Marcin Kukialka, president of BNI Howick
- Marcin is a fully qualified Fitness Professional originally from Poland and Recently he won two world champion titles at the International Sport Karate and Kickboxing World Championships in Liverpool, Sydney.
- He also spent some time with BNI members at a local chapter in Sydney – BNI Face and came away with some helpful insights as well as a referral for a fellow BNI Howick member.
Marcin Kukialka and John Packham, BNI Howick
Recently I was fortunate enough to be in Sydney competing at the International Sport Karate and Kickboxing World Championships (ISKA). While there, I decided to take the opportunity and visit a local BNI chapter. This is exactly what I found at BNI Face; I came away from visiting the chapter with a renewed sense of excitement for BNI and some great ideas on how we can energise our chapter. Here are three ideas that jumped out at me.
Three things they’re doing differently across the ditch
When I visited BNI Face in Sydney I found a thriving chapter of over 50 members. I realised that some of the special things that this chapter is doing week to week are contributing to its success. Of course, BNI has a set process that works no matter where a chapter is located. However, there are always tweaks and ideas that can be taken back home and applied to your own chapter; that’s one of the useful things about visiting foreign BNI business groups.
- Sharing the responsibility: BNI Face has over 50 members and more than half of them have a role in the Leadership Team. Each one of these members takes responsibility for a small role. For example, there are 15 visitor hosts: one for conflict resolution; one for attendance; one for follow-up. Everyone has a stake in and ownership of a task in the chapter.
- Being aware of the wider business community: The chapter had a dedicated Business Networking Event Coordinator who took responsibility for finding out what business events were happening outside BNI in the region. It was all about knowledge sharing with the members, so they could attend other business events if they wanted to. This could be used to further expand their networks and could also apply to chapters in New Zealand – for example becoming aware of Chamber of Commerce events in your region.
- Celebrating success: The chapter had a Golden Microphone Trophy that it awarded to the top 60 seconds each week. The winner would get the trophy and the opportunity to speak for 2 minutes during the next week’s meeting. Giving a trophy as a prize was a fantastic way to create a talking point at the winner’s business because they could display it in a prominent place.
Bonus business with a referral given
One thing that surprised me: at the meeting I attended, I was able to do some business. I was speaking to Business Advisor and Coach George Mavros from ETSI Consulting Pty Ltd, who had a client needing an accountant in New Zealand to help him set up a business here. I was able to provide a referral to my BNI Howick member John Packham from John Packham Chartered Accountants Ltd.
I always carry business cards from the members in my chapter and, so it was easy to pass on the referral and make the connection happen. They’ve since got in touch with each other and are now doing business!
It was a reminder to me that BNI business isn’t only happening in my chapter, or even my local region but on an international level. It’s a great reminder too of the power of BNI to connect businesspeople and create long-term relationships.
