1) The first person I selected is a family member of mine who owns a small restaurant in St. Petersburg, making them an expert in my domain. I knew that they owned a business, and not previously using them in any other assignments, I decided to utilize this opportunity to get more insight from them, considering that they have accomplished what I am talking about doing.
Considering that this was a close family member, they willingly gave me information on the subject without any exchange of favors, which I was grateful for. By knowing this expert in my domain, I will be able to freely consult and gather more insight as time progresses if I were to ever start this business.
2) The second person that I selected is someone who my father is close friends with that sells and distributes products while being head of a warehouse. I discovered this individual just by asking around if any of my family members were aware of someone who sells products and is aware of who market segmentation works. I am offering to help this person out over the summer, doing an internship that will last three months, and in return maybe one day he would be useful in helping me get my business started. Also, having these contacts for insight and information is also an extremely useful tool in making connections with people/experts in your domain and market.
3) The final person I contacted was a little difficult to find, but after locating the second individual, he led me to a contact that delivers supplies to restaurants, business, etc. It was hard to find a certain time to talk to this person, considering that they travel a lot around the country, but I believe that having this person's information will be useful in the future. Maybe I will be able to exploit this person's services to get my concept started and get the necessary materials needed in order to do so.
Reflection
Considering that I have never "networked" in the past, this experience was very useful, even if I never talk to these people again. It was interesting finding the individuals that I contacted, going through so many people in order to find certain experts in different fields to just get someone's phone number for the future if I ever need their help. I do believe that it will one day be very helpful to have the skill of being sociable and being able to offer something to certain experience people to get something from them in return. The most difficult part about this, however, is having something valuable enough to offer people in order to get something valuable from them when you have no experience in their fields.
Hey Jared, I really enjoyed reading this blog post where you discuss your plan to grow your social capital. It sounds to me like you already have some extremely valuable contacts to help you get your business to the next level, and even more-so being that two out of the three people you met are actually friends or family members which I would imagine might make it even easier to get into contact with them in the future. Great job with your post!
ReplyDeleteHi Jared, networking can be something very foreign to a lot of people. I only knew it in the sense of branding yourself for the athletic world. I am glad that this assignment brought you out of your comfort zone and is gonna help you in life and not just for this class or assignment. Making connections is such a great thing, it is so easy in the tech advanced world we live in today
ReplyDeleteHey Jared, I see that your social capital is very well done. It is extremely helpful to understand the business like they do. If you take internships with them you might be able to get more trust and guidance.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!