by Dale Carnegie
Special to Inside
A room full of alpha personalities greets every new visitor to a MOBEware Mixer where those with a trade to promote exchange business leads over cocktails in an atmosphere akin to a trading floor.
Don’t linger too long with one person, less you risk missing out on a potential hot lead from that guy across the room that could result in a big sale and, oh yeah, keep those business cards handy and plentiful.
MOBEware is a new networking organization founded on Chicago’s North Side by Raman Chandha, a Lincoln Square-area business consultant with big plans and a broad smile. MOBEware is a partial acronym for My Own Boss Expressionware. He and his wife Archa and partner Jonathan Howell in 2000 first hatched the idea of creating an organization and product line which helps the independently employed build recognition, self esteem and expression.
This is no place for the meek looking to ‘just fit in’ at a Fortune 500 company. These are business owners and self-employed people, each looking to control his or her own destiny rather than placing it in the hands of others (hello Arthur Anderson Consulting victims).
Product development is a big part of their business plan. Chandha plans on rolling out perhaps two dozen products carrying MOBEware’s smiling logo. First out are the baseball caps and tee shirts at $16, available at their events and on their web site. In the works are items like backpacks, palm pilots, calculators and business card holders. It is their goal to make the MOBE symbol recognized as a national symbol for the self-employed.
“I liken it to the multi-colored rainbow which the gay community has adopted,” said Chandha at a Wednesday night mixer held in conjunction with the Lincoln Park Network, an area networking association, at Goose Island Brewpub, 1800 N. Clybourn Ave. “Anywhere you go if you see that rainbow logo the folks in the gay community instantly feel bonded: they’re brought together by that pride. We want those who are self employed to feel that same pride and have the same attachment to our symbol of unity. This is an idea that brings together people who understand each other.”
Networking groups are certainly not new. To a great extent, organizations such as Rotary International, chambers of commerce, the Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club draw membership for the potential contacts. Most small business owners know that they have to get out and circulate if they intend to keep a steady stream of business leads coming their way. “There is no traffic on the extra mile,” says Josh Weir, a marketing specialists for OC9 who was at the mixer flashing a smile and a handshake.
“I get good solid leads here through word of mouth and the closing percentages are higher when you have a solid reference or personal contact,” said Weir.
“Business gossip is part of my job and I love it,” said Patrick Lynch, Jr., a commercial broker with Rubloff, who gave this reporter two solid story idea leads before passing on over to the next person.
“We’re having a rooftop party at Wrigley Field next week and a black tie affair... are you single?” asked Shelly Nigel of The Social Network, a singles groups which focuses on professional placement along with romance.
Attorney Brian Fons greeted me at the door. I then met Bryan Dohman of Paychex—who asked about our payroll service. Web designer Nicholas Gracilla and I talked about Web design with Jonathan Howell of Photoplay Multimedia and Courtney Tritch of the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce. “It’s really casual here,” said Dohman. “I’ve gotten some really good leads here tonight.”
Chappie Sartino of Bay Shore Financial handed me a flier, and asked for me to vote for him in a promotion he’s doing with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Linda Conley of Administaff sauntered over, pitched her staffing services as well as her own networking event coming up the following week, then moved on to the next group. And so even before I had my first beer I had already met nearly a dozen people and had a pocket full of business cards.
Still very young, MOBEware held their first event in March. But the buzz is starting and they have a target audience of 25-35 million home-based small business owners nationwide. “We have a solid entrepreneurial spirit here in Chicago and in the near future we hope to go national,” said Chandha as he suggested Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Dallas as his next markets.
“I know this industry, it’s what I do - this is my baby and very close to my heart. We celebrate people who are independently employed. We want to help provide an opportunity for our people to be acknowledged for their courage, ambition and dedication. By nature I’m an introvert but when I get in here I’m with people just like me and I feel proud about that - they all understand me and the trials of being your own boss.”
For more details on MOBE, its events and products, consult the Web site at www.mobeware.com. There is presently no membership fee. MOBE’s next event will be a MOBE Mixer at Wishbone Restaurant, 3300 N. Lincoln Ave., on Monday, June 3, at 8 a.m., and another after-hours event at Goose Island on Clybourn on Thursday, June 13, at 5 p.m.
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