BNI

Dr Ivan Misner

BNI, Business Network International, was founded in 1985 by Dr Ivan Misner as a means of generating more business for his own consultancy practice after losing his largest client.

A group of business people was assembled representing a wide range of different industries but a decision was made to only allow one representative from each trade or profession to become a member.  That way, all members could speak freely about their own businesses without fear of competition.

The aim of the group was to provide support for one another, to collaborate and to build long term referral partnerships.

Although, he had planned to launch just the one group to help serve his own needs, this rule of just one representative of each trade or profession created a significant demand and, by the end of the first year, more than 20 groups had started in different locations.

Now, as they say, the rest is history!

BNI Referral Slips

Over the last 26 years BNI has grown, consistently, to become the world’s largest and most successful business referral organisation.  By the end of 2010 there were 133,971 members in 5,866 BNI chapters in more than 40 countries around the world.  During 2010, BNI members passed 6.5 million referrals amongst each other, leading to business worth £1.75 billion