BNI 870: Business Matters 134 - Updates on the New Opportunities!

Summary

BNI & The Power of One, Episode 870: Business Matters 134 - Updates on the New Opportunities!

Date: December 10, 2025
Host: Tim Roberts
Guest: Michael Martin

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on significant updates about Tim Roberts’ professional journey, the expansion of his BNI (Business Network International) franchises, and lessons from navigating rapid growth, opportunity, and change. The conversation underscores the enduring power of networking, patience, giving without expectation, and methodical business growth—offering insights and inspiration for business owners and BNI members alike.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Major Professional Updates & Rapid Growth

• Expansion of BNI Franchises:

  • Tim has added a fourth BNI franchise: BNI Florida Northwest, covering the Florida panhandle—a completely new market for him ([02:29]).
  • This region was acquired in partnership with Karen Ellis, with Tim’s group holding the controlling share, signaling a shift in BNI policy that now enables new partnership opportunities ([02:46], [18:26]).
  • Announcement was made to the team, and operational changes are underway, including website updates and team realignment.

• Growth Beyond BNI:

  • Tim’s wife, Lindsay, has started her second Drybar location, with a third under construction and due to open in the first quarter of next year.
  • At the start of 2025, the couple had four franchises (three BNIs and one Drybar); by January 2026, they will have grown to 10 total franchises ([04:02]).
  • The process entails full build-outs, financing, hiring, and has required new management roles and team restructuring ([04:13]).

Notable Quote

“We started January 2025 with four franchises total… By January 2026, we will have 10.”
— Tim Roberts ([04:02])

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2. Lessons from Growth: Networking, Opportunity, and Patience

• Networking as a Long Game (Marathon, Not a Sprint):
  • Success in franchise expansion is rooted in 13 years of consistent networking, mentoring, and giving within BNI—with no specific expectation of return.
  • Critical opportunities, like acquiring a new region, were built on years of trust and giving, not on transactional relationships ([11:25], [12:48]).

Notable Quote

“Networking’s a marathon, not a sprint… you give and eventually you don’t know how you’re going to gain from it.”
— Tim Roberts ([11:25]–[12:48])

• Patience and Focus:
  • Both Tim and Michael reflect on the importance of patience—waiting for the right opportunities rather than rushing or acting from urgency ([15:25], [16:02]).
  • A mentor’s advice: “Patience and focus”—which Michael shares with every direct report, highlighting patience (long-term) and focus (immediate tasks) ([16:02]).

Notable Quote

“Patience in yourself and in others… and focus—what do I got to get done now?”
— Michael Martin ([16:02])

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3. Mindset, Methodology, and Decision-Making

• Consistency Over Novelty:
  • Tim credits methodical, consistent business practice for his growth. He advocates mastering a few things deeply in business, not chasing every new trend ([21:37], [23:12]).
  • His journey with BNI began in 2001, scaling from 90 members to over 4,400 by 2026 ([23:56], [24:09]) with persistent, steady improvement.

Notable Quote

“Don’t try to do a thousand things well, do like six things a thousand times.”
— Tim Roberts, referencing Ivan Misner ([23:12])

• Saying “No” and Practicing Discernment:
  • Tim was offered another region before acquiring BNI Northwest Florida but declined because it wasn’t the right fit—highlighting the value of selectivity even amid opportunity ([18:26]).
  • Not all opportunities should be rushed into; thoughtful decision-making prevents burnout and misalignment ([19:37]–[19:57]).

Notable Quote

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should… being patient and your decision making, but methodical.”
— Michael Martin ([20:18])

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4. Team & Operational Strategy

• Team Restructuring:
  • Growth required the creation of four new management roles and increased delegation.
  • Long-term team members are stepping into new roles, with Tim acknowledging Jamie Stein (17 years) and Stephanie Robinson (20 years with BNI) as key leaders for the next phase ([29:48]–[31:08]).
• Sustained Success and Recognition:
  • Tim emphasizes the importance of team recognition and engagement in driving business results ([28:36]).

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5. Memorable, Practical Advice for Members

• Giving Without Expectation:
  • Avoid quid pro quo thinking—offer help genuinely without an ulterior motive ([17:13]).
• Taking Qualified Risks:
  • When opportunities arise, especially after preparation, step through the door despite fear.
  • If failure happens, treat it as a lesson, not as a defeat ([25:14], [26:37]).
• Stick to What Works:
  • Tim’s management model in BNI (developed 15 years ago) was initially unique, but he persisted with confidence it was scalable and eventually, it enabled growth ([27:09]).

Notable Quote

“If the door opens, step through. Take the risk. If you’ve done all the work to get to the opportunity, a lot of people are then going to get fearful.”
— Michael Martin ([25:14])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:27 – 02:29: Weather banter, holiday season, show context, BNI Florida Northwest announcement
• 02:43 – 07:12: Expansion details, Lindsay's Drybar updates, growth metrics, challenges, and logistics
• 09:27 – 15:25: BNI principles in action, networking culture, patience, and opportunity-building
• 16:02 – 17:31: Patience and focus as business principles
• 18:26 – 19:57: Changes in BNI philosophy and making strategic decisions about new opportunities
• 20:34 – 24:09: Tim’s methodical approach, historical growth, lessons from networking and franchise experience
• 25:14 – 26:37: Risk-taking, learning from failure, team delegation, new challenges ahead
• 27:09 – 29:48: Sticking to effective practices and models, the importance of long-term consistency and belief
• 29:48 – 31:24: Celebrating the team, looking ahead, closing thoughts

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Memorable Quotes

• Tim Roberts ([04:02]): “We started January 2025 with four franchises total… By January 2026, we will have 10.”
• Tim Roberts ([11:25]–[12:48]): “Networking’s a marathon, not a sprint… you give and eventually you don’t know how you’re going to gain from it.”
• Michael Martin ([16:02]): “Patience in yourself and in others… and focus—what do I got to get done now?”
• Tim Roberts ([23:12]): “Don’t try to do a thousand things well, do like six things a thousand times.”
• Michael Martin ([20:18]): “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should… being patient and your decision making, but methodical.”
• Michael Martin ([25:14]): “If the door opens, step through. Take the risk. If you’ve done all the work to get to the opportunity, a lot of people are then going to get fearful.”

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Tone & Atmosphere

Friendly, candid, and instructional, with the hosts sharing both their vulnerabilities and successes. The episode exudes practical optimism—encouraging listeners to persevere with foundational principles, foster genuine relationships, and embrace change with preparation and patience.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome back. Business matters part of bni. Power of one Some Roberts with me, Michael Martin.

[B]

Morning.

[A]

How are you? I'm.

[B]

I'm cold from a warm place. Consider yourself lucky.

[A]

Yeah, I was just. Because we do our zero degrees out here. Weather update. Yeah. Which is funny is you're only what, 20 minutes from me.

[B]

Yeah. And almost pretty much straight west.

[A]

Right. But we'll have like a 10 degree. It could be a 10 degree difference.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this morning when I was in my truck with Jake, it was like it was seven and I was like, oh yeah, this is brutal. It's too brutal. So.

[B]

I know, I know. And it's. You know and for those. For those that care. We're still in technically in fall for another couple weeks.

[A]

I know. Right? Winter doesn't start to look Jesus. But yeah. All good stuff. We are in the midst of the holiday season blizzard.

[B]

Yeah. Ain't. It's not leaving. No snow is here to stay with these cold temps.

[A]

So I don't feel like it dropped earlier this year. Not just like snow. We've had snowfall that. But the temp is like way colder.

[B]

Yeah. Last year was much warmer. You know last year in. In the middle of December we had like two or three 65 to 70 degree days in the middle of December.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That were just amazing.

[A]

Take one of those right now.

[B]

Last fall weekend. You know. And then. And then the temperature hit. But yeah. This has been brutally cold and snowy very early. Yeah.

[A]

So we are now at the final stages of 2025. 2026 is going to be here in no time at all. Am able to. So we talked the last podcast and I talked about it a little bit on Monday. You know how things have been kind of chaotic. I haven't been recording to the same frequency and consistency that I would want to and that we had news to share and all that coming. So mentioned on Monday. We can now kind of talk about it. We did add a fourth BNI franchise to our region.

Yeah. Thank you. So BNI Florida Northwest. So we're super excited about that. Working the panhandle of Florida which is actually an area I've never really traveled to before. So I'm excited to kind of get down there and visit Tallahassee and all that kind of stuff. I've never really been down there.

[B]

Amazing. It's an amazing part of Florida that often gets overlooked.

[A]

Yeah. I know it's like you fly over it to go to other parts. But super excited about it. We. We announced it to the team last week. We had our member meetings Monday and Tuesday. So getting everything lined up. It's, you know, you would think adding a BNI region would be a simple process just because we've run three of them for, you know, so long, but it really is. There's just so much backend kind of matching up and changing websites and changing all that kind of stuff. And it is a partnership. So I'm super excited to be working with Karen Ellis on that. We did buy the majority, so we're controlling it, but she's still involved, so we've got that. And then.

I'll break news without breaking all of the news because some people be like, oh, you added a region. That's been the whole chaos. So Lindsay started her second dry bar. Her third one's under construction that it will open at the beginning of next year, first quarter of next year. So that's been kind of chaotic. Both going through construction phase because none of these are buyout, you know, it's full build out financing, banks, the whole conglomerate of things. We started January 2025 with four franchises total. It was three BNIs and one dry bar.

By January 2026, we will have 10.

[B]

So it's big growth.

[A]

Crazy. Yeah.

Been a crazy year of kind of expansion and opportunity and change. Like the game's changing across the board for us and it's. That's why a lot of this is like even been in the works before things are finalized. Like looking at, okay, what's our team structure going to look like now? What's the next level of management that we just created? 4 new roles that we didn't have before that that's now involved and all of the pieces of budgeting and role creation and all that stuff that goes into the planning. Part of it's been, and it's interesting.

[B]

Because I know in the last podcast we talked about kind of putting pieces in place and work you were doing because you were so busy was, you know, something for the future. And the future is now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you know, what I'm excited about is you're kind of already at the future and I'm excited to hear what's coming next.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So like, you know, you don't have to stop in either of those type franchise businesses. Lindsey. And again, congratulations to her and her partner.

Standing up a retail operation is extraordinarily difficult. It is under the best circumstances and I have some experience in that side of things. I was in the wholesale industry for a long time, worked with a lot of major retailers, but also mom and pop retailers and you know, it is hard to get something going. And you know, what maybe a lot of people don't realize is that she and her partners have broken or at least exceeded expectations of the franchise grantor and kind of maybe even what their own expectations were to a very high degree. Not just by a little bit, but by a lot. And you know, it's kind of fun to see. And I'm sure she's pulling her hair out, but hopefully she's having some fun too. She's learning a lot of things that you've known in terms of management and people and all that. But you know, it's, it's neat. And I think it would be fun to get her on as a guest at some point, talk about her experiences, because I think they're highly relatable. Yeah, she partners to come on and we can, we can kind of grill them a little bit, have some fun.

[A]

But depends on how much we grill them because I got to deal with it after when we go home.

[B]

Yeah, well, yeah, I'll be the griller. But you know, it's, it's, it's hard work. It's neat. I know you're not in the day to day of those retail franchises, but you still are there in the background doing a whole lot in addition to all of the BNI duties, in addition to hiring the right people at the right time and all those things we've talked about. And hats off because you know what? I think what some small business owners understand, but a lot of people don't, if you're just listening, is that it's a very small percentage of businesses that open last one full year. Very small.

[A]

It is kind of crazy. I forget the stats on it, but it is pretty bananas.

[B]

4% make it to the first year and after that it's, I think, you know, an even smaller percentage make it to year two. So the fact that you've gone a year, a year being almost a year being open, but clearly the planning phases were much longer than that. You know, people see the end result of it being open, but they didn't see all the work it took to actually stand it up and get it, you know, ready to open. And now it's exceeding expectations. And I know my partner, she is very excited for the one in Bedford to open because it's relatively close to us. So make it easier for her to go get her her hair stuff done. So. And I'm sure in that community they'll appreciate, you know, the kind of service that you guys have been knocking out of the park.

[A]

With yeah, her Salem location has been open now. It'll be. Let's. I'm doing quick math here. So like 21 months. 20 months. But like that process started. So she opened officially April 1, 2024, but it started in October 2022.

[B]

Right.

[A]

To start that process. And then they opened and then they just opened their second location officially a couple of weeks ago. And the third will be open in probably March. I would be, I guess with just construction schedules in winter and holidays and all that stuff. But really rapidly, the second and third one, I talked to her about it. I go, did you real. You guys do realize like you now employ 60 people? Yeah, it's like it's a lot of moving parts. It's a lot of part time and like, but it's a lot of moving parts that they, they do. I mean it's more than, you know, my, my employee staff is as big as like our overall organization. But it's pretty, pretty crazy and pretty impressive. I actually think about it. It was like we started January 4th and you say we'll have 10. It's really like we started October with four. January working f. 10 is kind of how it went.

[B]

Yeah, kind of.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Yeah. This is where you are now.

So I mean that's all, that's all awesome. And I, I wish them a lot of success and I think the hard work they've put in is going to pay dividends for a very long time. So congratulations to them. Now, let's talk about you and B and I a little bit and some of the things we've talked about in past. And you know, I think as someone who's on the outside, I kind of, I always like to. I think I get a better sense of pictures sometimes than a lot of other people because I'm usually on the outside looking and I'm kind of seeing how things tie together without necessarily being immersive. We've talked a lot about what BNI is founded on.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Givers game. But also the power of networking and the power of supporting each other in business and things like that. And you know, you've done, you, you're being rewarded now with this, these new franchise acquisitions and partnerships that you just explained because you've lived that whole networking culture and the importance of it. Had you not done those things, you wouldn't have heard about any of these things. Had you not done those things, those people wouldn't have trusted you to come to you and say, hey, you know, I'm thinking about, you know, selling or getting out of it or, you know, whatever the specific situation was with each of those locations.

And so it's kind of a testament to you and your work ethic. And I'm not trying to, you know, just blow smoke here to everybody, but it. You're embodying what it means to kind of live in that BNI culture, and it's paying off. So if you're in BNI and you're not putting in the work, what opportunities are you possibly missing with the people in your group?

[A]

Yeah, and a lot of it. And I appreciate that. I'm not very good at taking compliments.

[B]

I know, I know.

[A]

And my teammates, they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, listen, if I'm doing it, anybody can do it. This is generally my mindset. It's like, I'm not that special. So. But like, the Northwest Florida region.

[B]

That.

[A]

Is, like, I would say this will sound wrong, because I'll explain it. It's like 13 years worth of work for that to have happened. But it was never like, oh, I can see the future 13 years from now. It was the reason that one was able to happen because there were other pursuers actually for that region that I didn't know at the time in the conversation, but until it came out. But it was 13 years of mentoring somebody. Right. Hey, Volunteering to do trainings in the region. Hey, can you come speak to my region on this for free? Yes. Like, just giving. Right. Like, whatever I can do to help you be successful. That I think fostered a relationship of, like you said, of trust. That when that day came, it was like, oh, I want to partner with you because you've helped me all these times. Like, I never had new or planned, like, oh, if I do this, I'll get this in the future. It was just more of, like, I want to help. And because we've done that. Yeah. Like you said, like, the opportunity presented itself and. And awesome. And it goes to. Ivan's doing a lot of training on this right now for B and I members around. Like, networking's a marathon, not a sprint. Right. Like, just. Just. It is an ongoing. You never know what's. You. You can't ever promise something's going to come from doing those things. Like, I was never promised. Like, well, if you come and speak, I'll. I'll sell you my region in the future. Or if you come and do this, I'll do this for you. But I know that if I don't do them, that probably won't ever happen.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Either Right. It's just like, okay, you give and eventually you don't know how you're going to gain from it. I gave years of my life to BNI as a national director and that's now going to start paying dividends in a different way. Right. And has created opportunities down the line because I put in that time and what have you. Networking under the guidelines. There's a lot of people, I see it in drybar too, not just bni, where.

There are those who like to just always look at what's not working and complain and, and point out and do all these things about, like, well, you know, just for lack of a term, be a pain in the ass.

[B]

We had an old saying, that's a person who has a problem for every solution.

[A]

Right, Right. And so, and trust me, people in B, and I will tell you, like, if I think something's wrong, they're going to hear like, everybody's going to hear like, my opinion on it. But I always have also been there to help and figure out solutions and offer and say, listen, I'm not happy about this, but here's my idea. How could. It could be better? How can I help you? And that has also come to pay some dividends down the line as well, versus just being loud and obnoxious and what have you. So anyways, it's. It's been a lot. So I think what we'll talk about, you know, just today is, you know, kind of the update and I do think the lesson there is to be always open to opportunities and always be, you know, looking even without with patience. I think that's been the one thing that I've. If I've done anything, well, it's that I've been patient. And there's a lot of past franchisees and B, and I, like years ago, there was a lot of people because there was unrest and a lot of people unhappy. President, company included, a certain leadership and all that kind. We've talked about it. But when people would call me and talk about it, I always just preached, like, just be patient because these things will change. Like, I don't know when, but I know they're going to change. Like, I, I had told certain individuals at bni, like, the one thing I know, literally word for word is the one thing I know is I will be here longer than you. Like, I knew that. And so that allowed me to have a little bit of patience with like, okay, I'll get through this storm.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I hope things will be better or opportunities will be better. Or things will change in the future. And I've got patients around like, because I think a lot of people just like when they're looking for opportunity, they want it now. Like, what can I do right now? And there's not enough patience and that leads to mistakes or overextending or what have you out of a lack of just be patient, keep doing what you're doing and the opportunities will present themselves.

[B]

Yeah, I think differentiating between what can I do and what can I do right now is also really important. Not everything's an emergency in the moment. I think people have a tendency to have an emergency in the moment and they gotta, well, what's. I just got to get this next thing done right in front of me or whatever. It's like, well, maybe you need to. Patience. As you know, a long time ago on this podcast I explained that whenever I hired somebody new and this was something that was done for me by my very first mentor, he said, I always want you to remember two words, patience and focus. He made me write them down in a post it note and stick them on my computer monitor.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I, everybody I've ever hired that worked directly for me, all my direct reports had that on their computer monitor and it was patience, you know, in yourself and in others. That's what patience was for. And focus. What's the task at hand? What do I got to get done now? But the patience, meaning your long term strategy, your focus on what do I got to do like right now to move the business forward today.

And I think those are important for me. They've been the most important guideposts, you know, from a business perspective and a lot. And quite frankly, probably the best thing that's bled over my personal life. I'm still working on the patience thing.

[A]

But with people, I feel.

[B]

But you know, and that's just the way human nature is. I think it's also important for. Because you kind of said it in the lead in that also just offer help. Right. And by offering help without expectation, I think that's the key thing. Things will just come around at some point. But if you're doing it to get something back and we've talked about this, that's now a transaction.

[A]

Right?

[B]

You're not giving, you know that that's your quid pro quo. And you know, I give you, you give to me, you know, and it's like just give. And if everybody just has this culture of giving, for sure, if someone's going to eventually give you something, you know what I mean? And they're going to help you out. Just, just be helpful and be of service.

[A]

Well, you think of these relationships like if you did it, it's like the, the bank account kind of thing, right? Like just make deposits into the relationship. If you're looking at like givers gain as a weapon or like, like you said, a transaction, that's not what it is. Like, I never gave to these people with the expectation of getting anything in return besides feeling good about helping, you know, I mean, and like, and I've just have a deep passion for what we do for our members. So if somebody thinks I can add value to their members. Awesome. Look at this podcast. A lot of. Some of this opportunity is coming from doing things like this podcast that we don't collect anymore. You and I aren't getting paid to do this. Like, there's no sponsorships, there's no ads, there's no, like, you know, which also helps when I don't. When I have to step back for a couple weeks or a month. Like, I. It's like, well, listen, I'm not getting paid for this.

[B]

There's no fiscal responsibility here.

[A]

But like, you know, those kind of things I just feel like over time add up. Like.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I'll give you just two other points of this. This change, me being able to get involved with BNI Northwest Florida is a fundamental change in the philosophy of bni. For it swapped many years for many, many years. That was not an opportunity anybody had. It was shut down. Like, even if Karen wanted to partner with me, it would not have been allowed. So there has been a fundamental. That was part of the patience. I knew that that would probably change in the future, but that was part of a fundamental change which now is like, I know what will happen is everybody who's at my level will be excited about that and be looking for their next opportunity. And that's where I said, like, some people might rush it. I was actually offered to buy another region before this that I said no to from bni. And I was like, that's not the right fit for me. It's not the right fit for what I want to do. It's not the right fit for my team that doesn't align. And so that was, I think, part of that patience too, of like, just because you can doesn't mean you should absolutely, like, right away. And I do fear that there's going to be some peers of mine who are like, oh, we can do this. So now they're just going to grab the first thing they can Grab and it might not be the best thing.

[B]

There's what's funny about you saying that because I'm looking at your background splash on our zoom. It says being I accelerate with the tachometer thing over, I'm like, and I was thinking going, you know, some people are going to take that as redline it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And others are going to be like, just as long as I'm moving forward, I'm accelerating.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And, and that's kind of learning, you know, like, what are the best opportunities. And that whole practice of patience, you can still be accelerating when you're patient, Right. You just might not be flooring it. Remember, when you redline a motor, it dies, right. Or at least has a high likelihood of, you know, crashing.

[A]

It's going to be, it's going to be so.

[B]

So, you know, it's important to say no. And I love that. Just because you can, and it's an old maxim, just because you can doesn't mean you should. And you know, being patient and your decision making, but methodical. And I think, you know, one of the things I've seen you.

Over the years, I mean a, I've literally watched you grow up.

And we've been doing this now, we took a little bit of a break when you were working for corporate, but we've been basically doing this for almost nine years. Yeah.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

And you know, what I've seen is you've become.

You know, very methodical. You know, you've learned a lot. You've, you've taken what you've learned from all the sources of your learnings, Whether it's been Dr. Meisner, your peers, business associates, friends, family members, whatever, and you've kind of put in a nice rhythm of how you think about your growth. And again, like I said earlier, you're, you're practicing what you preach. So for a lot of people it's easy to preach, hard to practice. It's a very human thing. But you're do, you're practicing what you preach. So if you're listening, I think, you know, pay attention to that. Do those steps. You're not doing anything that's like earth shattering or new rocket science or anything.

[A]

Oh, then go back to it. Like if I could do it literally.

[B]

ABCs, and you're just sticking to those you're not doing definitely right. It's like, hey, I'm just doing the ABCs and those opportunities are coming your way and it's nothing other than what you've, you learned when you got into bni, what you learned when you were networking, when you were selling insurance way back in the day. And I remember that, I remember those days. You know, you've learned all those things. You've. You've been consistent with those things, you've applied those things, and now you've been in it for 20 something years and it's coming to fruition in a big way, you know, and so it. You. Because you've been patient.

[A]

I think that's a lost thing too.

[B]

A long time ago, you, like, you could have been out of this a long time ago and a lot of people would have gotten out of it, you know, I'm not getting what I want. I'm go, go try something else. And you've been like, no, you know, there's, there's more here, there's more here. And it turns out there's a lot more there if you're patient enough, you know, to wait for it, work for it in the meantime to improve your, your opportunity chances. So it's been really fun to watch you. I mean, quite frankly, you know, and I know that there's other people listening that do these things and they're probably having some success in their own business, which is awesome. So it doesn't have to be new and revolutionary. It just has to be consistent, good methodology that you're going to do. Consistent. I mean, what's that? I. There was somebody, I heard that was in franchising for a long time, but his whole thing was do these good things consistently and persistently.

[A]

Yep. Well, even Ivan talks about don't do a thousand. Don't try to do a thousand things. Well, do you know, or do you know thousand things ten times, do like six things a thousand times. And it's just kind of that. Yeah, I mean, I think what's lost on a lot of people too is the fact that this is 20. Literally. January 1st will be my 21st anniversary as a franchise owner in B and I. So, yeah, like, it's been a journey. It's not like, hey, I've been in this and now I'm trying to do this and you know, two years, three years, whatever. When we started. My parents first bought New Hampshire.

In 2001, which is when I first started getting involved. We had 90 members, I think was.

[B]

The total in New Hampshire.

[A]

Yeah, total. But that was where we started. We started with 90 members, one franchise, 90 members. So.

Yeah. And now in January, I think we'll be at 4400.

So it's crazy.

[B]

Really good growth over time.

[A]

Yeah. But only a Couple years ago, we were under 2000 too. So a big. Again, like you said, part of the thing is I'm always looking for the opportunity, but it's not blinding to what is important right now. Right. Like, we've been doing our model. We've been putting the right people in the bus and all the things we talked about last week, my amazing team members who have seen such significant growth just the last couple years, like three to four years consistently leading the country, top three at least minimum.

Has opened the like. So when those opportunities came, we were able to step into it. Right. It wasn't like we weren't just sitting back and be like, if only I had this, if only I had that. It was like we were presented with opportunities. Somewhat. Presented somewhat. When the window opened, I did. Or when the door cracked, I did stick my foot and sure, kick it as far as I could to be like.

[B]

But it cracked.

[A]

Right? It cracked. So there.

[B]

And that's your opening.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You gotta. You gotta take it. So the other thing I'd say, I know we're. We're short for time because you've got to get off, but.

Being just if. If the door opens, step through. Right. You know, take the risk. If you've done all the work to get to the opportunity, a lot of people are then going to get fearful.

[A]

Yeah. Because it's still a risk. This is a fundamental change next year. I'm excited to talk to you on this because I hope people can learn as I learn. This is, for me, another level of things. Like I said, we're adding layers to our team we've never had before. We're adding new things. I have to learn how to delegate even more than I. I had previously. And like, we talked about that. And like, you're gonna be like, you need to go take. Figure that part out because I don't have the. The time or ability or whatever. And so this is gonna be a learning process. And that's scary in some ways, like, for some people that can be, you know, I mean, I'm excited about it only because I do have 21 years of BNI experience behind me at least. But it's still new. It's still. I told. We had a team meeting, all my management teams a couple weeks ago in Florida, and I kept reiterating, like, the game is changing and we all have to step up to meet that. That new challenge. And so we're going to learn a lot through that process. And I'll share all of it. Been pretty open about it.

[B]

Sure. Sure. And you know, and I think that's. I think the thing too for people to listen to is just so you don't think it's, you know, just easier said than done.

Even if you end up taking a risk and it doesn't work out, you will have learned something. Yeah. And you'll be able to apply that to the next thing you do. Minimize the risk, take a different opportunity, grow yourself, you know, change your infrastructure. You know, you've done all those things in a very kind of compressed time. But you did it because you had a plan. You had a plan that if I want to be ready for the opportunity when it comes, I'm not going to wait for it to smack me in the face and then I'm not really prepared to take it.

[A]

So you hit part of it. Like, just think about our. Our management style is very different. How we organize. Our management is very different. It was like kind of first of its kind that I'm aware of. I don't, I can't ever say that because I don't know everybody around the world, but first of its kind model for BNI that we started 15 years ago and we stuck to that despite the fact that we were the only ones and, you know, nobody else was adapting to it then. Some people did adapt to it, but they kind of didn't do it well. And so they went back and we just stayed consistent because I knew one, it was the best model for everybody in our. I believe it's the best model for everybody in orgies down to the member level. But I also knew it was like this is what's scalable and the other ones weren't scalable. So even though the opportunity to scale was never there or was even literally shut down at one point, I knew that that was the right. And now because we have. That is why we're able to scale up. Right. Like to the degree that we're going to be able to is like, okay, because we have infrastructure in place to be able to do it. And so that's been eye opening too, that we were persistent enough to stick with it because we believed in it. Even if we were like kind of the lone man out on the freaking journey on that side of it. You know what I mean? For 15 years. Not for two or three years, for 15 years. We've been adapting it and everything else over that time. But the structure of the model has been what it is for 15 years.

[B]

Patience and focus. Yeah.

[A]

It's crazy when you look back. It's crazy.

[B]

Congratulations. I mean, it's a remarkable achievement to get any business going. It's remarkable to keep it going. It's remarkable to have it grow and not be static. Those are all things to be very proud of you and your team. I know there's been a lot of people that have worked on it, you know, along the way. And what I also like about you is most of the time that we're talking before we get on air, you're talking about the virtues of the people that, you know, work with you on these things and how much effort they put in. And the amount of recognition you do for your team is also something that, you know is important if you want to fuel growth and a lot of people don't do it enough. We've talked about this recently, but you, you seem to do all those things. So good on you, good on your team. And yeah, I'm excited to, you know, kind of a year out from now, look back and, and kind of see where things are and, and are you going to, if you start the year with 14, is it 14 or 10?

With 10, are you going to be looking at a year from now going? We're going to be at 21 way shape or form, you never know.

[A]

I, I will tell you, my mindset on that is I'm excited to get through the transition period to now be operating them and then, you know, we'll see where, you know, who knows what opportunities exist and whatever. But I will never shut the door. But I'm just really excited to get because these are new regions so it's new members to be able to engage with and bring our stuff to. And I'm really excited for the new year and kind of get busy with all that stuff. And then again, new roles that we've never had team members stepping up. We've had amazing, I've been very fortunate, have some really good long term. Jamie Stein's been with me for 17 years. He's got a new role that's going to be, I think it's 17 years. 17 already, yeah. And he's got a brand new role that's like vitally important to the success of everything that he's going to be into. That really fits with his personality and his skill set. Stephanie Robinson's been with me. She's been with BNI for 20 years. She's been like, she's in Northeast Florida. So she's been with me since I bought it 11 years ago straight in her role. She's got a new role coming in that's vitally important. All kinds of new team members who we've had that I think are going to be amazing. Like, it's going to be fun to see how this all plays out. But anyways, that's why I have been inconsistent. We'll wrap it up with that. It's been busy. It's been insane. It still will be a little bit, but I'm excited to share the journey with everybody.

[B]

Yeah, it'll be fun, though.

[A]

Yeah, it'll be good. So, all right with that. As always, we'd love to hear from you in the new year. If you got questions, topics, business steps, go to bni. Power of one. Leave it there and we'll make sure to get to it. Michael will talk again in a week.

[B]

Sounds good.

[A]

All right, brother. Have a good one.