Open categories: the ten businesses BNI Preston Center is looking for right now

Why an open seat matters more here than in most groups

In most networking groups, an open spot means nothing in particular; anyone can join and three people in your trade may already be there. In a BNI chapter it means something specific. There is one member per professional category, so when a category is empty, every referral in the room for that kind of business has nowhere to go. Members hear the need, know nobody at the table does that work, and either send it outside the chapter or let it drop. An open seat is a stream of referrals waiting for a person.

I am Mantas Auk, the social media coordinator for BNI Preston Center and the owner of a Dallas SEO agency. Our chapter has about 70 members and meets every Thursday at 11:30 AM for lunch at Park City Club, 5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1700, in Preston Center. As of October 2026 we have ten categories we particularly want to fill. This article lists them, explains who in the room would refer each one and why, and tells you what to do if one of them is your business. If none is, the last section explains how to find out whether your own category is open.

What the room looks like from an open seat

Before the list, the context. The chapter's categories span most of the home-service trades, including roofing, HVAC, plumbing, remodeling, painting, landscaping, fences, foundation and restoration; residential and commercial real estate with mortgage, title and property management; insurance, banking and commercial lending; a CPA, bookkeeping, audit and a fractional CFO; attorneys in five practice areas plus a mediator; IT, software, telecom and security systems; marketing, SEO, design, print, signs and video; and personal services from aesthetic medicine and chiropractic to jewelry, florist and travel. Each of those members stands in front of Dallas homeowners and business owners every week.

The chapter reported $3,982,650 in closed business passed between members in the twelve months to October 2026, and year to date members have given 2,372 referrals and held 3,998 one-to-one meetings. BNI reports that members grow their business about 20 percent in the first year, which is the organization's average. A new member in an open category inherits a room that has been practicing this for years and has nobody to send that category's work to.

Pool builder, architect and photographer

Pool builder. The Park Cities and Preston Hollow homes our realtors, landscapers, fence and remodeling members work in have yards, and the question of a pool comes up constantly during renovations and sales. The landscaper hears it first, the remodeler second, the realtor third. Right now all three pass it outside the chapter.

Architecture. Our remodeler, interior designer, foundation contractor, commercial real estate agent and commercial lender all meet owners at the moment a project is being imagined, before anyone has drawn a line. An architect in the room would receive those conversations at the earliest possible stage and would in turn have a full team of trades to refer to.

Photographer. Seventy businesses need headshots, product images, before-and-after shots of finished jobs, event coverage and real estate photography. The realtors alone represent a steady stream of listings. A photographer would be referred by nearly every seat in the room, and would be hired directly by many of them.

Acupuncture, veterinarian and physical therapist

Acupuncture. Our chiropractor, massage therapist and aesthetic medicine members see clients who are managing pain, stress and recovery, and who often ask about complementary care. The personal injury attorney meets people with injuries. An acupuncturist in the room would get referrals from the whole health cluster and would have a ready set of partners to refer back to.

Veterinarian. Nearly every homeowner our members serve has a pet, and the realtors, movers and property manager meet families arriving in Dallas who need a vet before they need anything else. There is no competing seat; the referral currently goes nowhere.

Physical therapist. The chiropractor, the massage therapist and the personal injury attorney all meet people who need rehabilitation, and the health and life insurance members meet them before an injury. A physical therapist completes a health cluster the chapter already has and would be among its most-referred seats.

Mobile notary, office supplies, event planner and drone mapping

Mobile notary. Title, mortgage, estate planning, business law, real estate, business brokerage and banking: seven or more seats in the chapter generate documents that need notarizing, often at a client's home or office and on short notice. A mobile notary would be referred every week and would be hired directly by members for their own closings and signings.

Office supplies. Seventy small businesses buy paper, toner, furniture and breakroom supplies, and the IT, telecom, print and promotional products members are in offices constantly. This seat is less about dramatic referrals and more about steady, repeat business from a room that would rather buy from a member.

Event planner. Members host client appreciation events, open houses, seminars and holiday parties, and the two non-profits in the chapter run fundraisers. The florist, the video producer, the promotional products member and the print and signs members all touch events and would refer a planner they trusted.

Drone mapping. Our roofer, foundation contractor, commercial real estate agent, landscaper, remodeler and environmental inspector all need aerial imagery for inspections, estimates, marketing and site planning. A licensed drone operator would be referred by the construction and property side of the room on a regular basis.

What a new member in an open seat should expect

An open seat is an opportunity, not a shortcut. The members who fill one well do the same things every successful member does: attend every Thursday, book one-to-one meetings with the seats that touch theirs in the first 90 days, describe a specific ideal referral in their 30 seconds each week, call every referral the same day, and give before they receive. The room will refer a new member faster when the category has been empty, because members have been sitting on needs, but it will stop just as fast if the follow-up is weak.

Expect the first months to be about learning the room. Expect to be asked what a good referral looks like for you and to give a clear answer. Expect an annual membership fee plus chapter meeting dues; the figures change and are explained at a visit. And expect your category to be exclusive once you hold it, which means your competitors cannot join this chapter while you are a member in good standing.

• Attend every Thursday from 11:30 to about 1:00, with open networking from 11:00.
• Book one-to-ones first with the seats that meet your customer before you do.
• Teach the room one early signal of your ideal referral each week.
• Call referrals the same day and report back the same week.
• Pass referrals to other members from your own customer conversations.

What if your category is not on the list

The ten above are the seats we are actively seeking, but they are not the only open ones. With roughly 70 categories filled out of the hundreds of businesses in Dallas–Fort Worth, there are many more that simply have never had a member: trades, specialties and professional niches we have not listed because nobody has asked. The way to find out is to register through the Visit page and name your category; we will tell you before Thursday whether it is open, filled, or close enough to an existing seat that the membership committee would need to look at it.

If your category is filled, you cannot join this chapter, and I will say so plainly. BNI has other chapters across Dallas–Fort Worth with different open seats, and I would rather point you to one of them than waste your lunch hour.

Who should not take one of these seats

Being on the list does not make the chapter right for you. If you cannot hold a Thursday lunch slot every week for a year, the seat will not work and you will leave frustrated. If your customers are national or online-only rather than Dallas-area homeowners and businesses, the room cannot reach them. If you want to receive referrals without learning 69 other businesses well enough to pass them, you will be noticed quickly and referred rarely. An open seat is valuable because the members in the room are already giving; it stays valuable only if the new member gives too.

One more honest note. Some of these ten categories, office supplies among them, will produce steady small orders rather than large single jobs. If your business needs a few big contracts a year to make the hours worthwhile, weigh that before you apply. If it runs on repeat customers who stay for years, a room of 70 businesses that would rather buy from a member is close to ideal.

How to visit and claim a seat

Register through the Visit page, naming your category, and plan to arrive at Park City Club around 11:00 AM on a Thursday for open networking. You will be met by a host, seated with members who touch your category, and asked to introduce yourself to the room in about 30 seconds: your name, your business and the kind of customer you want to be introduced to. You will watch the full agenda, including the referral and thank-you segment, and stay for a short visitor orientation at the end, where membership, fees and the application are explained.

If you are in one of the ten categories above, tell your host when you register and we will make sure the members who would refer you most are at your table. The application is completed online after your visit and reviewed by the membership committee. The seat is open now; it will not be once someone in your trade fills it.

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