This post is an expanded article on yesterday’s stream of consciousness in Start Up Smart. Hopefully this clarifies my thoughts.
For a new business – be it a high tech startup, a local service like a hairdresser or a manufacturing company – it’s tempting to join an industry group to get your views heard, get access to some useful training and do some helpful networking.
Often though, industry groups don’t deliver for their members. So what should we be looking for when we’re asked to join one.
In their truest form, industry groups should promote the interests of their members with the aim of growing and promoting the industry they represent. Other add-ons are training courses and information on relevant changes in their sector.
While many do this, all too often the groups become locked into self-perpetuating themselves, promoting their own managements or advancing the interests of a small group of their members.
Worth the effort?
For start-ups, the investment of both cost and time in an industry group is something that has to be carefully considered.
To get an effective return on being a member of an active industry group requires participating in the events and being an effective ambassador for your industry.
While an industry group could be useful for your business, there are a few factors to consider.
Before joining, have a look at the events the group holds. If the events are expensive and don’t seem to add value then that organisation probably isn’t for you.
Also have a look at the management of an organisation. There’s a breed of industry group manager that seems to pop up regularly in all sorts of roles.
Red tape woes
Some of these people may be good lobbyists but many don’t have much real understanding of an industry. It’s better to have a large component of industry participants volunteering for key roles rather than a professional.
If there are a lot of employees, then it’s likely that industry group is going to be bureaucratic. This goes hand in hand with professional managers who are remote from the real needs of the organisation’s membership.
Often the reason for a lot of employees or bureaucracy is that an organisation receives a large amount of government support.
This is not necessarily a good thing for industry groups or their members as it may mean the body is better at submitting grant applications than actively looking after members’ interests.
More costly than coffee
Another reason for many employees is that the industry body is on a constant membership drive to cover its operating costs.
This is often a spiral found in business associations; the management need more subscriptions to cover their costs so they hire more sales people to recruit new members who in turn require more managers.
Ultimately, few industry associations deliver useful results for entrepreneurs. Most of us working in our own businesses are more in need of getting away from the office and meeting other people where we can refresh our perspectives.
Often, the best thing for those building new businesses is to get out and have a coffee with their customers or contemporaries at any of the many coffee mornings or informal industry events like Mobile Mondays or Sydney’s Silicon Beach.
If an industry group can offer that then it might be worthwhile joining, but don’t fall for the hype.
