the Cost of Chamber of Commerce Membership

I own my own business so I thought it would be wise to join the local Chamber of Commerce. I had these grand visions of getting a lot of work through them after all that's what they are set up to do. It is called the Chamber of Commerce because it's made for people who do commerce i.e. small business owners.

I was very disappointed with my membership in the Chamber of Commerce. I invested money and attended their meetings. I didn't gain any new work. As a matter of fact they asked me to maintain their website for free. They still seemed more interested in the name of the commerce as opposed to the business that made up the commerce. I felt like I should have had a little more representation than what I received. It felt like they were all getting together for a social gathering and no one was benefiting from it except those in charge and higher up.

Don't get involved with the Chamber of Commerce in your area unless you know they have a history of actually helping out the small business owner. Weigh carefully the cost of membership and cost of your time versus what you think you may get out of the commerce.