The world’s largest business referral organisation
What is BNI
BNI is an organisation for business owners who grow their companies through referrals. It operates in 70 countries and brings together 350,000 Members worldwide. It has been present in Poland for 20 years, with approximately 2,300 companies working in the community.
Chapters are formed by owners of small and medium-sized companies: you meet every week, learn about one another’s businesses and refer specific customers to each other. Each Chapter has room for one company in a given speciality. Business growth goes hand in hand with the owner’s development.
- 01
Givers Gain®
We follow one philosophy: Givers Gain® — those who give, gain. You help other business owners win customers, and they help you. Everyone knows your speciality, so their referrals are specific rather than general.
- 02
More than a meeting
Membership is more than a weekly meeting. It also includes training and workshops — from BNI University programmes to Polish training for Members — as well as events in the region, across Poland and in other countries.
- 03
Trust since 1985
The model has worked since 1985 and has outlasted several technological eras because it is based on trust between people who meet regularly. Membership in a Chapter in your city also opens up connections beyond Poland.
Get to know BNI
See a Chapter Meeting in your city with your own eyes.
Grow your business — become a Chapter Member
Weekly referrals from entrepreneurs who know your offer.
Build a community with BNI
Entrepreneurs from your city and region.
Learn and grow with us
Training, workshops, scripts and the BNI University platform.
A global organisation, a local community
BNI was created so that business owners could help one another grow their companies. It operates worldwide but works locally: your Chapter is made up of local business owners who meet every week and support one another day to day.
- 70
- countries
- 350,000
- Members worldwide
- 20 years
- in Poland
- nearly 100
- Chapters
- ok. 2 300
- companies in the community in Poland
Why BNI works
Because nothing here is built on intuition alone. The model was created in 1985 and refined over four decades by business owners worldwide — you receive a ready-made structure and the people who work within it.
Membership, however, is more than a weekly meeting. Members use the BNI University training system and Polish learning programmes, and attend events — from regional workshops and national conferences to global events. BNI works locally but follows one worldwide standard: a Chapter in your city works by the same principles as Chapters around the world. By becoming a Member, you gain access to a range of tools that help you grow your company effectively, both locally and beyond Poland.
Four decades, one community
BNI began in California in 1985 and now operates in 70 countries — because over four decades, business owners worldwide have shown that this approach to developing referrals delivers results. Membership in a Chapter in your city opens doors not only in Poland, but wherever the organisation operates.
Our goal is to have a BNI Chapter in every city in Poland — so that every business owner has a nearby community that genuinely supports the growth of their company. In Poland, BNI works with local and national organisations that support entrepreneurship — and at events it also supports social causes and initiatives that help business owners develop.
Why referrals work
A referred customer calls already convinced — someone they trust has vouched for you with their own reputation. It is a mechanism of trust: one that can be understood — and used as a foundation for business growth.
According to BNI research, 98% of companies gain customers through referrals, yet only 3% have a referral strategy. Most companies do not realise how significant this source is — or how rarely anyone uses it deliberately. BNI was created to change that.
A referral works because someone vouches for you to a person they know — and does so only when they know your work. That is why a conversation that comes from a referral starts in a different place from a cold call: not with an explanation of what you do, but with when you can begin.
Referrals understood in this way rarely happen by themselves. Someone needs to know your company well, remember it at the right moment and know how to present it — and that is difficult to plan alone.
For most companies, referrals remain a welcome surprise rather than a consistent source of customers.
At BNI, this happens regularly: every week you meet business owners who know your company and understand the customer you are looking for. You also learn how to make and ask for referrals — through workshops, training and events in your region, across Poland and worldwide. This helps you find a referral even where you are only planning to operate: in another city or another country.
Core Values of BNI
A business owner you meet at BNI is not there by chance — every company is reviewed at the application stage. Everything else is built on a working culture, training and attitude: seven Core Values followed by every Member, Director and Ambassador throughout the organisation worldwide.
We safeguard quality — in the structure itself, in events and in whom we admit: every Member meets the requirements and declares a willingness to develop and build the community. That is why a business owner you meet at a meeting and with whom you build a Chapter is, like you, focused on growth and follows the same Core Values — important not only in business. Training and workshops reinforce them, while the entire model has been tested worldwide for four decades and continues to evolve. As a result, in Kraków, Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, Singapore or New York, you will meet people like you — with similar needs and a similar way of working.
Givers Gain®
Those who give, gain. You help others win business — and in turn win business yourself.
02Building Relationships
Referrals grow from trust, and trust grows from relationships nurtured week after week.
03Lifelong Learning
Networking can be learned. Training, workshops and the BNI University online learning platform develop Members throughout the year.
04Traditions + Innovation
We work with BNI’s proven global system and continually modernise the way we operate.
05Positive Attitude
We surround ourselves with people who seek solutions and energise one another.
06Recognition
Every referral and every expression of thanks before the Chapter is public recognition of work done well.
07Accountability
When you refer someone, you put your own reputation behind them. We treat commitments to the Chapter and referred customers like our own contracts.
Learning and events
Membership is not only a weekly Chapter Meeting. It also includes training, workshops and events — regionally, across Poland and worldwide.
Learning continues throughout the year through the BNI University platform, regional workshops and learning programmes for Members. Networking can be learned — and you learn it from your first week in a Chapter, not just once at the outset.
The events form a progression: a Chapter Meeting, a regional workshop, a national conference and a Global Convention. Each step widens the circle of people — while the principle remains the same: you meet business owners who can refer you.
We grow with you
BNI supports a business owner at their current stage — and as the company grows, the organisation grows with it. The growth of your business opens the next level within the same community.
The entry point is a BNI Chapter: weekly meetings, referrals and the community of business owners you discover on this page. Many Members started here — and their companies grew because they participated actively, attended training and events, and spoke with other business owners. The model works better the longer you take part in it.
As a company grows, so do its owner’s needs. That is why Corporate Connections operates within the same community — the same Givers Gain® philosophy among owners of larger-scale companies. If you feel that your company qualifies, discover this level and contact us.
We support you at every stage of this journey — from your first referrals to a truly high level of growth. The principle remains unchanged: you surround yourself with business owners who understand the scale at which you operate and share your direction. If your company grows — we grow with you.
- Owners of small and medium-sized companies — with no revenue threshold.entry pointBNI
- Owners and principal shareholders of companies that have outgrown the small and medium scale and are at a stage of rapid growth.larger-scale companiesBNI+
- Owners and principal shareholders of large companies with a nationwide and international reach.higher levelCorporate Connections
- Owners of the largest companies in Poland with full ownership decision-making power.highest levelCorporate Connections+
- BNI Owners of small and medium-sized companies — with no revenue threshold.
- BNI+ Owners and principal shareholders of companies that have outgrown the small and medium scale and are at a stage of rapid growth.
- Corporate Connections Owners and principal shareholders of large companies with a nationwide and international reach.
- Corporate Connections+ Owners of the largest companies in Poland with full ownership decision-making power.
Stories of business owners
In short interviews, people who run their own companies explain what changed after they joined a Chapter.
Above all, BNI is people — business owners who grow their companies with passion, knowledge and skill. Many have grown their businesses even further through BNI: they found referred customers, business partners and people who can view their company from the outside and suggest what to do next.
Voices on BNI
“BNI is probably the best organisation in the world.”
Brian Tracyworld-class business and sales trainer
