Networking opportunity for entrepreneurs

Sterling Business Network (SBN) has provided an opportunity for Nigerian entrepreneurs to grow through networking, having set up offices in Port-Harcourt and Lagos.

The business network, which was started by Raymond M. McMillan, an insurance broker in London, brings entrepreneurs from different walks of life together who share referrals and ideas, while also creating opportunities for others.

“SBN is about bringing different individuals together to share referrals. Members would meet weekly, monthly at a breakfast, lunch or dinner session and so people would get to know each other and give referrals, such that there is an element of trust,” Raymond M. McMillan, chief executive officer, Sterling Business Network, said.

“SBN was started in August 2013 and in December 2014, a decision was made that 2015 would be a year of international launches. Deciding that 2015 was the year of going international,  we started in January in Grenada, Florida in February, and then launched in April at Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Canada and now it’s the time for Nigeria,” McMillan said.

According to him, the SBN brings together players in different sectors of the economy such as I.T, finance, event planning and property, among others, to form a group.

“Imagine 20 people who have different talents or occupations coming together. The idea is for them to have 30 seconds to market themselves,” he said.

“The basic idea is to help people grow their business through referrals in a way everybody makes money, while creating an avenue to interact with people and relate more with top CEOs,” he added.

“SBN would also teach individuals how to stand in a meeting when doing presentations and also teach them how to cover important key points in 90seconds, as well as  give tips on how to get their message across effectively,” he said.

Christian J. Nwaigwe, director of communications, Sterling Business Network said:  “In Nigeria we are more likely to use word of mouth than referral for a person we find online. That is what we are trying to leverage on,” Nwaigwe said.

“If you’re a business owner, instead of spending thousands of money with marketing your products to the general public, you can just use your group referrals to grow your business, since an average person knows more than 50 people. I can talk from my experience because I have used SBN to grow my business from a one-man band to establishing international branches and working for multi-national companies,” he said.

MARY OCHUGBUA