When Clive Cusens moved back to Malta in 2018 and established his business here, he needed to build professional contacts quickly, and BNI helped him out. A couple of years later, he pivoted into Forex and crypto trading, moved to Cyprus and started to build a trading team. Once again, BNI came to his rescue.
“Thanks to the possibility of joining international BNI business networking groups, I now have clients from 24 countries, mainly gained through BNI referrals. I’m so grateful to be part of BNI,” Cusens, a member and educator within the Innovator Club, says.
Like many business people in the world, Cusens had to drastically adapt his business following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the last two years, the world’s largest business referral organisation, Business Network International (BNI) has also changed drastically.
Malta BNI turned disruption brought about by the pandemic into a big opportunity for its members to increase their business in Malta and also to find different prospects overseas without the need of actually travelling, by maximising the flexibility and facilities that technology places at their disposal.
With the advent of COVID, BNI stopped all in-person meetings and, using Zoom technology, transitioned all its 10,600 plus chapters across the world to BNI Online. In this way, members continued to meet, brief colleagues on their capabilities, products and services, and pass business referrals not only locally but also internationally, which, during 2021 alone, generated over €18 billion in revenue for its 286,000 members.
BNI Online empowers members across 75 countries
“Resources available to members, such as BNI Connect, BNI Business Builder and BNI University, have continued to expand during the pandemic to help members with both business and personal development,” Malta BNI national director David Bullock explained.
“BNI Online empowers members to network and do business with other members across 75 countries. Here in Malta, we started monthly BNI Business Briefings for non-members and joint international meetings with countries such as Cyprus, Italy, Romania, the US and South Africa, affording business persons in Malta to meet fellow entrepreneurs from the local five chapters and thousands of overseas chapters and, moreover, getting both local and international business they could not have got any other way. No wonder we are seeing a renewed interest in networking.”
Real business life experiences in the last two years and the showcasing of BNI Connect, BNI University – considered the world’s leading education platform for business networking – and BNI Business Builder will be shared during an open day being held on February 24 at 5pm for 5.15pm via Zoom.
Stefan Patrick Gauci, head of business advisory at Integritas Group, says: “Attending meetings of other chapters outside Malta, as well as attending joint international meetings, has been beneficial for our Integritas Group. BNI is giving Integritas Group a wider spectrum of connections for its business through various online virtual meetings.”
For Greta Rapinett, customer experience trainer and consultant, BNI is a support system for people who are still building their businesses and growing their network.
“It is great to have conversations with different people in both Maltese and overseas chapters. Also to learn about other industries through BNI Connect − it gives us valuable knowledge and confidence,” she comments.
Peter J. Sullivan, director and franchise owner of Remax Crown, a real estate sales and letting agency based in Sliema, relates: “Through BNI, I immediately found responsible architects, solicitors, consultancies, and financial companies whom I could trust and refer my clients. Meantime, I am referred with serious business leads by other BNI members. On top, BNI also helped me with public speaking.”
With practically no business events or social occasions in the past two years, professional photographer John Grech had to rebuild his business almost from scratch.
He says: “Joining BNI helped me not only to build new networking groups but, most importantly, it helped me share experiences and learn to think out of the box, find new opportunities and adopt new strategies. The journey was long and at times very difficult, but joining BNI helped me to continue living my dream. It was definitely one of the best decisions I made in recent years.”
To reserve a free place for the Malta BNI Open Day on February 24, one may register at https:// tinyurl.com/2jbm356c. With the theme ‘Better Together’, companies seeking more business are welcome to attend this online event.