‘Father of Modern Networking‘ & BNI Founder Dr. Ivan Misner visits Mumbai

Projected to reach 1 million members by 2030, BNI deems Mumbai as the most promising region for the growth of the MSME sector

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai; Dr. Ivan Misner, the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of Business Network International (BNI), the world’s largest business referral organization is in India on the occasion of Mumbai Members’ Day (MMD) 2019 on Thursday. BNI has grown to 29,300 members in India, across 77 cities within the past 14 years and foresees a membership count of 50,000+ by the year 2020.

Generating over Rs. 12,000 crores of business in FY’18-19, BNI has accentuated the growth of Indian MSMEs, a vital sector contributing significantly to the GDP of the Nation. BNI Mumbai currently has over 3,500 members across 65 chapters and they have generated business of over Rs. 1,000 crores amongst themselves in the past year. Present at the occasion was Ms. Beth Misner (wife of Dr. Misner) and Co-Chair of the BNI Foundation, the charitable arm of BNI, Mac Srinivasan- Global Markets President, BNI, Mr. Atul Joglekar- Head – Operations BNI India, Meena Srinivasan, ED of Chennai CBD-A  and Mr. Hemu Suvarna- Area Director, BNI Mumbai.

On the occasion of MMD, BNI Mumbai’s annual celebration with over 1500 attendees from all over India, Dr. Misner shared the vision carved for the growth of BNI in India and overseas. “BNI has seen exponential growth over the last few years across the world and we look forward to even greater growth as we negotiate the fourth decade for the organisation. BNI has indeed changed the way the world does business, with its emphasis on collaboration and mutual support. India is the most exciting growth story for us and especially Mumbai. Not only has the region seen tremendous growth in terms of members and business generated over the last two years, we see Mumbai as leading the world in the innovations it has effected, which will directly impact the MSME sector in the country in the areas of collaboration and phenomenal business growth across geographies.”, said Dr. Misner. “We are excited to have Dr. Ivan and Beth Misner visit us in India yet again. It’s been a fantastic year for BNI in India and their presence will further bolster our resolve to become the largest and most exciting national programme for BNI in the world. With nearly 30,000 members across 77 cities already, we are poised to cross the 50,000 member mark by 2020 and double the number in the next decade, thus bringing prosperity to one lac entrepreneur families and creating employment for 10 lac Indians by December 2030.”, added Mac Srinivasan.

Dr. Misner, labelled the ‘Father of Modern Networking’ by CNN, and also as one of the ‘Top Networking Experts’ by Forbes, is considered one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He is also the Co-Founder of the BNI Charitable Foundation which works towards educating disadvantaged children across the world. Amongst several awards and citations, he has received the ‘Humanitarian of the Year’ award by the Red Cross and was recently the recipient of the John C. Maxwell Leadership Award.

BNI has played a pivotal role in bringing together entrepreneurs across the world and generating business through referrals. As vital as India’s MSMEs and SMEs are to the economy, BNI, founded in 1985, started with one chapter in the USA and now has grown to 2,59,206+ members in 74 countries. BNI members join chapters and only one member from a particular profession or trade is admitted in each chapter. There are currently over 607 chapters across India. Chapter members meet weekly and follow a structured agenda designed to help them generate quality business for each other. Business is generated through the process of passing referrals where members connect each other to their contact spheres depending upon the queries they receive. Members get an opportunity every week to train their fellow members on how to find referrals for their business. In effect, each member acts as a referral partner for his fellow members and vice versa, and thus helps in growing business for every member in the chapter.

The average business transacted per member in BNI India is Rs. 40 lacs per annum. BNI is dedicated towards facilitating business between members, locally and globally, and this has resulted in business of Rs. 11,568 Crores done amongst BNI members in India over the last 12 months.  The core philosophy of BNI is ‘Givers Gain(R) ‘. Every member is urged and coached to give business first to their fellow members to ultimately gain business, by virtue of this philosophy. The structured agenda of BNI is designed to propel members to bond with each other, develop trust amongst themselves and support each other in their growth and development.