Nawroz Mamdani

Specializing in commercial real estate, Nawroz Mamdani from BNI Energizers joins us to discuss his unique experience in BNI.

“I’ve been a member for over five years; I assist organizations in acquiring commercial space, especially office and retail space, and on a personal level, I’m a new age parent, a lifelong learner, a fitness enthusiast, and believe in BNI’s core philosophy, especially Givers Gain.

I didn’t plan much; I did not do much research, learned from a couple of friends about BNI, and thought that this would be a great opportunity for my business. So I attended the BNI meeting in 2013 and joined in 2015; I took two years to think about it.” Nawroz begins by sharing how his journey in BNI began.

Positive Mindset Shift

“I joined with a hunter mindset, not a farmer mindset, wasn’t intending to build relationships and just keep on giving and then be rewarded for my contribution. Then, over time, I realized that the moment you change your mindset and adapt to the core philosophy, you’ll benefit a lot. For a long time, I was passing reactive referrals. Clients always ask me for recommendations regarding licensing organization, interiors, training services. So, I was passing referrals easily to BNI members and clients who were asking for a recommendation. So I would say it was more like reactive referrals, and I was not going out of my way. Then, in mid-2021, I saw a BNI notification congratulating me for completing five years. So, I just asked myself, “Am I contributing enough…Am I helping my BNI family or not?”. I’m embarrassed to say that my answer was no.

I was not passing proactive referrals; I was not going out of my way to help my BNI family contribute selflessly. At that time, I decided that I’d change my mindset and started passing proactive referrals. On every one-to-one, I used to ask members, “What are your ideal clients? Who are your referral partners? How can I help you?”. I started adapting the core values, especially Lifelong Learning, Building Relationships, and Accountability, as my personal core values. I started listening to Business Builder quite often; in six months, I completed almost 150 hours of BNI Learning. So, in six months, I was just contributing and passed over 34 referrals, 147,000 AED of business, and decided to take the leadership role as a Secretary-Treasurer after five years. I was in BNI Gazelles when I joined, and after that, I took a long break, and I would not take any role; I would just take small roles, like Visitor Host. Then I decided to take the leadership role. Now it’s time to contribute. I’m happy to announce that I got 250,000 dirhams business in three months!”

Beyond Business

“So in my organization, BANKE international properties. We have a Millionaire’s Club. So basically, if you achieve sales revenue of 1 million dirhams, you are in Millionaires Club, and BNI referrals put me in Millionaire’s Club. Apart from that, I’m a member of Aga Khan Development Network, specifically the Aga Khan Economic Planning Board, and a member of Ismaili Business Networking Group. So many BNI members have helped in my voluntary contribution to my Ismaili community and have organized workshops and webinars. I request them to come to our center and talk about a five-minute session on networking or a webinar on social media. So BNI rewarded me in my business and contribution to my Ismaili community. So I’m grateful to the BNI family and each member for their selfless contribution, and I’ve adopted the three core values, and soon I will adopt the remaining ones too. I truly believe in Givers Gain.”

Nawroz concludes by summarizing and highlighting the importance of approaching your network with a farmer’s mindset rather than a hunter’s mindset, and the rewards, thereafter, are certain.