Jellybean Networking Club
Core Principles and Operating Framework
1. Exclusivity and Membership Control
Membership is invite-only and based strictly on referrals from existing members.
Prospective members may attend one networking meeting as a guest by invitation. Following attendance, existing members will discuss suitability via the WhatsApp group. Acceptance is confirmed once the collective agrees.
The club remains deliberately small and curated to preserve trust, integrity, and high-quality referrals.
2. Member Standards
a. Full-Time, Serious Professionals
Open to full-time business owners and employed professionals with a genuine, referable offering.
Their work must be their primary professional focus. Side hustles, casual work, or exploratory ventures are not eligible.
b. Specialists, Not Generalists
Members must operate within a clear specialist discipline. Generalists or jack-of-all-trades providers will not be considered.
Clarity of expertise is essential for trusted referrals.
c. B2B-Focused
Members should primarily serve business clients, ensuring strong alignment and meaningful referral opportunities across the group.
3. Referral Transparency, Accountability and Agreements
Members commit to being open and transparent about opportunities, introductions, and sales arising from referrals within the group.
Each member is responsible for establishing their own referral agreements with other members where appropriate. These agreements should clearly outline expectations, referral fees or commissions, how introductions are made, and service boundaries.
Agreements may differ between members but must be fair, ethical, and clearly understood by all parties. The club does not mediate commercial arrangements.
4. Relationship Building
Members are encouraged to have regular 1-2-1 meetings with fellow members throughout the year.
The purpose of these meetings is to build trust, understand each other's businesses in depth, clarify ideal clients, and identify genuine referral opportunities.
Strong relationships underpin effective referrals and are central to the club's success.
5. Acceptance Criteria
A prospective member will only be accepted if there is clear evidence of two-way referral potential, alignment with the club's culture and values, and a clear contribution to the existing ecosystem without materially duplicating another member's service.
6. Monthly Meetings
The club meets once per month for a business networking session, followed by informal drinks for those who wish to continue conversations and relationship building.
Meeting locations are rotated across the membership to accommodate different geographic locations and ensure fairness for all members.
The monthly meeting will typically include:
- Business updates from members
- Referrals passed and outcomes achieved
- Success stories and lessons learned
- Opportunities and introductions sought
- Member challenges where the group can offer support
- Guest introductions (where applicable)
The purpose of the meeting is to strengthen relationships, generate meaningful referrals, encourage collaboration, and support the growth of member businesses.
7. Disputes and Resolution
Members are expected to resolve issues directly and privately in the first instance.
If unresolved, two mutually agreed neutral members may act as informal mediators to facilitate discussion and resolution.
If the issue still cannot be resolved, it may be raised with the wider group for guidance or decision.
Serious or repeated breaches may result in a membership review. Grounds include unethical behaviour, breach of referral agreements, lack of transparency, reputational damage to the group, or persistent non-engagement.
8. Purpose and Ethos
The Jellybean Networking Club is built on trust, integrity, accountability, and meaningful business relationships.
This is not a volume networking group. It is a carefully curated collective of serious professionals who value quality over quantity, contribution over attendance, and long-term relationships over short-term transactions.
Members are expected to support one another, actively seek opportunities for fellow members, and contribute positively to the success of the group as a whole.
