Back in March 2022 I reluctantly booked my ticket last minute for a business conference in London.
With just a couple weeks to go I paid for my ticket. I’d procrastinated over booking for weeks.
A friend of mine recommended the event to me, I’d heard of it before but had never got round to booking. A couple of weeks after recommending the event to me, she asked me again if I’d booked and I was still sat in the fence.
Almost 18 months on and I can attribute thousands of pounds of business down to that specific event.
In terms of return on investment (ROI) I’ve had well over 20x my investment back, that’s after taking into account the ticket, travel and accommodation costs. And the ROI grows each month.
Why did I procrastinate over booking?
- The investment, both in terms or time and money.
- It was in London and meant 2 nights away, which goes against one of the reasons I first started my own business (I wanted less business travel).
- I didn’t know anyone else who was going. I know I’m a networker. I get the irony.
- I wasn’t sure what I’d get from attending. I’d been told by someone I trust that I’d get so much from it.
- It meant 3 days out of the business. Could I afford to take the time out?
18 months on and now I kick myself for procrastinating. I gained so much from the event and the action I took has been huge for Circle Networks.
What did I learn from the event?
If I’d booked sooner I’d have been able to engage more with the community of other ticket holders and get to know people prior to the event.
Once I’d booked I adopted an investment mindset. On this occasion I was slow off the mark to make the decision to commit.
The definition of investment “the action or process of investing money for profit”.
Once I’d booked I focused on recouping my investment. I researched the speakers; watched, read and listened to their content prior to attending. This started to help me before I even attended.
I sorted my diary and ensured I was prepared in advance.
At the event.
I took copious notes during the event, highlighted key points that I would take action on after the event.
As it was on a Thursday and Friday I made time over the weekend and on the Monday to review notes and turn them into actions.
I followed up with the people I’d met to continue the relationship building process. But I realised that I didn’t make the most of networking opportunities (and that they could have been much better organised.)
I made sure that I turned my financial and time investment into a profit and tracked my results.
Having some time away also gave me a different perspective. I’d forgotten that time out like this and being around similarly motivated entrepreneurs had such a transformative impact on my and my business.
Unknowingly I’d got stuck in a rut.
In normal day to day life, with so much talk about costs and the negativity in the world it’s easy for it to impact us without us realising. And I don’t event watch or read the news.
I’ve reminded myself that when I invest in myself and my business, 9 times out of 10 I reap the benefits. Because I commit with this intention, I focus on getting a great return on my investment.
I come across a lot of people unfortunately who just see these things as costs rather than opportunities.
Circle Networks makes huge leaps forward when I take time out, attend events, invest in training, and personal development. Why wouldn’t I continue to invest?
In my last job before starting my own business we’d run huge events at the NIA in Birmingham. We’d have over 5,000 attendees, we’d live stream to reach even more people. We changed lives with our events.
It was time for me to do this again with my own business and this led to Circle Networks Live!
Our own annual in person conference in Birmingham. Why Birmingham? It’s the most accessible part of the UK and the central points for people coming from all over.
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