The Ashdown Business Network

"It's Not About Referrals. It's About the Future of Your Business..."

The Ashdown Business Network is a coaching network, not a referral network. Instead of trying to get you to refer business to people, we focus on supporting you in moving your business forward...

Encouragement and Accountability...

Our aim is to provide a framework for you to keep yourself accountable for the actions you want to take. To create a supportive network of peers who will help you stay focused. Of course you get the opportunity to showcase your business, and no doubt referrals will naturally follow, but we want to create a community where you can share your goals, share the challenges, be supported and encouraged, feel genuine support and build momentum in your business.

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Celebrate Success...

Running your own business can be rather a lonely experience — the Ashdown Business network aims change that! We are a supportive community of business owners committed to supporting each other in taking our businesses forward.

While most business networks focus on leads and referrals and 'pitching', we focus on helping each other progress towards our goals. And part of that is celebrating success! A core element of our meetings is to share goals and aspirations, and to check in every week to support when things aren' t going as planned, and to celebrate when things are going well.

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Build Relationships...

Business success rests on the willingness of the people you know to notice opportunities for you, to talk about you, and to recommend you. It rests, in other words, on the breadth and quality of your relationships.

A core activity for any business is meeting people, and getting to know them, by getting together with a highly motivated group of like-minded individuals. Which means more than just milling about in the same room! Much better to meet people where there is purpose and commitment — something you can experience for yourself at any of our Ashdown Business Network meetings.

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Showcase Your Business...

How can you let people know who you are and what you do? One-to-one conversations are crucial, of course, but it helps if those are based on prior knowledge.

So get up on your hind legs in front of a receptive group, and show them! Explain. Demonstrate. Inquire. Explore. Respond. Then the right people are much more likely to seek you out, and those one-to-one conversations become so much, much more purposeful.

Which is why we build in plenty of opportunities for you to showcase you and your business, in 60-second presentations, ten-minute presentations and, of course, in the Member Directory.

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Weekly Meetings Online...

One of the challenges of networking is that it can absorb huge amounts of time travelling. So we use both online and face-to-face meetings to get the best of both worlds.

Online meetings are great for building those on-going relationships over time, so most of our weekly meetings are held over Zoom. Still with a purposeful and effective structure designed to help you generate real referrals through the people you meet, but so much more convenient!

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Monthly Meetings Together...

But there is no doubt that real relationships are formed when people meet in person. So once a month we meet face-to-face.

Again we meet at 4:30 in the afternoon for a structured meeting over drinks and nibbles. And if you want to stay on afterwards (many do) we can carry on with informal networking in the bar and over dinner in the restaurant.

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Convenient Timing...

Early morning meetings can be a real help in keeping the day clear — but not everybody wants the alarm going off at half past five in the morning — and not everyone wants that fried breakfast every week!

So we schedule our meetings for half-past four on Thursday afternoons, for about two hours or so. Why? Because that doesn't take too much of a chunk out of the working week, and Thursday afternoons leave time on Friday to follow up promptly on anything that arises in the meeting.

Come as my guest or book your ticket here...

Structured Agenda...

If you've ever been in one of those networking meetings where everyone just gathers in a room to 'network', you'll know how it goes. The people who know each other gather in their groups and don't talk to anyone else. The new people in the room stand around wondering how to engage anyone in conversation. The pitchers are wandering around telling everyone to 'buy my stuff'! And there are always those people who start talking to you, and when they find you are no interest to them, walk away to find someone more useful!

Makes you want to sit down quietly with a coffee, doesn't it!

Which is why structure is so important. It is the meeting structure that makes it purposeful and effective. Structure makes it possible to showcase yourself and your business, and to have one-to-one conversations that are interesting, relevant and helpful. And it's structure that makes sure everyone is made to feel welcome and engaged.

Come as my guest or book your ticket here...

Member Directory...

And the benefits expend beyond the meetings! For subscribing members we offer a Member Directory, a further opportunity to not only showcase your business but also an opportunity to link back to your own website — and as any SEO professional will tell you, high quality links to your website really help with how Google sees you.

Come as my guest or book your ticket here...