Initial Group Buildout: 60 to 90 days
NIA Franchise owners have a protected territory. The great part is there is no land selection, negotiations, build-out costs, or the risks that come along with this process. NIA franchises can be run from a Home Office or small Lease Space. No Landlord, no headaches, and no staffing!
Because of this, it typically takes 1-2 months to open an NIA franchise, which is quicker than almost every franchise you will see. The training takes place once a month for a week in Houston and then you are off and running!
Scott Talley, puts it well: “We wanted to design a Franchise Model with a quick return on a Franchise Owner’s initial investment. We can launch your franchise in a few hours and have you up and running during your week of training.”
Then your time is also put to good use. Franchisees continue their training with online courses developed by NIA to further familiarize themselves with the business and the way NIA is revolutionizing Business Networking.
Why the right location makes a world of a difference
Network In Action looks for locations that have excellent access to the business community in your area. The right demographic metrics include Business Population, Density, and the number of Existing Business Networking Groups already operating in an area.
Some Franchise Owners choose to work 100% virtually.
Founder Scott Talley has selected locations since forming the initial group in The Heights in Houston and continues to work with potential Franchisees. Since we do not need Real Estate to run a successful group, the time to ramp up and begin to earn an ROI is dramatically reduced. Finding a great location area to operate is often right outside your door, and our outstanding Business Networking Model actualizes that potential.
When Network In Action studies new locations in a market, our team will assimilate data on both the general population as well as a number of businesses in key industries. Since member participation is not limited to a territory most of our Franchise Owners choose to stay close to home. Grabbing a couple of zip codes with their original Franchise helps our Franchise Owners operate as efficiently as our original groups. We use National Databases to identify areas that have large clusters of likely members. Once potential areas have been identified, we will discuss the pros and cons of a potential Franchise Owner. The bottom line is most major cities can handle a significant number of Business Networking Groups. Our job is to help identify that number and start groups in those key areas.
How committed is Network In Action to identifying successful sites? As an Emerging Brand, we recognize that the selection of an NIA franchise is critical to our long-term success. We will not operate in an area that does not have a significant chance to be successful. There are clearly too many available spaces to grow. You may love your neighborhood but we need to love it as well!
We’re not trying to pick the best site for today — we’re trying to pick the best site for 20 years from now,” Scott says. “If we can’t find a great site, we’d rather have a small disappointment upfront than a big disappointment later”.
Attainable knowledge and skills via Intuitive Systems and Direct Training.
Network In Action Franchisees are surrounded by experts who know how to start a Networking Group
If you are going to revolutionize an industry, one of the key things that you need is Experienced Leadership.
What sets Network In Action apart from other Business Networking Groups is most of our Franchisees don’t have a networking background. We want Franchisees to be able to see the business from a Member’s perspective, and we don’t want to be like other Networking Groups who may be strong on experience but are weak on overall member Experience. We want our meetings to be fun, fresh, and fast-paced to always include action. We look for Franchisees who share our values. We have developed robust training and support to help them master how to start their business networking group, and more importantly how to make a business out of it.
Network In Action has opened 148 locations! This, in an industry that is rife with false starts and groups which never gain traction! Here’s how we get our Franchisees up to speed:
Franchisees receive over 40 hours of training focused on Leadership, Sales, and Marketing, our State-of-the-Art Technology, Member Retention, and How To Run a vibrant meeting. Forty Hours of training takes place at NIA's Corporate Headquarters in Houston before starting your group. You do not need any prior Business Networking experience to run your own group. A successful Franchisee is available for the first six months for our Optional Mentoring Program. There are 75 minutes of Personal Coaching for the first 8 weeks via Skype. An optional phone call is available every week with the founder of NIA. Once the Franchise Business has operated for 2 to 4 months, if all KPIs have been met and you are not enjoying the success expected, we will personally visit your territory to help jump-start your group. To date, that request has not been needed. That is correct. 100% of our Franchise Owners have received a Return on their Investment within 120 days. We teach you more than how to start a networking group — we teach you how to make a business out of it.
Network In Action members enjoy a very different experience than they’re probably used to from other Networking Groups. Typically Members arrive at an afternoon meeting and are ready to network. They are immediately greeted, offered a drink, and begin to experience Networking without the Drama and Volunteers. The Franchisee does not pressure people to join the group but follows our Sales Model where we can actually have Business Owners asking to join.
A typical conversation with a prospect goes like this:
“If you have a moment, do you mind if I get some information from you?”
“Have you ever been a part of a Networking Group before?”
“Would you have the capacity to attend 12 meetings annually and pass a minimum of 12 referrals annually? Great I would like to see if we are a fit for each other. I can actually offer the only guaranteed ROI in the Marketing World! How can I help you grow your business?”
We teach Franchisees how to put Prospects at ease and how to create an interview between you and the Potential Member. At the end of the day, you are the Membership Committee and you want members for whom you cannot wait to go to battle. Over 30% of our members have suggested the names of Friends and Family that may want to join your group.
Network In Action believes that our Franchise Owners should be as well-connected as our Members. With that in mind, you can always access every Franchise Owner through our intranet site. If you have a question, ask an experienced Franchise Owner. Do you need a tip? Ask for help anytime. Do you want to see what other members of an industry have accomplished? Pull a system-wide swap report on any industry represented! Imagine walking into your appointments with historical data on how much business their competitor is gaining from their NIA membership. We tie our success firmly to yours. If you’re not making money, we’re not either, so we have every financial incentive to offer World-Class support.
Once a Franchise Agreement has been signed, Network In Action immediately provides access to Training Materials and Online Courses which will help you expand your understanding of our model. The goal is to turn you into a lean mean Networking Machine! Our E-Learning platform is second to none and can be accessed 24/7 so you can stay up to date with any changes in the system.