Small business owners can benefit from making connections with people who are like them. Going to trade shows and other events in your field may help you connect with local businesses, but you can also network with helpful groups right where you are.
Here is a list of 10 networking groups for entrepreneurs, in order of the first letter of their names.
Business Networking International (BNI)
BNI is the largest referral networking group in the world. In the last year alone, it had 12.3 million referrals.
The professional referral marketing program helps members build professional relationships that will last for a long time and mean a lot.
New members can find a local chapter and start building their referral network by going to meetings. When members can’t meet in person, they can use BNI Online, an online meeting platform, instead.
Chief
Chief is a business that helps women in business. It has an exclusive membership network for women executive leaders and is focused on helping women in business.
This group has a Rolodex of professional peers who has been checked out, whether they own a Fortune 50 company or a growing startup.
Chief offers peer support through community groups and member meetups, master classes, and exclusive access to advice from business leaders and cultural icons.
Entrepreneurs’ Organization
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization is known as the only peer-to-peer networking group for entrepreneurs, run by entrepreneurs. It has over 16,500 leaders from over 60 countries.
The non-profit group wants to help entrepreneurs reach their full potential and move the world forward by giving its members access to the best business minds in the world.
This global community can help you reach your full potential by helping you learn together, share experiences, and make professional and personal connections that improve your life.
Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN)
The GEN is a group that works in 180 countries to help anyone start a business anywhere. By making connections between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers, and organizations that help entrepreneurs, GEN makes business ecosystems healthier.
This organization has a large global reach, which gives its members access to resources that are hard to find elsewhere.
Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
The MBDA provides programs, services, and initiatives to help minority business owners grow and get ready for the business world of the future.
Its main goal is to help all American businesses do well economically. The agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce is the only one of its kind that helps minority businesses grow and become more competitive around the world.
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE)
NASE works to give small businesses resources and benefits that are usually only available to big companies. It represents hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and micro-businesses (10 employees or less).
NASE offers how-to resources and educational tools, such as legal help, home office insurance, credit cards, legislative advocacy, and even college scholarships.
Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA)
The main goal of SEA is to help social enterprises become more stable and grow so they can have a bigger impact.
The organization helps its members by pushing for change, raising awareness, and giving them tools to increase their income and impact. People and the environment are more important to SEA than making money for shareholders.
SCORE
Looking for a business mentor to help you make it in the world of business? SCORE can put you in touch with a local business expert who can help you with your business, no matter what stage it is in.
The nonprofit organization is the country’s largest network of business experts who volunteer their time to help small business owners reach their goals. SCORE also has a library of online resources, webinars, and courses that you can take whenever you want.
Vistage
Vistage brings together the most successful CEOs of small and medium-sized businesses so they can work together to share knowledge, improve their leadership skills for life, and push each other to think critically.
The CEO peer advisory groups are made up of between 12 and 16 CEOs or local business owners from different markets. The people in these groups help each other by looking for blind spots, making sure ideas are good, and solving problems.
Young Entrepreneurs Council (YEC)
It can be hard to find a group of people with similar professional goals and the same way of thinking. Even harder is to find these people when you are young and your business is just getting started.
The YEC is a community of young entrepreneurs who have been screened and can give you advice on how to grow your business and deal with problems.
Also Read:
Comments are closed.