When you’ve been in business since you were sixteen, like Ben Angel, you pick up a few things along the way. Ben established his first metal sculpture business at the tender age of sixteen and went on to stock over twelve outlets in Adelaide by the age of seventeen.

At which stage, he burnt out. Years later, Ben found himself running a life/business consulting practice, running speed dating events and running a now established networking group called Nationwide Networking.

NWN is a business networking group that meets monthly to assist business professionals and entrepreneurs seeking skills in sales, marketing and networking. Each event, Ben runs pre-matched speed networking sessions in which business owners can connect with potential clients and alliance partners on a monthly basis.

Along with the speed networking, business professionals are exposed to live interview panels in which stories of success and failure are shared with the audience. Guests have included, Diana Williams from Fernwood Fitness, James Tuckerman, editor of Australian Anthill Magazine and John Allin, a previous editor for The Age.

Ben’s events, aim to inject realism into the business community by exposing the inner thoughts and challenges that have been experienced by the businesses before them. Ben says, “We learn from our experiences and I feel a lot of business owners walk around pretending everything is ok just to impress people. The reality, especially in the micro business sector, is usually that the ground is falling out from underneath them. My very first business exposed me to my inner beliefs about myself, good and bad! You simply can’t escape them!”

This philosophy was spurred on even further when in the first year of business Ben lost his father to cancer. “It was a sobering moment in my life where I questioned everything I was doing, who I was and whether or not I should continue the business. These thoughts don’t just occur at the loss of a loved one, it occurs almost on a daily basis when you are attempting to get a new business off the ground. It’s not easy and it certainly isn’t talked about as much as it should be.”

Ben, now celebrating the third birthday for NWN, focuses his time expanding the networking group, writing articles for Australian Anthill Magazine and hosting events for local councils and companies. Ben says, “Our events aim to connect with the most fundamental needs in the business community, the feeling of safety, security, connectivity and the ability to discuss personal and business challenges openly. If we are all to succeed, we need to recognise where we are and what our fears are before we can choose to move forward as a collective.”