Sisters speak fluent business English

Alicia Robinson

Think of it as networking with a hot potato.

Newport Beach sisters Sonia and Melissa English believe business

success depends on who you know, so they want to make sure their

clients get to know a lot of people, fast.

The siblings started 5 Minute Networking in August, hoping to help

businesspeople make professional connections even if they’re not the

outgoing types. Both women had other business ventures but thought

the speed-networking idea was too good to pass up.

“I was actually at a speed-dating event and came away with a

couple leads for [Sonia’s Web-design company] eFlation,” Melissa

English said. “It just seemed like a really efficient way [to

network] because you meet so many people.”

The sisters are social opposites, but the business answers both of

their concerns. For Melissa, the challenge is introducing herself to

strangers, while Sonia thinks some networking events are too social

and don’t get to the point.

So, they followed the speed-dating model, pairing up clients for

five minutes and ringing a bell when it’s time to switch partners.

Clients are guaranteed to meet 20 new people at an event, most of

whom work for small- to medium-sized businesses.

The five-minute format means you won’t be stuck talking to someone

for 20 minutes and then only get to meet a handful of people in an

evening, said Dave Lampe, who owns Money Mailer of Newport-Mesa. He

attended the first two 5 Minute Networking events at South Coast

Plaza and plans to go to one in January.

“I belong to a lot of different networking-type clubs, and I

thought that it was a very, very good way to meet a lot of people in

a short period of time,” he said.

That’s just what the English sisters were trying to provide. But

they didn’t realize until they held an event how hard coordinating it

would be. They had to make sure people who came to more than one

event weren’t meeting the same people, and they had to keep seats

filled even if someone left early.

The answer was technology. They’re developing a software program

to match people with new business contacts, and they may license it

to chambers of commerce.

The business is also branching out in other directions. The women

are organizing events for charity fundraising, they’ve scheduled

networking events around the country, and people are interested in

franchise opportunities, they said.

Sonia English sees herself as proof that networking is the key to

getting business. That’s how her Web-development company eFlation

built up a client list that includes the Lisy B. boutique in Costa

Mesa and Sterling BMW in Newport Beach.

“Every single [one of those] clients and all the other clients we

have were referrals,” Sonia English said. “Not one of them was a cold

call.”