Voluntary sector people need to step out of their comfort zone and learn the language of business if they are to unlock new income streams, warns Robert Ashton.

My friend John’s wife Lorna has just bought a franchise and is setting up what must be Norwich’s 20th breakfast networking group. This one, ‘Business for Breakfast’ was set up by a very affable guy called John Fisher. I met him earlier this week when Lorna invited me to speak on networking at a ‘masterclass’ for her new and potential members.

I could hardly refuse, particularly as the headline speaker was another friend, Rob Brown, a self-appointed networking guru from Nottingham. Rob’s becoming a big name on the small-business speaking circuit and I was keen to see him in action again. Like fine wine, business speakers usually improve over time and I’d not seen Rob speak for a few years.

The audience contained many of the usual suspects; people who turn up to any networking event in the hope of success by osmosis. They are often lovely people, but I wonder how much real work they actually do, as they’re always out networking. Then there were some accountants, a banker or two and a lady selling invoice discounting.

But there was also the deputy CEO of the local Mind. Sandra and Peter, her CEO, lead what is perhaps one of the most innovative small mental health charities. They’ve a reputation for selling services to businesses. They reduce workplace stress and this reduces staff sickness and therefore improves business output. They charge fees for this work and that reduces their reliance on grant funding.

We all took turns to say our piece. Rob was practised, animated and very professional. He delivered networking tip after networking tip, each carefully crafted and in easy-to-remember format. This is how small-business owners learn; storytelling with bits to write down and do yourself later.

I took a different tack, explaining how my mother-in-law arranged my marriage and that this was a form of business networking. My in-laws farmed and my father was their bank manager. It was a good way to both secure a future for a daughter and keep overdraft charges low. Networking, I explained, is simply taking control of the way the people you meet can benefit themselves and you.

Then Sandra from Mind had the opportunity to pitch her organisation. This was her big moment. She’d heard all the tips and knew what was needed. But third-sector culture got in the way. She described her services but could have gone far further to quantify the benefits. There are after all some horrifying statistics about the cost of poor workplace mental health.

You see right now, business and the third sector speak different languages. They express things from different perspectives, and so often the opportunity is missed as people struggle to understand. That’s not a criticism of those on either side of the fence. It’s acknowledgement that if you work in a grant-funded environment, your customer’s expectations will be different than if say you sell to businesses or consumers.

More and more people like Sandra are venturing out from the comfort of the world they know to network with business people in search of income. Most, like Sandra have a compelling proposition. They can add value to almost any enterprise and often reduce cost and risk too. Social impact is becoming a point of market difference across the business landscape. Spending money with a social enterprise like Norwich Mind demonstrates that you care, not only for your own people but those supported with the profits your investment generates.

But networking is not enough. If charities are to make sense in the business world they need help with their language, their approach and their selling skills. Otherwise the value they represent will get lost in translation.