A school talent show led to Amrith Verghese’s interest in sound engineering, now his primary occupation. Originally settled in Bangalore, he moved to Dubai in 2009. He’s been a member of BNI Energizers since the beginning, which is 7 years ago. In fact, his journey began when he was invited as a substitute in 2014. “When I walked in there I saw a lot of members. There was so much support within the group,” he explains. “I decided this is the place for me. I requested the guy who called me as a substitute to call me next week as a visitor. When I attended the next time, I came into that meeting with a cheque!”
2020 has been a year unlike others, but BNI has been a boon for Amrith. “As you know, last year the F&B industry which is 90% of our business and the entertainment industry was impacted big time, even till today,” he states. “Last year it affected the company I was in, and I left that company. With the support of a lot of my fellow members, I started my own business. I was pushed by my BNI mastermind group to shift focus to the residential market.”
“It was nice to see how easy it was to shift focus by getting the right kind of referrals from my chapter members.”
Lifelong Learning
A Master Connector in his own right, Amrith has invited over 60 visitors out of which 11 have become members. So what keeps him motivated? “First of all, I’m very proud of being a member of BNI,” Amrith smiles. “What closed the deal for me is the strong education system that runs parallel to the membership. BNI has given me the opportunity to take on different roles, regardless of whether I’m good at it or not. I know that I can become good at it through the training available and the support of the members.”
“Keeping in mind that what I’m giving here, apart from business and referrals is about making it easier. As a Vice President right now, we make it easier for members to get the right kind of business,” he adds.
Donning Many Roles
In his time with BNI, Amrith has been Membership Committee Member, Visitor Host, Mentor-Coordinator, President, and is now onto his second stint as Vice President. When asked what’s changed this time around Amrith says, “ Although it’s a role I’ve done before a lot of things are different right now because we’re online and I have a different committee member team. I’m very proud of my team. Each one is committed to the role they have picked. Our main agenda is to ensure every member is getting value out of their membership.”
With such an incredible range of experience, Amrith is eager to share tips for those considering the Vice President role. “It’s the perfect place to learn new skills as a leader. One thing is realized as a VP is to make sure each person in the committee knows what they need to do, which means I need to know what they need to do.”
His approach to ensuring this might be a little unorthodox, but it certainly is interesting. “What I did was, I went through the training program of each committee member’s role.”
“The other tip is, check in with your committee more regularly. If you see a little slack, don’t hesitate to have that conversation,” he adds.
He ends the interview with advice for aspiring DNA members. “Ask yourself why you want that role, the reason needs to be the right one,” Amrith remarks. “Spend enough time on BNI Business Builder learning about that role and all the responsibilities it carries. It’s just taking ownership of that role, that’s your business in BNI.”
