FAQs
Reason 1
BNI is a professional organisation that helps business owners to work together as a team to build each other’s business through a proven business referral system.
Reason 2
Only one person from each specific profession is permitted to join a BNI chapter. Members have exclusive marketing rights in their chapter and lock out their competitors.
Reason 3
Members bring referrals and invite visitors to their chapter meeting weekly. This provides a continual source of potential new business to every member in the chapter.
Reason 4
BNI provides exposure to a larger network. As relationships and trusts grow, members have extended resources to expand their business locally and internationally.
Reason 5
Members meet weekly, develop strong relationships, provide support and mentoring for each other, and are willing to share their business knowledge and resources.
We accept one person per business specialty in a BNI Chapter. So if you are a residential real estate person and we already have one, we can refer you to another Chapter, or we may work with you to open another Chapter. Of course, if you are a commercial real estate person and that position is not taken, then by applying you may be eligible to participate in this chapter. The decision of the Membership Committee of a Chapter is final in all instances.
There is an Application and rigorous vetting process. Each chapter has a Membership Committee that conducts interviews and reference checks.
We have a Code of Ethics and it’s the Membership Committee’s job to make sure it’s respected. It is imperative that anyone who gives a referral and finds out it was not satisfactorily handled must report that to the Membership Committee, who is trained to investigate in a professional manner.
It is not the occupation, it is the individual. If you’re focused, accountable and you’re willing to take positive actions to grow yourself and your business, you are the person we want in the group.
Members are encouraged to bring visitors to help promote the Chapter and the other Members.
BNI understands the importance of the ethical concerns governing certain professions and acknowledges that rules can differ by location. BNI, therefore, requires its members to uphold the rules of their profession. In the event that BNI’s general rules have the potential to violate a professional’s ethical code, BNI’s rules are superseded by the dictates of the professional’s ethics code. We have over 6,000 businesses in BNI in Australia today, and in our experience, this is not a big issue with Members.
BNI understands that many industries and professions are broad and that people often specialise. BNI does not expect, nor does it encourage, any person to participate in an area outside their expertise.