Chambers of Commerce

Why I decided not to use my local Chamber of Commerce when still a burgeoning entrepreneur, and why I now feel that all experienced business owners SHOULD join.

It wasn't until I took an entrepreneurship course that I found out what a Chamber of Commerce was. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of one before. I felt a bit silly, but after doing some research I decided that, in my area, I wasn't able to join at that time. Why?

Good question. At the time I was merely starting up a confectionary business (Chocolate Decadents was the name). My plate was full with start-up work, and with my family commitments and financial resources, I didn't feel the local Chamber really had much to offer me at the time, other than their resources for marketing purposes - which were all available for free. And since most of their information was available online, I didn't even step into their office once.

After moving to Calgary, Alberta, and starting (finally) my own freelance writing business, I looked into the Chamber of Commerce again - but not because I was interested in their membership services. Rather, I felt I needed a home-base in which to run the shop if I were to attract local oil and gas contracts (a substantial part of the work in the area). A friend of a friend advised me that the Chamber had rental offices, so I found their website and took a peek.

To my surprise, for only $200 CDN a month I could rent my own (shared) office, a receptionist, internet access, bookable meeting rooms, an answering service and fax number - all in a convenient downtown location.

The further I looked into the service, the better it felt. By joining I would not only have this rental opportunity, but I'd also have countless networking chances with a myriad of organized lunches, meetings and presentations.

But the clincher was the other, 'extra' fringe benefits the Chamber offered medium-sized, established businesses like my own: health and business insurance, travel vouchers, buying coops for large savings and so forth. I was hooked, and decided that once the financial benefits outweighed the cost, I'd join.

Have you used a Chamber of Commerce before? Was it successful? Did you renew your membership after the first year? What would you do differently? Did it help you politically to garner the business legislation your entrepreneurial venture required?

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