I am a First-generation Entrepreneur and taking a leap of faith to leave that cushy Corporate job of 10+ yrs & jumping into the world of sharks, read business was definitely not an easy decision.
In the first year of our business, however, I joined BNI( Business Network International) and I will not be exaggerating if I say that BNI is indeed our extended Sales & Marketing team of Monks In Happiness LLP. But there is something more to BNI, beyond just getting Referrals or Getting Business. And as I take over as the Mentor Coordinator for my chapter from today, I am taking a walk down the memory lane to understand what are the softer aspects that BNI has given us ( Monks In Happiness LLP) over the last 4 years...
It's a Melting Pot of IDEAS :
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” -- Henry Thomas Buckle
BNI JOSH ( part of BNI Pune East region), the chapter that I belong to presently has around 35+ Members. The strength of this diverse entrepreneurial team is way bigger than just one's individual capability or knowledge. Often I have received some of the best suggestions & feedbacks from other fellow business owners in the chapter, who are NOT from our field. As they look at each situation or business problem from a third person's perspective. During Lockdown we kept doing 1-2-1 's ( the term used in BNI parlance for a business generating focussed meeting ) digitally and generated a plethora of ideas that I wouldn't have imagined doing without picking the brains of these diverse group of Entrepreneurs/ Business Owners. I remember during one of our digital chapter meetings, we spoke in-depth about how CHINA dominates some of the Industries and most importantly the reasons behind it, and what can INDIA do to lead the next wave of post Pandemic globalization.
Awareness of what's the PULSE :
“Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive.” -- Ratan Tata
Probably this is the biggest benefit that I have experienced after joining BNI. Presently we are a diverse group of 35+ Business Owners in BNI JOSH, all from varied backgrounds & areas of specialization, and that's the strength that we get when we get an understanding of the "World view" from each and every member's perspective. Each member has their unique understanding of where the world is moving and what exactly is the New Normal. Take, for example, we have a Government Contractor in our chapter, who keeps sharing how & what kind of project the Government is focusing on. Trust me, no amount of watching the news on TV Channels gives me a better understanding of what the economy is doing than understanding from Mohit Babar, who shares what's the ground reality.
We have another stalwart in the chapter who is a Mutual Funds distributor, I remember when Hemant Rana spoke about Compounding for the first time to me, I was just amazed & couldn't believe the math! In fact, we requested him to take a session for all the employees of Monks In Happiness during the lockdown period. The seeds of "Savings for the future" had been planted in that session, I must admit. Chinmay Chandgude our erstwhile President of the chapter is helping many Entrepreneurs enter & experience the world of Software & what it can do for their business. As he always famously quotes Naval Ravikant - "Your company may not be in the software business, but eventually, a software company will be in your business". True that brother. Lastly, how can I not talk about the experience of Kirit Shah, who runs probably the best catering services company in Pune for the last few decades. Sometime last week when he shared his understanding of how we need to ADAPT given the present condition, we took note of his advice & that has given a wealth of perspective to us at Monks In Happiness.
I can go on with some of the other stellar members that I have in my chapter, but I am sure if you are an entrepreneur reading this, you will love to come & experience it first hand by attending a digital meeting.
Butterfly Effect :
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa
There is a concept in Mathematics, its called the "Chaos Theory". In summary, sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state. They say the flapping of the butterfly wings in a tropical area leads to the change in weather change in another area. Wow, can you imagine how a small thing leads to a wider impact?
Dr.Ivan Misner, the father of Modern Networking & also the Founder of BNI runs this amazing Podcast for BNI Members, called 'The Official BNI Podcast'. And it's in Episode 654 I was introduced to the concept of " The Butterfly Effect ". How small things lead to a windfall of opportunities. He talks about how he landed up in Neckar Island ( owned by Richard Branson) with the who's who of the world. And when he backtracked what led to him being there on that island, he was just amazed as one chance meeting with a BNI Member was the start of the chain.
I have personally experienced this a lot, where just knowing one BNI Member / being connected to one client through a BNI Member has led to the Monks getting connected to multiple opportunities from that source.
Learning never stops :
"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death." -- Albert Einstein
In the Corporate world, in all my past 3 organizations, I had this minimum mandatory goal of spending at least 30-40 hrs/ year on Trainings & enhancing my knowledge & skill. So when Entrepreneurship happened, with NO Mandatory training needs, I could have easily lost my way of thinking - 'I know it All'. But glad BNI was there, and that led to me getting exposure to world-class training - both Digital & Physical. During the lockdown period especially, I spent a considerable amount of time at the virtual BNI University, where I got introduced to some of the best brains in the world - Jack Canfield, Steve Farber, Verne Harnish & John Maxwell to name a few. In fact, I was so impressed with a talk series between Dr.Ivan Misner & John Maxwell, I ended up reading some of John Maxwell's all-time best-selling books, what a revelation it was indeed.
You are NOT Alone :
“I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. -- Steve Jobs
They say the journey of an entrepreneur is a lonely journey & given 99% of the businesses fail, it's indeed a steep journey to success, which only a few experience. I am glad I have an amazing business partner in Kartikaya Nagar to share my joy, achievements, or even setbacks that our company faces but not everyone is lucky. Research from Salesforce says that more than 90% of businesses globally are small businesses & most importantly the majority of them have solo Entrepreneurs. So imagine a scenario where you have no one to talk to. And this is where BNI enables you to get that fellow entrepreneur friend from your chapter who understands you & knows that sometimes cash flows for businesses are stretched but things do bounce back. It's just that assurance that you need from another Entrepreneur, that helps you to continue your entrepreneurial journey undeterred.
Finally, all I will say is I am just discovering the gems that one gets with BNI and there is more to learn in the coming days.
“If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on.” -- Sheryl Sandberg
P.S: If you are an entrepreneur or you know any entrepreneur, and you think they can benefit by joining BNI, feel free to connect them to me. Will be more than happy to help. Please note chapter meetings are happening digitally across the globe & as a visitor for the first time, there are NO charges. All we need is a focussed 90mins of the visitor's time.
