Complaint Review: IIB - Institute For Independent Business

I have been an IIB associate since May 2005. Clearly, it is not a cheap option and whether or not one joins really depends on how good you feel about yourself and your ability to sell yourself. What the RBS does is teaches the associate how to sell themselves, not any particular business option. You have to approach it with a very open mind and if you can accept the message they are attempting to get across then you will most definitely leave a better person for it. I accept that some people may not have the ability to sell anything (including themselves) and if some of those people have been misguidingly signed up then that is unfortunate.

Of the ten first "free" interviews I got from the IIB, there were four that were undoubtedly top dollar opportunities. The fact that I failed to sign any of these four was not due to the IIB training I received but the fact that I was unconvincing in applying it. I learnt that lesson, followed the script to the tee but delivered with conviction in that I signed up the next six, one of whom is still a client.

Most of my business comes from referrals so I don't do a lot of cold calling. However, I accept that some portion of time has to be devoted to this activity which can produce startling results if properly applied. The IIB applies a great deal of attention to teaching you these techniques.

To those who thought that the IIB was offering a free lunch or an easy money making solution, think again. It's all up to you! As an associate from the USA said at the 2006 IIB International Conference held in London, the IIB is for winners, not losers. The current grumblers would appear to be in the latter category.

Miles
Australia

I am not an employee but an Accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business.

The unhappy person who feels ripped off evidently has problems in his/her own performance. The Institute for Independent Business offers a uniquely qualified range of professionals with vast experience from most business sectors globally.

I have worked with the Institute since 2008 and have found my fellow associates around the world to be everything I expected in terms of professionalism, experience and knowledge. The fees involved are nominal compared to the enormous strengths the Institute provides.

The IIB offers a platform of highly experienced professionals, who strengthen the business of even the most knowledgeable and experienced business professional.

My own professional strengths are substantial and my experience and business contacts have developed over many years and cover many countries. I could without problems run a practice independent of the Institute, but the screening process of my fellow associates and their proven track record and experience provides an enormously added strength to my own capacity to deliver valuable and profit generating services to my clients.

The Institute is not a gurantee for success, even though it does offer an income guarantee for any accredited associate who would like to have it.

Every successful business requires hard work and a professional attitude. The IIB offers every accredited associate tremendous professional strengths, but this does not necessarily make every associate successful.

The IIB offers an opportunity to work in close relation with highly experienced business professionals in virtually every corner of the world. It is up to each individual associate to make use of these resources in the work for his/her clients and combine them with their own individual skills.

Every organization has its weaknesses and in this case the Institute has evidently failed in the evaluation of the individual who feels ripped off. He/she has evidently completely misunderstood the purpose and professional resources of the Institute.

Lars Akerman

Sweden

I joined the IIB in December 2007 and attended the Residential Business School at Watford.

At no point of the process leading up to me joining the IIB were unrealistic representations made to me by any of the IIB staff or lecturers. These meetings included a seminar explaining the IIB process, a 121 interview with a senior IIB member (in which he held nothing back about how IIB works for him) or the RBS itself. All the people I met made it very clear that membership of IIB would provide a platform to start my own business in providing help & mentoring to SME businesses. ALL said that the effort I put in would be paid back but that membership itself was not some 'magic bullet'. Like all good businesses my business has been built up on networking, contacts and providing a good cost effective service to my clients.

Membership of the IIB is not cheap but it does keep out those who want an easy ride for little or no effort. Frankly these sort of people are the ones complaining on this website and I beleive the IIB is stronger for keeping them out.

As my father used to say -- 'you reap what you sow' --and i KNOW that hard work and membership of the IIB, which has definitely opened doors for me, has been a good investment for me and I heartily reccomend it to anyone thinking of joining.

I have been an accredited associate with the IIB since last September and I am amazed at the lack of understanding of the "Watchdog" from Indiana.

I knew exactly how the accreditation with the IIB could help me to successfully start my business advisory practice. During the very first meeting, which was a 4 hour seminar type presentation, I knew all the costs regarding their program, the expectations the IIB had of me and what support I could expect from the IIB.

To date everything that was promised by the IIB to me has been delivered. I think some people hear what they want to hear in these situations as they are looking for a way to make an easy buck. Nothing about starting your own business (advisory practice) is easy. It takes hard focused work, long hours and consistent persistence to achieve any reasonable success.

The initial sales calls provided were very good training opportunities for me to practice what I was taught at the IIB's very intense and effective 6 day training program. In fact 2 of the initial 10 appointments are now my best clients. Yes I had initial calls that were no shows, etc., but that's going to happen in any business. You are naive to think otherwise. Using the IIB methodology along with my own hard prospecting work has also produced additional clients. I was never promised $150,000 in annual income. I know many IIB associates that make that and more and many make something less as well. I expect my monthly billings to reach about $7,500 in the next 6 months as I have already reached $3,800 in monthly billings to date. Imagine this type of success in this current economy? Average earnings under $10,000? "Watchdog" , who are you talking to? The IIB provides just the platform to jump off from, but I must provide the effort and the desire to soar to success. If one thinks it's easy, they are sadly mistaken and probably should not work for themselves as they are doomed to fail as they need to be accountable to someone. As a small business owner you're accountable to no one but that person in your mirror. As a very good business friend once told me "You can't run a successful business by rearranging your sock draw each day."

Our ability to produce income from our own businesses is based upon many factors having nothing to do with the IIB. The most important of which is one's understanding of how to run a successful small business or advisory practice, marketing, sales and many other topics. The IIB provides the foundation to do just that and I have found everyone at the IIB to be some of the most professional and high caliber business people I have met in my 35 years in the business world. In fact, the ongoing mentoring program and regional programs have helped me to remain current and fresh and most importantly inspired.
The IIB program is not for everyone to be sure. But rest assured the IIB is not an MLM scheme or a Franchise scheme or anything of the sort.
Anyone going into any business venture should get all the facts and talk to people who have been there and done it. Create a business plan and study your local market and be sure you are willing to put in the extreme effort required of any successful small business owner. Ah, there's the rub. Intelligent, focused effort.
Even then one's chance for long term success is maybe 1 in 3. The IIB can help improve those odds. I know it. I've lived it.

Walt
Florida, USA

Although watchdog in Evansville speaks of the rip off and the IIB being a MLM, the neglects to speak about the IIB Business model. Yes the training is expensive. However, it is training and if followed and developed a consultant can make a decent living and provide excellent help for businesses. The IIB does not own your practice--you do. There is no prescibed sale or program to be sold to other companies or have people working downstream from you as in the MLM market. Rather the IIB provides you with training and support as well as access to other associates who are there to help you with advice or to subcontract with you to help your business clients. In short they do all they promise they would do. as far as the actual income, I have made more than the so called $10,000 quoted by watchdog and more than doubled my first year sales revenues. As in any business, it requires hard work and continuous marketing and creativity. If the IIB had promised me that I would make 150,000 plus in one year, I would have balked at the thought. Becoming a sole practitioner in a difficult economic environment precludes the idea that you will be come financially independent in a short time. My expereince with the IIB has been positive and has placed me at least 2 years ahead of most people who start their business consulting practices.

Ethical Guy

As one who has gone through the IIB training and continue to find success with the program that was presented to me I add my insights and opinion.

I became an accredited associate of the IIB (Institute for Independent Business) some 5+ months ago and have found success with it. To be sure becoming a business advisor and starting one's own business as an advisory practice can be and is a daunting task. There are many pitfalls and situations that one must avoid to become successful in any self-employment venture. The IIB and its training program provided me a solid foundation from which to launch my practice and enough information to avoid the common problems encountered by many.

At the recruiting half day seminar I attended I found it to be professionally done and provided a reasonable platform to begin to investigate one's own desire to be self-employed as an executive advisor helping small business owners bring their businesses to the next level.

With the proper outlook, a strong work ethic and the knowledge {much of it provided by the IIB training} of how to implement consistent marketing efforts that can be successful, I know a professional with a solid business background can develop a rewarding practice. The IIB provides the structure one needs to become a person that business owners can rely on for advice, guidance and mentoring. In the current market, business owners need someone who has the experience to help them learn how to work on their business and avoid becoming part of the vast boneyard of failed enterprizes strewn about the landscape.

To be sure, this program is not for everyone. Just as owning your own business is not for everyone. Unfortunately, many start their own businesses not really understanding what sacrifices and abilities are required to be a successful self-employed business advisor. But if a business professional would like the opportunity to help small business owners and have the opportunity to make a very good living the IIB organization has a possible answer for some.

In my view, they are not charlatans. They are honest professionals that have developed a workable methodology for those who are not looking for shortcuts to success. No program of this sort is perfect, but the support and mentoring provided by the IIB was and is invaluable to me and many other IIB accredited associates that have thriving business advisory practices all over the world with some 5,000 strong.

All The Best To All,

As an IIB Accredited Associate for the last year and a half, I believe I have enough experience under my belt to file a rebuttal to the charge that this IIB business advisor model is not valid. After trying with little success to establish a management consulting business for three years following my voluntary departure from corporate employment, I did respond to one of the the IIB teaser ads on one of the many websites I was monitoring, and I signed up for one of the seminars. I did not feel I was subjected to any hard-sell techniques, but was apprised of the cost and benefits of becoming and Accredited Associate. I was not fooled into thinking that I was in any way special, but just another senior business executive who might find value in turning myself from a specialist consultant into a generalist "business advisor", by signing on with the IIB. The major benefit was the end of the loneliness of the independent consultant, by giving me access to other associates in our metro area who were experiencing many of the same business development difficulties and obtaining access to their broad experience in solving these problems, as well as contributing their expert solutions to individual business problems. By becoming an Accredited Associate, I could present myself as a "fixer" of all business problems, by having access to not only the 18 similar associates in my metro area, but the business brainpower of 4000+ associates throughout the world! That alone was worth the $20K investment I made, and it paid off in spades through the acquisition of more clients in 12 months than I had made in three years preceding! No, it's not a magic solution, but it is a well thought-out business model that helps one break down business owners' resistance to change, and gives one credibility, support, and a new way of solving business problems. It was right for me, and may be right for a lot of other people who are looking to break free of the corporate shackles. Just be ready to work hard, use the resources available, and begin to believe in yourself!

Making the step into independent consultancy is a significant decision and should not be taken lightly.

So when you come across an organization that says it can help you facilitate that change, help you build your practice and where there is a fee to pay, then any self respecting executive is going to listen, hear, ask questions, do their due diligence which may even include reading blogs like this.

That is exactly what I did before making the decision to be part of the Institute. A decision I am glad I made and one where the benefit has far outweighed the cost.

For me the Institute is a platform, system and method for getting clients I would not have normally obtained on my own and keeping them. The business model does work and just like anything else in life you need to be prepared to work at it and have the right attitude.

The IIB is not an MLM from any perspective (whether business or otherwise).

Alistair Cox
California