JUNE ROUND-UP

June saw us back at The Embassy Club where we invited back our previous guest speaker, Francesca Lubenko of East Wind Business Development who gave us some ideas on how to optimise our connections. Even the most seasoned networkers can always pick up a tip or two. It's all very well attending networking meetings regularly, but do you allow yourself enough time for follow up? We had an interesting interactive session with Francesca with contributions from everyone in attendance - it was great to hear the stories everyone had to tell, good & bad!


Here are Francesca's top 5 tips:

1. Have fun

2. Show up - and keep showing up!

3. Focus on them

4. Prepare - have a strategy/make a plan

5. Keep them warm

Don't forget that attending a networking event is just the beginning.  Following up is key to building and maintaining those relationships which then leads to future business.

MAY ROUND-UP

A change of venue this month saw us at Red Bar near Carnaby Street, with a small intimate group which gave the opportunity for everyone to circulate and meet everyone else in the room.  Great for really building on those relationships and finding out a little more about what we all do and how we can all help each other.

 

Our guest speaker was Jo Rogers of North Star Legal Ltd.  Jo has spent her legal career to date advising international clients on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and company law requirements and now advises businesses how to reduce their legal risks by getting their businesses in ship-shape. She spoke about "Navigating your business through the legal unknown - 10 steps to guide you to safety". Something we all need to know, whether we are SMEs or larger businesses.

Here are Jo's top tips:

• Always read and understand the paperwork
• Avoid pirates: know who you are dealing with
• Keep a treasure chest of records
• Everything is negotiable
• Know the likelihood of something happening - avoid the storm
• Evaluate the consequences and effects upfront
• Keep things ship-shape
• Plan your next destination
• Seek wise counsel
• Be the captain of your ship

It did stir up an interesting discussion about how often we read the smallprint!  As Jo suggested, always print off the Terms & Conditions at the time of the transaction and keep them safe - just in case you ever need to refer back to them.  And preferably read them too!