Day in the Life of Louise Yexley

I joined WIBN originally as a member when I ran my marketing business and I googled ‘networking near me’ and up popped WIBN who was launching a group in my town. So I nervously attended the first meeting and joined straight after. A few years later the opportunity came up to chair the group and I took this role on as it fitted really nicely with my day job and then over the following years I added 2 more groups into the mix. Finally I decided that I would bite the bullet and become a franchisee and run it as a proper business alongside my company. I now run 9 groups and it’s my main business.

My role is to facilitate, creative inclusive and vibrant meetings, to make visitors and new members feel welcome and to provide a platform where both collaborations and business gets done. I run the meetings both online and in person so being able to stand up in front of a room full of people is key!

I think you need to be open, easy to approach, diplomatic at times and not easily flustered as well as being fairly organised! I joined originally as a member as I wanted to ease myself into networking having previously been in a corporate world but I’ve stayed because I can see that when done correctly, networking really does work and I can help business women navigate their way. If you like connecting with people, are interested in them then running a WIBN franchise is perfect for you!

I would say that my role with 9 groups is almost full time but flexible hours to suit me. So as long as I am physically there to run my meetings on the 9 days of the month the rest is up to me when I work or how I work. My children were 5 and 6 when I first started and a big part of doing this was to fit in around my family. Now I look after my granddaughter on a Friday and I just don’t work on that day.

A lot of my time spent outside the meetings is talking to visitors, prospective new members and members. It’s about setting expectations, being supportive, building confidence and getting new members to settle into the group quickly. Every day life happens all of the time and it’s important that I keep in touch with members, know about them and their families so that when they need some TLC they get it. You also need to be encouraging, getting everyone involved, motivated and enthusiastic. No point just turning up for lunch once a month!

There is a fair bit of admin which I personally do myself. I’m a bit of a control freak so I like to know what’s going on but I do outsource my accounts and some admin to my virtual assistant who has been a WIBN member for years so knows her stuff! If you are into Social Media then that’s a big plus as you have to engage with all the platforms to make this business work.

WIBN not just about business, we do organise social activities too, sometimes to support the members in the group and sometimes just for fun. And there is always a group member who is willing to get involved and sort things out for the group too.

I’ve run 2 franchisee businesses over the past 15 years and the support network is invaluable. You get to learn from each other, celebrate when things go right and have a good old moan when needed. Why reinvent the wheel when you can borrow someone elses wheels? And that’s another great thing, when you meet so many interesting business women you will ALWAYS know someone who does something way better than you! You just have to ask and the feedback and support is great.

Don’t underestimate the commitment you will need to get this business going. However it is totally up to you how much effort you put in and therefore how much you get out. I clearly love it, no two days are the same.