Small business owners prefer to network face-to-face

Traditional breeding grounds for doing deals and making new business contacts like the pub, golf club or social club have fallen foul of the work ethic and professionalism held by today’s entrepreneurs, according to a new survey by Barclays Local Business.

However, despite shunning an informal, social background to do business, the internet is also failing to prove itself as a meaningful way to meet new customers and suppliers.

Only 8% of those surveyed use the internet to network

Despite the recent growth of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, there seems to be a lack of good sites for businesses to network. Only 8% of those surveyed used the internet to network.

Research conducted at the latest Barclays Local Business 'Let's Talk' seminar to help people grow their business found that the majority of SME owner managers still go for the personal touch, with 61% citing organised shows and networking events as their preferred way to build up useful contacts for their business.

Of course, the business owners and managers questioned in this survey we're actually attending a 'face-to-face seminar'. It's, therefore, likely that the respondents had a natural preference for this type of networking, as opposed to using the internet or less formal networking opportunities.

Scottish businesses far more likely to network at the bar

The popular scene of a Del Boy-like figure having a network of potential ‘punters’ and business contacts in his local ‘boozer’, or the more affluent business person conducting business on the golf course is a thing of the past. Only in Scotland does there seem to remain a propensity to mix business with pleasure, as bosses north of the border are three times more likely to network at the bar (13%) than the rest of England and Wales.

John Davis, marketing director for Barclays Local Business said: “The entrepreneurial spirit is at an all time high in the UK thanks to the profile of successful self-made celebrity millionaires like Sir Alan Sugar and the BBC’s ‘Dragons’ and over 100,000 new businesses are formed every quarter across the UK. But the new world of the Internet is still to catch on, especially for networking, as entrepreneurs would rather go to a formal networking event rather than make contact with people online where only 9% do any networking.

“At Barclays, we believe that it's vital that businesses are encouraged to get together and are given the kind of forums or advice, whether in person or online, where they can spend their time most productively."

Overall, businesswomen lead the way in recognising the value of networking with 93% stating that it is important compared with 86% of men.