This is a rebroadcast of Episode 393.

Synopsis

Today’s topic is near and dear to Dr. Misner: he’s talking about what he learned from starting BNI 30 years ago. Here are 7 factors that contributed to the growth of BNI—and he didn’t learn them in business school.

* Set goals. You can’t hit targets you aren’t aiming at.

* Reverse-engineer your goals. If you have a 12-month goal, figure out where you’re supposed to be at 3, 6, 9 months.

* Do six things a thousand times, not a thousand things six times. Success comes from being like a dog with a bone.

* Create a larger vision. It’s never too early in your business—or too late.

* Maintain personal engagement. Don’t step too far back. Absentee owners hurt their businesses.

* Ignorance on fire is better than knowledge on ice. Commitment and enthusiasm make a huge difference.

* Do what you love and you’ll love what you do. Work in the flame, not in the wax.

Brought to you by the Global Networking Show.

Complete Transcript of BNI Podcast Episode 393 –

Priscilla:

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by the globalnetworkingshow.com which is a monthly Google Hangout show hosted by Andy Lopata and Dr. Ivan Misner. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, CA. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan, how are you today?

Ivan:

I am doing great, Priscilla. I have a topic today that is sort of near and dear to my heart. Seven things that I learned in starting a business, and starting specifically in BNI. 30 years ago this year, I put together about 20 people in a small coffee shop in Arcadia, California for the very first meeting of BNI. Today, the organization has over 7000 chapters in 60 countries and well over 170,000 members worldwide.

I had a BNI Director ask me, “What was the secret to your growth? How did you make your business scalable?”

I sat down and wrote down some of the key factors that I think contributed to the success of the organization. There were seven points, and that is what I am going to share with you today. The seven points that I think are factors that contributed to the growth of the organization.

The first one everybody has heard so many times that their eyes are going to roll behind their heads. Right? It’s going to be like, really, that is one of the things that you learned? It’s one of those things that is simple but not easy. Everybody talks about it but not everybody does it. That is set goals. You have to set goals.

You cannot hit targets you are not aiming at. So one of the things that I did when I decided that BNI was something that I really wanted to focus on- because I was a management consultant but BNI was really my passion. I set some goals.

Now, I am going to give you something that I think is a little different than what you have heard before in terms of setting goals. I think you need to set three levels of goals. Three levels of goals. The top level, the high level, is your break through goals. Your break through goals. That means that these are the goals that would be outstanding. If you could just hit these numbers, you will have set records in your own business. They are your breakthrough goals.

Then, the next set of goals need to be a little lower. Those are your promise goals, your target. That is the number that you promise yourself this is doable. I can achieve it. I will achieve it.

The third set are the lowest goals that you set. Those are your floor goals. That is the basement. No matter what, if all goes wrong,