Hello
I love a bit of networking, it has kept my business going for over 10 years.
It is a really good way of meeting new people, finding new businesses, getting the support you need as a sole trader, and being there for your fellow business men and women as a support for them.
Keeping yourself visible is essential, and networking has helped me grow a reputation.
🦇 For being a bit Batty – Yes.
👑 For being the Queen of Spreadsheets (not my words) – but Yes
🤣 For my weird and dodgy sense of humour – Yes
🐾 and my love of Dogs (especially my own) – Yes
But more importantly it means people have got to know me, and that means trust is built. It also means because I am authentic and friendly I stand out and people remember who I am and how I made them feel. How you make people feel when they meet you beats the snazzy photo and perfect website prose anyday.
At the Great Women in Business event at the beginning of 2026 one of the speakers, Dawn Owen, made a point about the financial implications of networking. How much does it actually cost you to be in the room? In Coffees, Lunches, Travel and our most precious resource, our Time.
I worked it out.
I am a member of a network which is £149 per year and each session is £10. If I went to 2 sessions per month at £240 per year that would be an annual cost of £389.
Then lets add on refreshments at £5 per drink, one per session would cost £120 per year. Not to mention the amount of lunches I have had.
So far that is £509. Ok that is not bad we can cover that with business no worries.
Now let’s work out our Time Value, at 2 meetings per month which takes approximately 3 hours of my time including travel. My hourly rate is £60 which equates to 72 hours for the year and that’s £4,320.
Amazing right?!!
Imagine if your hourly rate is £250 that would be £18,000 I could go on but you see where I am coming from. When you start to look at your time as an investment and not just something to fritter away, you start to focus on why you do things and how you can be more efficient with your time.
So next time you network or attend an event ask yourself:
- Am I in the right room?
- Are the attendees my kind of people?
- Do I have a strategic plan – like meet 3 new people?
- Is this for my wellbeing because working alone is hard?
Networking has multiple dimensions and one of them is to keep you grounded by being in the company of like-minded people. You have support, you have friendships and you have conversations with people who know what are going through as a small business. And likewise you are there for others too.
I am sure you are now really conscious of your time now, so I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
If you would like help collating your networking contacts and working out how much it is costing you, please check out my Networking Tracker, it could save you time and money.
Networking Tracker