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Franchise Executive Summary Table of Contents WHY BNI®? 3 THE BNI® STORY 5 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 7 REVENUE MODEL 9 MEMBERS SUCCESS STRATEGY 11 MEMBER PERSONA 13 FRANCHISEE COMPOSITE 15 BUILDING BUSINESS 17 FRANCHISEE SUPPORT STRUCTURE 20 FRANCHISEE FINANCIAL SUCCESS 22 STARTUP COSTS 23 WHAT ARE FRANCHISEES SAYING? 25 AVAILABLE TERRITORIES 26 MEET THE EXECUTIVE TEAM 27 NEXT STEPS 33 BNIFranchise.com !2 Franchise Executive Summary WHY BNI®? BNI® is the World’s Leading Referral Organization. BNI’s is uniquely positioned to help Since each BNI chapter can have only members increase their business one member from any given business through a structured, positive, and specialty — only one dentist, one results-driven referral program that plumber, one web designer, etc. — enables them to develop long-term, referrals can be passed around without meaningful relationships with driven competition. BNI brings people from professionals. different backgrounds together and helps them find ways they can help each Why BNI is Needed in other grow, often by bringing people in the Marketplace complementary professions together. A staffing company, for example, can meet One of the key challenges for small a payroll professional through a BNI businesses is finding clients and chapter. What’s more, similar services increasing sales. A BNI membership can band together to form a potent grows business through valuable business alliance by passing referrals referrals and word-of-mouth that back and forth to each other. For increases a member’s business profile in example, a general residential contractor the local community without investing a can pass a referral to a plumber, lot of money in advertising. Instead, BNI members make a smart investment of time. Members meet weekly, and these regular face-to-face interactions mean members get to know each other and understand the type of service other members provide, which enables members to give qualified referrals to one another. BNIFranchise.com !3 Franchise Executive Summary landscaper, and electrician, all within the local chapter. BNI members are trained in the art of finding and developing referrals, and the weekly meetings are rigorously organized to be efficient and procedure and are therefore trusted productive. Membership committees professionals. hold chapter members accountable for attending weekly meetings, bringing BNI has a Positive visitors (including potential members) to Economic Impact chapter meetings, setting up one-to-one meetings with other members to deepen In 2015 alone, BNI referrals around the relationships and knowledge of each world lead to $9.3 billion in sales others’ businesses, and passing along worldwide. referrals. An engaged chapter The BNI Northern and Southern Alabama membership maximizes business region generated $28.7 million dollars opportunities for everyone within the worth of business for members in just chapter, so BNI tracks the engagement Alabama in 2015. When you consider the of members as well as the results multiplier effect of economic activity — generated by referrals. each new dollar of spending generated While the heart and soul of BNI comes by a business generally generates more from bringing professionals together in spending elsewhere in the economy — the same room to discuss business, Meaghan Chitwood, the Executive BNI’s extensive global network means Director of the region, says the potential members can reach out to professionals economic impact is enormous. all over the world. BNI’s online portal, BNI Connect®, provides access to professionals worldwide who have passed BNI’s rigorous screening BNIFranchise.com !4 Franchise Executive Summary THE BNI® STORY How a Simple Idea Sparked an International Business Over thirty years ago, Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BNI®, was a business consultant looking for referrals. He approached a few trusted friends for the favor and suggested that he in turn could help them. The group of professional colleagues began to meet and share Upon reflection, Dr. Misner realized he business referrals, augmenting each had something of value on his hands — others’ marketing efforts by introducing a way of driving sales that wasn’t their clients and friends to other trusted routinely taught at schools. BNI was professionals. officially formed. The seed for BNI had been sown. With that start thirty years ago, growth Dr. Misner’s small group picked up has been organic and global. Today, BNI steam. Soon, Ivan was being asked if he serves over 200,000 members through could help others establish their own 797 regions in 65 countries around the groups. Initially he was wary of straying world. In 2015 alone, BNI registered 7.7 from his career path as a business million referrals worldwide and generated consultant. Then, it dawned on him that $9.3 billion in business. running referral networks was itself a powerful kind of business consulting. BNIFranchise.com !5 Franchise Executive Summary “BNI is a wonderful model that works What’s Next? and provides members with new BNI®’s goal is to increase membership to business opportunities and professional over half a million by 2020. BNI’s vision development and relationships and my is to keep looking forward and changing vision is to take BNI to a different level in the way the world does business on a terms of global significance, significantly expand the organization and increase much larger scale. The possibility of the value proposition for each and every even doubling the membership is real, says Meaghan Chitwood, Executive member,” says Dr. Misner. Director of the Northern and Southern Alabama region, “and that opens a world of possibilities for the future through a positive, wonderful process.” BNIFranchise.com !6 Franchise Executive Summary ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE What are the Core Values that Guide BNI®? BNI® is upending the dog-eat-dog BNI founder Dr. Ivan Misner says that competitive world of business by culture eats strategy for breakfast. As a changing the way people approach business consultant, he observed that solutions. By getting people to businesses that have a team full of collaborate and cooperate, BNI helps people committed to a common goal are stitch together new connections in the virtually unstoppable in the business business community, which weaves world. Strategy is important, but it’s communities together more tightly and nothing compared to the teamwork fosters friendships as well as growth. generated by people with a passion and BNI carefully tracks referral activity, and a clear-eyed vision for their purpose in members publicly acknowledge one the world. another’s contributions in a way that BNI’s mission is to help professionals helps members see their actions and communities thrive by bringing fostering real change in their people together and harnessing the communities. power of altruistic entrepreneurship. We This commitment to community is believe that when you bring exemplified by the work of the BNI entrepreneurs together and invite them Foundation, which extends the principle to help other professionals succeed, it of Givers Gain® by getting involved in generates a virtuous circle of economic charitable work in communities across growth that can transform lives — not the world. BNI’s Business Voices™ only for BNI members, for also for their program specifically helps struggling employees and communities. schools and other institutions at the local level, as a way of giving back. Core Values ® ‘Culture Eats Strategy Givers Gain for Breakfast’ Business networking often feels mercenary and opportunistic. A business BNIFranchise.com !7 Franchise Executive Summary owner sets their sight on a target — for — and obtained from — trusted someone they think can help their sources. business — and then they attempt to corner them for a one-on-one encounter Training and Education that feels like face-to-face cold calling. BNI is different. Networking is more BNI is very much about passion, people about farming than hunting, says Dr. Ivan and process. Training and education are Misner, Founder and Chief Visionary the cornerstones of process. Every BNI Officer. It’s about cultivating relationships member receives extensive training to with other business professionals, a help them give and receive referrals. model that BNI facilitates. Chapter leadership teams also undergo training in conducting meetings and The best way to build relationships is to evaluating members. help and support someone, to give to them and that in turn can yield Traditions + Innovation dividends. This idea anchors one of BNI’s cornerstone philosophies, Givers While BNI holds its core beliefs to heart, Gain the theory that if you give, you get it has consistently evolved over 30 years. back. If I give you business, you’ll give The company is committed to me business and we’ll all do better as a innovation, such as building robust result of it. online tools that expand the power of our Givers Gain is based on the social networking and referral networks. capital theory of the law of reciprocity, Positive Attitude that by working together we all support and help one another. BNI believes in having fun. Meeting new Building Relationships professionals in the community is an opportunity to build friendships, not just The Givers Gain philosophy leads to a referrals. It’s also an opportunity to vested interest in establishing meaningful create a meaningful positive social business relationships with fellow impact in the community. professionals so referrals can be found BNIFranchise.com !8 Franchise Executive Summary REVENUE MODEL BNI® Makes Money Through a Membership Model that Generates Recurring Revenue Each BNI® member pays annual dues of more referrals by having more members, approximately $445. BNI Executive each member in a chapter also plays a Directors scale up their business by role in recruiting new members and filling chapters with more members and helping Executive Directors’ businesses opening additional chapters. Since BNI grow. chapters generate referral business for Since members benefit from recruiting members, each member has a significant other members, a BNI chapter is a self- incentive to remain in their chapter.

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