<<<<Back to Part #2  … Troubled waters. …..<<<<

 

The beginning

In 2010 I had a call from someone asking me if I was busy on Tuesday at 6am- strangely I had no plans. Matthew Chant – one of my best friends was a friend of Rob Harris from Copywrite printers. Matt doesn’t do early mornings. I am grateful to Matt for

1- for physically giving me the skills to be a gas engineer and

2 -for hating getting up early and passing my number to Rob.

I owe a lot to these two.

I went along to the BNI breakfast meeting and got it. It clicked. It was awesome.

The business, the banter, the atmosphere and most importantly there were potentially 34 other people in the room that knew more than me about business, marketing and leadership. I was 27 when I joined still a little hot headed and carrying around a bit of a chip on my shoulder from my upbringing- don’t worry I have addressed these and am now a for the most part a fully functional and mentally stable member of society.

I say I got it. I got the BNI concept but didn’t then realise the potential of this system.  A system that works for 200k plus members, is over 30 years old and in 69 countries. The entrepreneur side of me still wanted to challenge this system- what an idiot!

Here are my top 5 tips for first year members

1- Immerse yourself in the system fully don’t challenge it. Seriously, this alone will guarantee you years of BNI success. (I didn’t say you have to like or agree with all the elements, but they are a proven process)

2-Do one training every month. Once you have learnt all the relevant skills to make your BNI membership work for you- see these training sessions as networking events where everyone has the same mindset as you. They want to help. They want to do business. You will make money outside your chapter.

3- Meet with your mentor once a month.  If you feel you aren’t compatible, ask to change the mentor

4- Do one to ones at least once a week, twice if possible and always use the GAINS sheet – Always.  If the know, like and trust is already there make calls in and introductions in the actual 1-1.

5- Always say thank you. Always be humble. Publicly. Privately. But always.

Worth noting, I love public speaking now but would have paid someone to read for me or just stayed silent every week- anyone that knows me now will find that hard to believe. It took me so far out of my comfort zone, but I am eternally grateful for it.

In August 2012 I met my now business partner Lisa Catto, she was a visitor invited by Monique Simons. Yes, I met my business partner at BNI too!

We started working together following a chat and a referral from her to me- a broken immersion heater I seem to remember. Our skill sets complimented each-other and I was freed to generate sales, market the business, train and fill the sales funnel whilst Lisa at the beginning, got the finances and administration right and even found I was due 4k back on VAT (I thought fair enough, she can stay – especially if she can generate money out of thin air!).

After that she implemented Commusoft and everything changed- a software that allowed us to scale, keep track, report, estimate and invoice within minutes of being at jobs.

Both our roles have changed considerably within Marvel since 2012, and certain areas of the business have been delegated or new roles have been created for them, and this means Lisa’s time can be balanced with her own company www.thebusinesscatalyst.eu

The partnership between myself and Lisa is Marvel. We both brought our respected contacts and skill-sets, but it was the way we communicate, trust each other, have open and real communication and problem solve together that brought about the changes in culture and the processes that Marvel needed in order to change and start to grow into what it’s become.

In December 2012 we re-branded from Domestic Gas Solutions, my sole trader trading name, to Marvel Property Solutions Limited.  Why?

People would Marvel at our service

Marvel at our efficiency

and that we were innovating in ways others weren’t in our industry.

I also appreciate their may be a word association for some people may have with Marvel in relation to Heroes.

The branding became fun- “Your Heating Heroes” –  “Your Everyday Hero” – “When your Home is Sub-Zero”, that kind of thing.

We were very lucky to meet Cey Seisguzel from www.twofresh.co.uk who created for us a whole new brand image with our Video  and new website by . It exceeded our expectations and was everything we wanted, and the guys are a delight to work with. Our re-brand was a result of the imagery they created.

From a personal perspective-  I mentioned earlier the importance of certain values, justice, doing the right thing, strength, honour, saving the day.

Heroes and super heroes alike have these values. I just need to learn how to fly!

Making a success of BNI

Those 5 tips I gave above. If only I had started following them fully myself. After three years of membership, imagine where we could be now if I had started three years earlier. Never mind….. you are always exactly where you are supposed to be, so always believe in the process.

Once we mastered and bedded in our systems and had engineers that fully represented our core values that had been with us for a few years and could represent the business as I or Lisa would, we went into other chapters. This was great for their own personal development and not just simply the extra business for Marvel.

As an employer, by showing faith that that person could represent our business, that way, shows huge trust, and if the person is right, it means they will take huge responsibility for the role. We have a number of leaders ready, when the Captain is ready to step sideways.

The core of Marvel, is it’s family feel. Almost everyone in the company was recommended by someone else in the company, and alongside the apprenticeship scheme we have, I am privileged to have friends working alongside me that I have known for 5, 13, 20 years. Whilst you can’t guarantee everything or control all the variables, having this as our core has been massive. Oh yes, and our now Lead Engineer Chris, was introduced via an electrician at BNI and is currently a member at Chariots.

 

>>>>> The current and the future ….  but not the end! >>> part #4>>>>