Why I Started Next Chapter Society: I Was Fed Up With Being Shafted

Small-business owners are often expected to do everything.

You're the boss.

You're the salesperson.

You're the receptionist.

You're the accountant.

You're the marketing department.

You're the social media manager.

You're the cleaner.

You're the person answering messages at 10pm.

And you're also the person taking the financial risk.

So when someone comes along and says:

"This will get you more clients."

"You need to be in this network."

"You need this marketing package."

"You need this membership."

"You need more exposure."

Of course you listen.

Because you're trying to make your business work.

You want customers.

You want growth.

You want your business to succeed.

And you trust that the person selling you the opportunity knows what they're talking about.

But what happens when you keep paying...

and paying...

and paying...

and the promised results don't materialise?

At some point, you have to start asking questions.

Where is the value?

This is where I became uncomfortable.

Because after experiencing it several times, I started recognising the language.

The urgency.

The pressure.

The promises.

The "you'll miss out if you don't join."

The "everyone else is doing it."

The "you need to invest in yourself."

The "this is your opportunity."

And sometimes, of course, these things are completely genuine.

But sometimes they're simply very clever sales techniques.

And when you're a small business owner who is already under pressure, it's incredibly easy to keep saying yes.

Because you don't want to miss an opportunity.

You don't want to be the business that isn't visible.

You don't want to fall behind.

You want to believe the next investment will be the one that finally makes a difference.

I've been there.

More than once.

And eventually I thought:

There has to be another way.

I don't believe small businesses should have to constantly drain their income just to be visible.

I don't believe networking should mean standing in a room giving a sales pitch and collecting business cards.

I don't believe community should be built around how much people can spend.

And I definitely don't believe that someone should have to keep paying just to feel like they're part of something.

So I started thinking about what I'd want if I were starting from scratch.

What would actually be useful?

What would feel fair?

What would feel human?

What would help the business?

What would benefit the customer?

And what would make people actually want to come back?

That's where the idea for NCS began.

This might sound slightly strange in a world obsessed with algorithms, funnels, followers and digital marketing.

But I wanted to create something much more old school.

Something based on people knowing people.

Recommendations.

Trust.

Relationships.

Word of mouth.

Community.

Local businesses supporting each other.

Customers actually experiencing businesses.

And people saying:

"You should try this place."

"I've been to this therapist — they're brilliant."

"Come with me to this event."

"I've discovered this little business you might love."

That's how businesses used to grow.

And actually...

it still works.

People trust people.

This is the part I'm really passionate about.

I don't want NCS to be another platform where one side pays and everyone else benefits.

I want to create a healthy ecosystem where everyone has a reason to be there.

Members

Members get experiences, opportunities, new places to discover, activities, events and — hopefully — friendships.

Hosts

Hosts get the opportunity to create experiences around what they're passionate about and connect with an audience that actually wants to participate.

Businesses

Businesses get the opportunity to introduce people to what they do through genuine experiences, relationships and recommendations.

And those three things should feed each other.

Members discover businesses.

Businesses create experiences.

Hosts bring people together.

Members share their experiences.

Businesses gain genuine customers.

Hosts build their own community.

And it keeps going.

That's the ecosystem I want to build.

Not extraction.

Connection.

Not "What can I get from you?"

"What can we create together?"

I'm not trying to take over the country.

Not yet anyway!

I want to start this properly.

At home.

I'm starting NCS in my home town and the surrounding areas — South Manchester and Cheshire.

These are places I know.

Places I understand.

Places where there are brilliant independent businesses, amazing service providers, talented hosts and loads of people looking for something different to do.

I want NCS to become something that feels genuinely local.

Not some faceless online community with thousands of people who have never met.

I want people to know each other.

I want businesses to know their customers.

I want members to become familiar faces.

I want hosts to have the freedom to create great experiences.

And I want local businesses to have a community around them.

The business side was one part of it.

But there was another gap I couldn't ignore.

Social wellness.

Through my work with clients, particularly people over 40, I started seeing how easy it is for people's social worlds to become smaller.

Life changes.

Children grow up.

Work changes.

Relationships change.

People move.

Friendships evolve.

And sometimes you wake up and realise:

"When was the last time I actually did something just for fun?"

Not work.

Not family.

Not an obligation.

Just something because you wanted to.

I saw that in other people.

And I recognised some of it in myself.

We talk constantly about physical health.

Exercise.

Nutrition.

Sleep.

Stress.

But what about connection?

What about friendship?

What about having plans?

What about laughter?

What about meeting new people?

What about having something in the diary that you're genuinely excited about?

That matters too.

NCS became my project for social wellness.

I wanted to create a space where people over 40 could discover new experiences and meet people without it feeling like a forced social club.

You don't have to walk into a room and announce:

"Hi, I'm here because I need more friends."

You can simply go to dinner.

Go for a walk.

Try a class.

Attend a wellness event.

Visit a new venue.

Learn something.

Have a drink.

Listen to someone interesting.

And while you're doing that...

you might meet somebody.

That's much more natural to me.

Friendship doesn't always start with:

"Would you like to be my friend?"

Sometimes it starts with:

"Fancy coming along?"

This is important.

I don't want NCS to become another place where members feel like they're constantly being sold to.

And I don't want businesses to feel like they have to keep paying for exposure.

I want the relationship to be organic.

A member discovers a business.

They enjoy the experience.

They tell someone else.

They go back.

They become a customer.

The business creates another experience.

Another member discovers them.

And slowly...

the community grows.

That's the old-school ecosystem I'm talking about.

It's basically:

Do a good job.

Treat people well.

Build trust.

Recommend each other.

Look after your community.

Let relationships grow.

It's not complicated.

We've just managed to make business incredibly complicated.

I want to be fair here.

There are some fantastic networking organisations, marketing agencies and business communities.

I've met some brilliant people through them.

This isn't an attack on everyone doing that work.

It's about my experience.

And what I realised from that experience.

I realised that there are people and businesses who are tired of being constantly told to spend more.

And I realised I could potentially create something different.

Something that puts value before extraction.

Something where people don't feel like they're constantly being squeezed for another payment.

Something where businesses aren't simply a revenue stream.

And something where members aren't simply numbers.

I'm not interested in pretending we're something we're not.

I'm starting locally.

I'm building relationships.

I'm finding the right businesses.

I'm finding hosts who genuinely want to create great experiences.

And I'm bringing together people who want more from this stage of their lives.

I want NCS to grow because people talk about it.

Because they have a great experience.

Because they meet someone.

Because they discover a brilliant local business.

Because they come home from an event and say:

"You should come next time."

That's the kind of growth I want.

Real growth.

I'm not pretending I have every answer.

I'm building this from experience.

From things I've got wrong.

From things I've paid for.

From businesses I've met.

From conversations with clients.

From watching what works.

And from watching what doesn't.

That's probably why NCS feels so personal to me.

It's not some concept I've pulled out of a business textbook.

It's something I've lived.

I've been the customer.

I've been the small-business owner.

I've been the person wondering whether something was actually worth the money.

I've been the person looking for connection.

And I've been the person thinking:

Surely we can do this better.

So I decided to try.

I'm starting in my home town and the surrounding areas of South Manchester and Cheshire.

And I'm deliberately starting small.

Because I'd rather have 100 people who genuinely love being part of NCS than 10,000 people who barely know what it is.

I'd rather have businesses who genuinely benefit than hundreds of logos on a website.

I'd rather have hosts who are excited about what they're creating than people who are simply there for exposure.

And I'd rather build something slowly and properly than grow something quickly that loses its purpose.

The community comes first.

You don't have to be the biggest.

You don't have to have the biggest following.

You don't have to spend thousands on marketing.

You don't have to shout the loudest.

And you shouldn't have to constantly feel like you're being squeezed for another investment just to keep your business alive.

You need customers who value what you do.

You need relationships.

You need people who recommend you.

You need a community.

And that's what I'm trying to build.

A place where good businesses can be discovered.

I want you to feel that NCS is for you too.

Not as a customer to be marketed at.

Not as a number.

Not as somebody's sales target.

But as part of the community.

I want you to discover somewhere you've never been.

Try something you've never tried.

Meet someone new.

Find a new favourite business.

Have an evening that makes you laugh.

And maybe, along the way, make a few new friends.

Because your social life is part of your wellbeing too.

So that's the real story.

I started NCS because I'd been on the receiving end of the very things I now want to challenge.

I'd been a small business owner who trusted people, invested money and later realised that I wasn't always getting the value I'd been promised.

I started recognising the patterns.

The pressure.

The manipulation.

The constant expectation to spend more.

And I realised there were a lot of other business owners and service providers feeling exactly the same.

At the same time, I was seeing a gap in social wellness.

Especially for people over 40.

And I realised those two things could actually come together.

People need people.

Businesses need people.

Hosts need people.

So why not create an ecosystem where everyone can benefit?

That's what I'm building.

Starting right here, in my home town and across South Manchester and Cheshire.

Something local.

Something human.

Something that brings people together.

Something that supports independent businesses.

Something that creates experiences.

Something that doesn't rely on squeezing everyone for more money.

And something that, hopefully, becomes a community people genuinely don't want to leave.

Fed up with being shafted?

Then you might understand exactly why I started NCS.

If you're a small business owner, host or service provider who's tired of paying for promises and wants to explore a more genuine way of connecting with people, I'd love to hear from you.

And if you're over 40 and you're looking for more experiences, connection, community and things to look forward to, I'd love you to come and see what we're creating.

Discover Next Chapter Society

Come along.

Have a look.

Meet us.

Try an event.

See what you think.

Because I'm not interested in convincing you that NCS is amazing.

I'd rather you experience it and decide for yourself.

I'm building NCS because I believe we can do business differently.

I believe we can do community differently.

And I believe that getting older shouldn't mean our worlds get smaller.

It should mean we get to choose what comes next.

And this...

is my next chapter.

Next Chapter Society was created by Gem in response to two things she experienced personally: the need for greater social connection and wellness for people over 40, and the frustration of seeing independent businesses repeatedly spending their hard-earned income on marketing and networking without seeing meaningful value in return.

NCS is being built in South Manchester and Cheshire as an organic ecosystem connecting members, hosts and independent businesses through real-life experiences, relationships and community.