend 1 more meeting before I sign up or bail out, at the moment there is only 10/11 in the group they are looking for 22 so I could be long gone and the contacts could come to the group , it's a gamble really. But I will say 900 bucks by 22 in a group and the group runs itself and pays for meeting room, someone is making a fortune!!! That's nearly 20k. From one group!

Borzoi

jakko86 wrote: »

But I will say 900 bucks by 22 in a group and the group runs itself and pays for meeting room, someone is making a fortune!!! That's nearly 20k. From one group!

I thought the fees were 600 per annum to BNI, but in the first year there is an additional €130.

if you were a general builder, it would probably be worth it, to make sure you get a spot, but as a specialist trade probably not.