BNI India is proud to announce that we have helped members generate over 300.5 crores of business in 2011. A number of key initiatives over the last 12 months have helped produce these phenomenal results:

• Increasing average chapter size to over 34.4 in India. Larger chapters create more referral and business opportunities for every members. We have over 6 PLATINUM chapters that are above 50 members now and looking to help 15 chapters reach this milestone in 2012.
• Helping chapters build POWER TEAMS. Power Teams are complementary professions that can easily refer each other, like a printer and a graphic designer. We launched a special power team workshop last year that trained over 500 members. This year we will take that workshop out across the country.
• Leadership Team roundtables allowed the best chapters Read the rest of this entry »

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Each year, a few days before New Year’s Eve, I head off to my mountain retreat in Big Bear Lake, California, to recharge my batteries. It’s a great opportunity to spend time with the family and prepare for the onslaught of the coming year.

It’s also a good time to give some thought to the vision you have for your business and life over the next year.

It’s hard to hit a target you’re not aiming at. The new year is a great time to think about some of your plans and goals for the next 12 months (and beyond). Even if all you have is a couple days, take the time at the end of every year to slow down and do some “vision making” for your business. Remember that a successful businessperson needs to work “on” the business as well as “in” the business. Work “on” your business this month by creating your vision for 2012.

This is what I did back in the mid 1980?s when I had some time to reflect on this little networking enterprise that I started, called BNI.  It was during one of these year-end retreats that I created an organization chart for my company as part of my 5 year plan.  At the time, I had two part-time employees.  However, I created an organization chart with 15 different boxes on it.  I put my name in about 11 or 12 of the boxes for the areas I was responsible for and I put my part-timer’s names in the boxes for the areas they were responsible for.

Over the next 5 years, I scratched my name out of each box and put someone else’s name in that box as I hired someone to handle that area.  It was a great exercise that helped me achieve my goals over the next 5 years and it came from one of my year-end retreats.  Clearing your mind and thinking about your the future of your business can be a very good thing this time of year.  Even if you only have a couple days – get away and do some vision making.

If you use this time of year to think about your goals for the future, tell me what you do here in my blog.

Have a great New Year!

Ivan

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One of the key strengths of BNI India are our outstanding trainings. We believe that our training helps accelerate the growth and progress of our members & their businesses. We believe if you want to earn more than you need to learn more.

Enjoy this inspiring short video from our BNI Leadership training held on 24th September 2011 in Mumbai. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9hFtwYp2KE&feature=colike

Popularity: 55% [?]

I recently read a wonderful quote on productivity by Robert Plank: “Do less and finish more!” I think all small business owners struggle with time management and getting multiple things done with the limited resources we have. I know I have struggled with the same. So how do we do less and finish more? Well an economic principle and a japanese management technique can help us.

Pareto Principle
An economist by the name of Pareto can shed some light here. He basically said that 80% of your result will come from 20% of your input. For example 20% of your customers generate over 80% of your revenue. So if that is true then every month we should focus on ONE key activity which will produce 80% of our result. Figure out what your Income Producing Activities (IPA’s) are for your business and do those consistently. I always ask myself what one thing could I do that will make a big difference and I focus on that only.

 Japanese Management style

Also the Japanese style of management can also help us here. They spend 80% of their time planning very well so that the 20% of time they spend on execution is done flawlessly. I know this sounds a little counter intuitive, but it really works. Just give it a try.

 These two simple principles will help you become more productive and effective.

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The next 5-10 years will bring new trends that will change the way in which we do business. I forsee 3 major trends that will affect every business:

1. The integration of online and face to face networking. BNI has taken a major step to create BNI Connect, a Global online social network that will complement the face to face networking that already exists across 46 countries that BNI operates. This will help create new opportunities locally, nationally and internationally at a click of a button. This is a revolution in the way any small business can scale up through the BNI platform. Read more about BNI Connect in this issue.

2. There is a new generation of young entrepreneurs coming into the economy. As the Indian economy grows and accelerates this will create a host of opportunities for the new breed of entrepreneurs. I’m impressed by the energetic and ethusiastic new members that are in their early 20′s. They are well connected and are tech savvy. They already have networks through Facebook and Linkedin and when they come into BNI they expand the breadth and depth of their network. They bring fresh ideas. BNI Connect is definitely one platform that will attract the new generation – Gen Y and Gen Z. They too will benefit by learning from the experiences of seasoned BNI members who are Baby boomers. What is your business doing to attract this fresh new talent and huge new customer base? Read the rest of this entry »

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I know we have all been waiting for this… and the wait is finally over!! BNI Connect – BNI’s online social network is rolling out next week for members in India. Watch this 12 minute video which talks about how BNI Connect came about and how it will benefit members.

A proud moment for all of us in India is that a lot of the programming is done here in India!!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geVmSHHl-1E

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Dr. Misner left India recently with no doubt that India was going to be one of the 2 largest countries in the world for BNI. So what does that mean for you as a business owner? Well imagine being part of a network of 1,00,000 BNI Business owners across India that believe in Givers Gain ®?This means a 1,00,000 strong serious Business Network of like minded Givers that are source of:

• Referrals
• Business & Personal Support
• Potential Business Partners
• Potential Suppliers

This will provide a ready made network that will help scale up your business Nationally. With BNIConnect, BNI’s online social network members will be able to connect virtually in advance and then arrange face to face meeting when they visit that city. This will save time and make meetings more productive. The key here is that all BNI members across India will speak that same “language of referrals” as they would have been trained in the same way. This is a very powerful Read the rest of this entry »

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Last month we announced that BNI recently created a “business index” to consistently gauge the ever-changing economic state of business based on quarterly global survey results of retailers, service companies, and manufacturing companies all around the world.

The statistics gathered from the survey results are intended to keep small business owners, entrepreneurs, and companies, as well as the media and the general public, educated and informed as to the changing state of the global business economy and the current business trends that become apparent over time.

The first BNIBusinessIndex.com report was published last month and, based on survey results gathered from the participation of over 5,000 businesses across the globe, the report reveals important, accurate evidence that the global economy is improving (click here for full details on that report). Read the rest of this entry »

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We have just returned from the BEST ever conference! This was the 4^th National Conference for BNI India and it was by far the largest with over 460 members & directors from 6 countries (US, UK, Dubai, Honk Kong, Malaysia & Kenya) & 6 cities across India (Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Goa, Pune & Chennai).

• We had 3 Outstanding speakers (Pictured from Left to Right): The Maharaja of Service (Ron Kaufman), The Maharaja of Sales (Bob Urichuck) and the Maharaja of Networking & Founder of BNI (Dr.Ivan Misner).

• The Theme of the conference was very clear: To help Members Make More Money!

• We have handpicked 3 of the world’s leading experts to deliver this content:

Dr. Misner Ph.d, regarded as the father of modern networking, showed you how to build a network and generate referrals. He expanded on both the mindset and skillset required to help us network like a pro.

Bob Urichuck, regarded as one of the Top sales trainers in the world, showed us how to quickly & easily convert referrals and sales leads into money. He took us through the ABC of sales and showed us that buyers were everywhere and how we could help them buy.

Ron Kaufman, world’s number 1 in customer service and creator of the Singapore Airlines customer service program, will show you how to Build an Uplifting Service Culture for a sustainable advantage in India, the world’s fastest growing service economy. Ron was engaging & funny from the word go and showed us how we can create powerful partnerships through service. None of us will ever see service in quite the same way again!:)

Read the rest of this entry »

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I’ve been in India for the past several days conducting seminars on business networking and, I have to say, I’ve been very impressed by the business community here. The businesspeople I’ve met are passionate about learning and they are hungry for information and knowledge.  I have found the audiences here to be extraordinarily respectful and almost sponge-like in their interest in absorbing new ideas.

Although it is still a developing nation, it is obvious that the infrastructure of India is growing quickly.  There are construction projects going on virtually everywhere and the development of transportation systems seems to be a high priority.

India has quite an interesting blend of history, tradition, and modern society, along with a serious quest for improving people’s lives.  I don’t think the West fully recognizes the transformation that is taking place here.  Although the middle or entrepreneurial class in India is only about 20% of the population, this percentage represents over 200 million people! Read the rest of this entry »

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