F.A.Q

A peer to peer business group is where like minded business leaders, owners and entrepreneurs come together to understand each other’s opportunities and challenges so they can work together to ultimately solve these issues to grow their business and themselves. In effect they become non-executive directors for one another to help each other and drive success.

Our Nexus Leaders business group meets for a full day each month. Our Nexus Aspire groups meets for a full day every second month.

All meetings are hosted by one of the members in rotation at a choice of their own. This is usually in the member host’s own premises so they can show the other members their operations and processes . On average each member hosts a meeting once per year.

We invite speakers to 6 of the meetings over the year . A speaker session typically lasts 4 hours , is totally interactive with the members and ultimately results in firm actions that the members can take away and apply to their business.

The topic and speakers are chosen by the chairs from the input of the members. They are designed to specifically help the members of the group to grow their business or improve their work/life balance. Anything business related is applicable be it general leadership practice , personal development or a specific business topic such as sales, production or finance. See the speaker section to get a quick overview of the type of topics covered.

Confidentiality is absolutely paramount . If members cannot be truly open and truthful about their business and share specific data that will help their business grow the group will not function effectively. Everyone has to be 100% confident that what they say in the room, stays in the room. Then they can have the meaningful discussions to truly help each other grow their business.

An ideal group size is between 10 and 12 people. This gives everyone the breadth of discussion but the detail to truly help one another.

Each group has a dedicated , full time chair . All our chairs have an outstanding track record leading businesses and real practical experience from which the members can benefit. They are all qualified coaches and always lead the 1-2-1 discussions with the members to ultimately ensure each member gets maximum benefit.

Everything has to be practical . The speaker sessions should always be applied to the businesses and the issues raised by the members are real time issues with the goal to take away firm actions and recommendations they can apply to their business.

As confidentiality is critical , no competing firms can attend nor key clients or suppliers of any of the members. Hence you will always be the sole representative from your sector in each group.

The Nexus Leadership costs £1800 (+ VAT) per quarter , the Aspire group is £1200 (+ VAT) per qtr and Gateway is £1500 (+ VAT) per year. As part of this all retreat costs are free . This is almost half the amount you would pay for a like-for-like service from a corporate owned peer to peer business group as all profits go back to the members and not to a HQ or off shore equity owner.

Over the last year we have been running successful Zoom meetings instead of face to face including 1-2-1s . Normally the meetings are shorter but the speakers and subsequent discussions are as sharp and as beneficial as ever. Though we will return to face to face meetings as soon as safe to do so each group have started continuing ad hoc zoom calls in addition to the meetings as they can really add value when the occasion is right.

We absolutely encourage the group members to talk, meet and help each other between meetings and whenever they can help one another. We use Whats App group to keep everyone connected and ask for help as and when required ,we set up and encourage social events so members can really get to know one another plus dedicated groups for specific issues such as dealing with the EU after Brexit or dealing with furloughed staff during the pandemic.

The coach is always the chair of your group so you can truly get the full impact of group , coaching and speaker. What you discuss at your 1-2-1 is often the subject of forthcoming group meetings – after all 12 minds is always better than one. The 1-2-1 s really home into the key issues effecting you and possible solutions to make your life easier . the basis is always your ultimate vision for your business and yourself so that discussions, actions and solutions will always refer to this. 1-2-1s are designed for the maximum benefit of the member and this includes location. They can be face to face at the location of your choice , they can be in an informal setting , they can be virtual or even while walking your dog. The choice is yours.

No , absolutely not. Networking is a minor side benefit , this is about 12 like minded business leaders helping one another to grow their business and develop themselves.

It is so much more than a typical mastermind group. Each member will intimately get to know one another and each other’s business so they can give maximum help , support and advice to one another.

The beauty of Nexus is that variety really helps the depth of discussion so different viewpoints , angles and ideas can be explored. After all , your employees are all different as should be your peers. Ultimately we want members who join Nexus to have the depth of experience to contribute plus the level of leadership to benefit. Business range from £1mm revenue to £50mm revenue and the members could be owner / founders , family owned leaders , equity owned or running a division for an off-shore corporate. Key are the members themselves. We want leaders who have the experience and confidence to challenge and contribute but the vulnerability to be open about themselves and willing to learn.

The characteristics , experience and personality of each member is key for the group to effectively function . The group has to be right for you , but you have to be right for the group. With this in mind each potential member has an in depth discussion with the chair of the group . This way we can see if the group is right for the potential member and then a mutual decision can be made whether to join or not.

The original Nexus 1 group has been together for 15 years now with hardly anyone leaving. This shows the power of a well run and high performing group.

Once per year the group goes away to a location of their choice to spend 2 – 3 days and 2 nights in each others company . A speaker is always invited for part of the retreat and we always provide some form of social events but the real value is the members getting to know one another through the intense business and social interaction that they will enjoy. It is nearly always seen as the annual highlight of being a member and as this is a no profit organisation the retreat costs ( including food and drink) is paid for by Leadership Gateway from your membership fees unlike certain other peer to peer organisations where you have to pay for it separately.