This a list of the top business and entrepreneurship networks that can help you gather contacts for your business. We have reviewed all the networks and we're trying to make a factual evaluation of each one, pointing up the pros and cons.

We hope this gives you the best available online information in order to help you what network organization fits your purpose and how you can expand your business network and become global. We also hope that this information can help these networks to know their shortcomings and help them build a better service for entrepreneurs. We 're sorry if we're harsh in some of the reviews, but the ultimate goal is to help entrepreneurs.

As a final note, we opted not to give an overall score since each network is a different case, with different services and some might be hidden from the non members, so It would not be fair.

1. Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN)

https://www.genglobal.org/

The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates a platform of projects and programs in 95 countries aimed at connecting entrepreneurs, founders, investors and policy makers. GEN opens up opportunities to start and scale a business by offering a comprehensive list of events and programs that aim to educate and support Entrepreneurs.

Event list includes international events which are hosted by affiliated organizations. Most of the events are located in the US but there are a few in Europe, mainly concentrated in Brussels and the UK. GEN also organizes the Global Entrepreneurship Week in several countries in the second and third week of November every year.

Registration Process

Time to submit proposal: 5 minutes
Follow up Actions: No visible propositions
Access to Network: No visible propositions

Review Summary

GEN Global has a standard registration process with personal information only, but doesn't seem to offer anything more afterwards. Besides redirecting you to a my account page that doesn't let you do anything else besides changing your profile information. 5 days after receiving an extremely unformatted welcome email, I still haven't received any information on how to access the network, information or whatsoever. However, you do not need to register to access a list of personal profiles, which makes the doubt the reason to register. The member list does not provide you with any contact or even a linkedin page, so it is basically useless. As a plus, there is a large list of upcoming events that are happening around the world.

Relevant Links

Site: https://www.genglobal.org/
Join: https://www.genglobal.org/user/register
Events: https://www.genglobal.org/events
Members: https://www.genglobal.org/member-directory
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/genglobal
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGCFAFwEI58cbqTB7N0I5Sg

Note: If you're connected to GEN and think that this review is somewhat wrong or incomplete please send me a message.

2. Young Entrepreneurs of the European Union (JEUNE)

https://www.jeunenetwork.com

The Young Entrepreneurs of the European Union is an international network for entrepreneurs and businesses that are based or work within the European Market. The network is an initiative that promotes and shares the values and vision of European Culture helping entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive in the international market.

The network aims to empower entrepreneurs all over the world with a digital platform JEUNE NETWORK that enables them to discover people, partnership opportunities, access quality content and gain access to international events around the world.

Registration Process:

Annual Fee: no fee
Time to register: 5 minutes
Follow up Actions: Yes, they will contact
Access to Network: Yes, after registration

Review Summary

You can register at the network and create your profile account. The network seems to be a new initiative so it doesn't give you access to much data yet. After registration you will be able to access exclusive contents, search people to connect, search opportunities and enable access to international events.

Relevant Links

Network:: https://www.jeunenetwork.com
Events: https://www.jeunenetwork.com/?pid=events
Join: https://www.jeunenetwork.com
Organization: https://jeune-europe.org/

3. Business Network International (BNI)

https://www.bni.com/

BNI (Business Network International) is the largest professional network of references in the world. It has more than 280,000 member entrepreneurs spread over 10,000 groups (Chapters) and generated over 18 billion dollars in the last 12 months.

Each group works as a commercial team that the company can have at low cost and thus leverage its business. All entrepreneurs who wish are eligible to join BNI. For this there is a prior interview. The main advantages of belonging to BNI are: Having a sales team, real and functional partnerships, expanded network of contacts, training, business opportunities and personal development.

283 K Global Members
10,000 Global Chapters
12.4 M Member Referrals
$ 18.3 B Member Generated Business

Registration Process

Annual Fee: 250 Eur
Time to submit proposal: 5 minutes
Follow up Actions: Yes, they will contact us
Access to Network: Only in membership

Review Summary

BNI groups exists in almost city of the world, so if you don't live in a isolated place it won't be hard to find one in a close proximity. BNI groups are very work intensive and demand a high degree of participation of each member. Each meetinh is presential, and every week members need to report leads and opportunities to the group. Normally groups can have only one member of each sector, so for example if there is already a member that sells computer related material you will not be able to join the group. generally BNI groups arae known to get the best results since they area very formal and require you to get resultas to the groupo and its members, so if your very disciplined and hard working person it will be a good bet to to join this network.

Statistics

283 K Global Members
10,000 Global Chapters
12.4 M Member Referrals
$ 18.3 B Member Generated Business

Relevant Links

Website: https://www.bni.com/
Join: https://www.bni.com/find-a-chapter
Blog https://www.bni.com/the-latest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bni
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BNIOfficialChannel

4. Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO)

https://hub.eonetwork.org/

Entrepreneurs' Organization is one of the oldest Entrepreneurship organizations (founded in 1987) and presents itself as a support network of more than 14.000 entrepreneurs from 61 countries. The organization helps entrepreneurs to connect, share experiences and learn through collaborative experiences.

Entrepreneurs' Organization has 198 chapters in 61 countries. Chapter's main concentration are in North America, Europe and India, although there is a good concentration in the Asia Pacific regions as well. The organization invites you to join a chapter of your location and engage in the activities of that chapter like events, peer-to-peer sharing experiences and mentorship and education programs.

Member applications are subject to annual fees. Global Membership is subject to a $2500 fee (plus a one-time US$3000 initiation fee), but there is also a lower chapter member fee.

Registration Process

Restrictions: $250.000 annual revenue
Time to submit proposal: 10 minutes
Follow up Actions: No visible propositions
Access to Network: No visible propositions

Review Summary

Clearly Entrepreneurs' Organization is an elite club that is reserved for established businesses with the capacity to pay high annual fees. We could not evaluate their offering since it is a member only closed club and their activities and other perks are not visible to non-members. So if you have a small startup project this network is clearly not for you. Be sure to check an opinion from a past or current member before joining.

Relevant Links

Website: https://hub.eonetwork.org/
Join: https://www.eonetwork.org/why-join/apply-for-membership-form
Blog: https://blog.eonetwork.org/
Chapters: https://www.eonetwork.org/about/chapter-locations/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/entrepreneurs'E2%80%8B-organization/%
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EOnetwork

5. WEgate - WE are the Next generation

https://wegate.eu/

Women make up 52% of the total European population but only 34.4% of the European Union (EU) are self-employed and 30% of start-up entrepreneurs. Wegate is a growing and diverse number of stakeholders who are engaging to support women entrepreneurs across Europe. The European Gateway for Women’s entrepreneurship WEgate is an e-platform launched by the European Commission to support this network.

WEgate is not an organization as such. It does not provide support services or advice, nor has commercial purposes. It is an online gateway to useful and inspiring information, mostly presented through a short description text and useful web links.

Registration Process

Annual Fee: no fee
Time to register: 5 minutes
Follow up Actions: Yes, they will contact us
Access to Network: Only after registration

Review Summary

You can register at Wegate as an Entrepreneur or alternatively as a support organization. By creating a profile you will be able to participate in forum discussions, write blog posts, and share your good practices to inspire other women. Registering also allows you to find business women who are active in the same sector as you and to communicate with other users via the private messenger tool.

However bear in mind that Wegate is not a Network per se, it does not provide support services or advice but works as a Digital platform inspiring other women and for sharing ideias.

Relevant Links

Site: https://wegate.eu/
Join: https://wegate.eu/entrepreneur/register
Learning: https://wegate.eu/learn/e-learning-materials-and-tools
LinkedIn:
YouTube:

6. Toastmasters International - Public Speaking

https://www.toastmasters.org/

Do you want to practice public speaking, improve your communication and build leadership skills? With Toastmasters, you can break barriers, not your budget. Learn more about the history of the organization and our methodology to help maximize your potential!

Registration Process

Annual Fee: 800 Eur
Time to register: no registration required
Follow up Actions: N/A
Access to Network: N/A

Review Summary

You can register at toastmasters.

Relevant Links

Website: https://www.toastmasters.org/
Join: https://wegate.eu/entrepreneur/register
Find Club: https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toastmasters-international/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/toastmasters
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Toastmasters

7. MeetUp Groups

https://www.meetup.com

MeetUp is not really a Business group but a digital platform for building or joining local communities based on a shared interest. MeetUp is also a massive showcase of thousands of events that happend every week in every corner of the world.

Meetup enables people to (1) join a group or community in your local area (2) Find and events are happening in a certain area or (3) Create your own group or Community.

Registration Process

Annual Fee: no fee
Time to register: 2-3 minutes
Follow up Actions: Yes, they will contact us
Access to Network: Yes, thousands of groups and events

Review Summary

Relevant Links

Website: https://www.meetup.com
Join: https://secure.meetup.com/register
Events / Groups: https://www.meetup.com/find/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetup/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meetup/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/meetup
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetup/

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