N is for networking – What is your view on networking?

N is for Networking – What is your view on networking?

Each week I speak to at least five new businesses a week who wish to visit The Business Network and we discuss the benefits of being part of the group and the majority want to be part of our meetings to gain new work and introductions.

However, this week I had an interesting conversation with a director who already knew that he would not receive any recommendations or requests for work due to the nature of work his company carried out in the financial sector.

He was more interested in the services our members could offer to him particularly in the legal sector as he was in need of advice whilst his company was growing, accounting and bookkeeping services, HR support as he took on more staff, access to finance to enable his expansion, a CRM system, IT Support and help with his marketing strategy to reach the right potential clients.

Our network has all these services and more as do a number of other networking organisations but how do you see your networking?
A source of business, introduction to suppliers or a mixture of both?