Peacehaven & District Chamber of Commerce

Seahaven Accountancy are proud to be a founder business of this thriving new business forum.

Formed in February, the Chamber has already grown to over 40 members drawn from businesses of all sizes and commercial sectors.

Its popular weekly Breakfast Club is famed for its relaxed atmosphere and warm welcome. The club is an excellent vehicle for members to promote their businesses and attracts 20 members regularly. Attendees can and do ‘do business’ in complete confidence.

The Chamber hosts meetings for night owls, too. Quarterly meetings give members a chance to catch up with Chamber affairs, network with fellow members and listen to a talk on a business-related issue.

From this month, the Chamber will also be hosting an informal open networking evening on a monthly basis. Aimed at providing networking opportunities for small tradespeople, retailers, women business owners and business start-ups in a friendly and encouraging environment, this event is open to all trading locally and will take place tea-time to catch people as they head home from work.

Visit the Chamber website to learn more of the Chamber’s activities.

“Don’t Bank Money, Bank People

… if you do that, you are going to be much better off.”

This quote doubled as the title of a post I read recently in the Web Worker Daily blog.

Let’s face it, we all dread it. Public speaking. The dreaded sales pitch. We could waste hundreds of £000’s on bad advertising. Alternatively, we could just put ourselves “out there” and network.

I read a few months ago the results of a survey in the business section of the local newspaper, The Argus, that suggested that most business owners in Sussex do not believe that networking can benefit their businesses. This is a shame. Quite simply, if you’re not prepared to put yourself forward, no-one else will.

In essence, a sale is the conclusion of a relationship between two interested parties. Since people still buy from people, the best way to increase the sales revenue of your business is to get out there and network.

In our private lives we do this without thinking: we recommend children’s entertainers, dentists, hairdressers, motor mechanics, restaurants and pubs. We make small talk with the people we queue with in banks. Yet, in a business context we break into a sweat and look for excuses not to participate.

Networking is not about “working a room”. It’s about nuturing and fostering relationships with people who may one day buy from you. It’s about meeting people who, to paraphase an old AA commercial, “know a man who can”. Networking is about people, their interests and their needs.

If nothing else, you will gain new friends and extend your social network.