Nearly every Thursday when the Imperial Diner opens at 8 a.m. on the busy Merrick Road in Freeport, the restaurant welcomes a chatty and diverse group that’s eager to do business. The group, called Top Notch Teams, is comprised of small business owners who meet weekly to network and potentially grow their clientele.
Top Notch Teams, or TNT, was founded by Regina and Jeff Finkelstein, who individually own a marketing and chiropracting business respectively. Regina explained that when other networking groups were not meeting their business needs, the Finkelsteins decided to create their own solution in the form of TNT.
“My husband and I had both been in various other global (networking) groups, and we kind of got a little disgruntled,” Regina said. “The fees were very high, sometimes leadership wasn’t very effective. So, we kind of said, ‘You know what, let’s form a group that we want to belong to.’ So that’s what we did.”
TNT takes on a more localized approach than some of the global networking groups the Finkelsteins previously dealt with by having primarily Long Island-based members and businesses. With TNT reaching its tenth anniversary this year, the group currently sits at about 25 members, with business owners who serve communities in Long Island, New York City or both.
A typical TNT meeting starts after about 15 minutes of attendees placing their breakfast orders, followed by each person being allowed one timed minute for a brief promotion of their business and share the kind of leads they are looking for with potential clients.
After the minute-long presentations, breakfast is ready, and members are given time to network and socialize with one another and given a chance to compete in a 50/50 raffle.
The keynote of the hour-long breakfast meeting is given by a selected member of the group, who can give an extended spotlight of their business for 10 to 15 minutes. The rest of the meeting is then dedicated to members reporting the one-on-one networking they did with other members or referrals they were able to make for another member’s business during the past week, which further promotes the mutualism TNT strives for.
In addition to the weekly Thursday meetings, Regina stated that the group has special dinner meetings twice a year. The dinner meetings provide further time for networking and socializing in a typically more relaxed environment than a weekday morning.
While Regina mentioned that continuing to grow the group’s membership is a key ambition, it is important to her and the members to avoid inviting businesses that compete in the same industries as pre-existing members. The non-competitive environment has been valued highly by many TNT members.
“They complement each other rather than competing,” said Carrole Colas of TNT’s member businesses. Colas has a certified accounting business and has been with TNT for three years.
“There’s a lot of professionals here, so you’re always learning a lot of different things that are good for you,” Veronica Abril said, a Rockville Centre acupuncturist and member of TNT for two years.
Steve Evans, the owner of a computer consultant company, stated that he’s learned important business and social skills as a part of TNT for six years.
“They teach you a little bit of public speaking, and then how to meet people, introduce yourself, and then you find you’re having a home network of support you can actually rely upon.”
