Networking an effective way of tapping into expert advice
As businesses struggle through the economic slowdown, fostering good business relationships has never been more important.
With companies looking to cut costs, networking is increasingly being seen as a costeffective way of gathering business intelligence and tapping into expert advice.
Amanda Kremer started Thrive for Business during 2005 and now hosts regular networking meetings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Motherwell and Dumfries.
Despite the downturn, Thrive has seen a surge in new business recently and is adding around a dozen new members a month from all sectors of the business community.
The company has grown to 14 sectorspecific clubs operating across central Scotland which focus predominantly on fostering beneficial business-to-business relationships for its members.
Specialist groups in property and IT, manufacturing, engineering and life sciences have also recently launched with new ventures in life sciences and renewable energy planned for the New Year.
Kremer has also seen a 40 per cent rise in Thrive's turnover in the last year.
She said: "There has never been a more important time for companies to be out in the marketplace networking with the right kind of people in the right kind of environment.
"I think that in any market, but especially in a difficult market, people understand the value of relationships, and where Thrive is different from other networks is it is very much networking at a relationship level rather than at a transactional level.
"What we offer is a good mix of companies and influential guest speakers, but most importantly a format that places an emphasis on a return on the investment for our members.
"So rather than going to a very big network or a room with say 50 or 100 people where it is difficult to establish a deep and meaningful connection, our meetings are relatively small, bringing together on average 16 to 24 people.
"The focus is entirely business-to-business and we generally cater to enterprises with a turnover of £500,000 to £35million, but there is really no limit based on how big or small a company may be. Focused networking can benefit any business.
"It can really open a few doors for our clients because they know the value of relationships in any market, but especially so in a difficult market.
"Companies are now waking up to the fact they have to sew up the relationships they already have, but more importantly they have to be proactive in fostering new relationships.
"Of all the cost cuts businesses are making at the moment, they are not cutting down on networking because the heads of companies do understand the value."
Christian Van Dee, an associate with Keppie Design, based in Glasgow, believes networking is invaluable in keeping up with the pace of the Scottish business community.
He said: "Networking is about connecting people at all levels, but is also a great way for companies to gather meaningful intelligence."
For Kremer, who started Thrive three years ago working from her spare bedroom, sector-specific networking has been a key factor in the success of the company.
"At the moment we are signing up new members across all sectors," she said. "The two most popular categories we sell to are marketing and recruitment and I think that's because the markets for those services are still fairly buoyant.
"But they really have to differentiate themselves because there are so many companies out there doing the same thing and networking is a great way to do that."
