In this BNI Education Slot, Zoe Devenport delivered a reflective and practical session focused on how business owners can grow, scale, and even sell their businesses by using BNI with purpose.

https://youtu.be/CK3zGxRKGNM

Zoe opened by referencing the familiar interview question, “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?”, acknowledging how difficult it can be to answer — especially for business owners caught up in day-to-day operations. She encouraged members to apply that same thinking to their BNI journey, asking where they want to be within the network in the years ahead.

She highlighted the importance of regular reflection, particularly as the year draws to a close, and urged members to assess both their personal performance and their business results. According to Zoe, understanding what you want from BNI is essential if you are to gain real value from it.

Recognising that members are at different stages of business growth, Zoe discussed how BNI can support everyone, from sole traders to those managing larger teams. She explored what “more” might look like for different people: employing staff, appointing managers, stepping back from operational work, increasing turnover, or even planning an eventual sale of the business.

In the talk, Zoe references previous education sessions on goal setting, reinforcing the idea that large ambitions require incremental steps and a clear end goal. She encouraged members to think about how BNI could actively support those steps.

Practical guidance followed, including making better use of tools such as GAINS sheets, being clearer about referral asks, and understanding the “why” behind the type of clients or businesses members want to work with. She also emphasised the importance of collaboration, not just within chapters, but across the wider BNI network.

Zoe stressed the value of visibility and engagement, encouraging members to show up, participate, and become recognised as the go-to expert in their field. Tracking referrals and following up effectively were highlighted as critical habits that often determine whether members feel they are “getting value” from BNI.

She concluded by urging members to take time over the Christmas period to reflect, set intentions for the year ahead, and actively use the support available within BNI, including mentors and experienced members, to make the coming year a success.

Full Transcript

(00:34)
Good morning, everyone.
So, can I have a show of hands, please — have any of you ever been to an interview?
I thought we might all put our hands up.

(00:55)
Years ago, when I first started interviewing, I’d gone on Google and it gave me a list — and Joe, hopefully you can back me up on this — it gave me a list of the ten most commonly asked interview questions.
And one of them was, “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?”
I don’t know.
Do you agree with that, Joe? It’s one of the common questions.

(01:10)
Where do you see yourself in one year, two years, five years, ten years’ time?
And I used to think, God, that’s really difficult. What happens if you just don’t have a clue what you want to do or where you want to be in five years’ time?

(01:36)
So what I thought I’d talk about this morning was actually where you’re at in BNI.
Where do you see yourself in BNI in so many years’ time?

Sharon recently put you on the spot in our little WhatsApp group chat. You were talking about reflection on 2025 and goals for 2026.

(01:36)
Is there anybody else in the room who actually sits down and thinks, “This is how I’ve done this year, and this is what I want to do next year”?
Fantastic. That’s what we want.

(02:06)
So the question then is: do you actually know what BNI is doing for you, and what you want out of BNI?
Do you know what you want for your business moving forward?

Hopefully those of you who put your hands up can say yes — you know what you want, what you’re getting, and the direction you’re going in.
But for some people, it might be, “I haven’t got a clue.”

(02:22)
Or you make a plan, and by the end of the year it’s gone so far off track that you think, “What was the point of making the plan in the first place?”

(02:22)
Looking around the room, Darren, how many members of staff have you got at the minute?
There’s 11 of us.
So there’s 12 of us in my office. Competition.

But looking around, I think you and I, from a staff number point of view, probably have the biggest businesses in the room.
[Music] [Applause]
You’ve just topped me there — Vision Support is the biggest business in the room.

(02:51)
But for some of you, you might be a sole trader, or a one-man-band limited company.
So you need to start thinking about where you want to be and how you can use BNI to get there.

(03:12)
Do you want more?
And what does “more” look like to you?

For some people, it might be taking on five more members of staff.
It might be taking on a manager.
It might be stepping back off the tools if you’re a tradesperson.
Working on your business rather than in it.

You might want to double, triple, or quadruple your turnover, and then sell your business in five years’ time — sell it to a competitor and live happily ever after.

(03:37)
That might sound like a fairy tale, but imagine if you could use BNI to leverage yourself to get to that point.
To say, “I’m going to sell my business, retire, or go and do something completely different.”

(03:55)
Gail did an excellent education slot about two months ago — I think we were in the Groven Suite — where she had little pieces of paper on the floor.
That was all about setting goals, but also taking incremental steps to get to that end goal, while always keeping the end goal in mind.

(04:16)
So here’s the challenge. We’re coming to the end of 2025.
It’s time for reflection — how you’ve done personally, how your business has done — but also thinking about where you want your business to be.

How can you get there?
And how can you leverage BNI to help you get there?

(04:37)
You all pay your fees.
You all turn up every week.
You’re all committed to everyone else in this room.

So why not use what you’ve already got?

(04:37)
We’ve talked over the last few months in education slots about how you can use BNI better for you.

Common things — your GAINS sheet.
It’s a perfect opportunity to tell people what you do, how you do it, what you’re looking for, and why.

(05:02)
We talk about being specific, and I find that quite difficult.
But if someone says, “Why do you want to look after that company?” — really understanding your reason helps everyone in the room go, “I get that now, and I can find that referral more easily.”

(05:23)
Help BNI members find your target referral partners.
It’s not just about the people in the room — who can they refer you on to?

Collaborate with other members, even outside your chapter.
Martha’s been a perfect example this week, collaborating with Lucy from Dreamspace Staging in the Roman chapter and using what’s already in BNI.

(05:42)
Show up.
Be seen.
Yes, there’s an absence policy — but get involved.

Tom, you stood up today and you haven’t stood up for ages — brilliant.
Be that go-to person that people can come to for help.

(06:02)
Make sure you’ve got a system in place to track everything you’re given and follow it up.

I spoke to someone recently who said, “I’m not really getting much out of BNI.”
Then we went through what they’d actually received — and they’d forgotten all about it.

(06:17)
Be the go-to expert in your field, so when someone needs help, everyone knows exactly who to point them to.

(06:38)
So please, over the Christmas period, take a step back.
Reflect in whatever way works for you.
Put things down on paper about where you want to be over the next 12 months — in BNI and in your business.

Use BNI.
Use your mentor.
Use experienced members.
Employ the services of members if that’s what you need.

(06:59)
Hopefully, BNI in 2026 will be a fantastic year for you.
Thank you.