Business Network International (bni) scam or not

[alive wire]

I had a fellow contractor invite me to a BNI breakfast, does anyone have any opinion on whether this would be quality networking for my business or just a pyramid / Amway scheme

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[Ponchik]

I was one of the founding members of the first major area chapter and stayed as a member for about 8 years. It was beneficial monetary and friendship wise. I served every position except president. A good chapter will demand good amount of time out of your busy schedule, however, that dedication does turn into quality business.

Give it a try for about 8-12 months and see how you like. You have to take your time and get to know the members in order to create good solid business relationship so they can be confidant to refer you business and in turn you can refer them business.

My chapter hovered between 35-45 members and we had about $2M+ worth of business that was done within our group.

 

[K8MHZ]

I had a fellow contractor invite me to a BNI breakfast, does anyone have any opinion on whether this would be quality networking for my business or just a pyramid / Amway scheme

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My X owns a business and is involved with it. She seems to like it, and she is a successful business person.

That being said, she is in health care. A friend of mine is an EC, joined BNI and didn't like it one bit.

Different types of businesses and different times.

It didn't seem like a pyramid to me. Just a networking effort.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I had a fellow contractor invite me to a BNI breakfast, does anyone have any opinion on whether this would be quality networking for my business or just a pyramid / Amway scheme

firstly, amway isn't a "pyramid" scheme.
it's a brutally straightforward way to make a lot of money.
it's also insanely hard work. most people aren't suited for it.

BNI, imho, and i've been in two chapters, doesn't work all
that well for sparkies.

ironically, however, the first chapter i joined, which came apart
one day when the mortgage broker and the CPA got into
a fist fight in the meeting room, during the meeting, produced half
a dozen people i've been doing business with for the last 8 years,
including my financial planner, chiropractor, tax accountant, and a
CNC machine shop operator.

i missed that memorable meeting, but i heard the mortgage broker
drew blood. my financial planner broke them up.

the second group i joined after the fight implosion, which was supposed
to be this awesome group that walked on water, it produced ONE
job that paid $75. that was in six months, before i quit in disgust.

the single best referral i ever got from anywhere came from a fellow
three days out of a 5150 lockdown, who thought it would be a good
idea for me to meet his uncle.

it was. the resulting work from that single contact will probably top
seven figures before it's done.

so the best business development advice i ever got was from a guy
with bumps all over his head from police nightsticks, and being slammed
on the cop car hood, who got a psyche evaluation to determine if he
was a threat to himself or others, right before he helped me with
business advice.

 

[GoldDigger]

The neutral term for Amway and similar businesses is "Multi Level Marketing" or "Multi Level Distribution".
Each level takes a cut of the sales dollars but unlike a pyramid scheme there is a real product at the bottom of it all and the money does not all come from " investment" by new members.