1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry.
The person I contacted for the expert in my industry was the CEO of United Way of Broward County, which is a nonprofit organization. She is filling the domain expert contact slot because she has been running a nonprofit for years and she knows the ins and outs of the organization. I know the person because I had an internship at United Way this past summer and she knows my grandparents and parents. I helped her with a lot of work over summer so I do not think she would require anything in exchange for helping me. She is a very well connected person in the community so having her in my network could open up many opportunities.
2) One person must be an expert on your market.
The person I contacted from this area of the market is my parents friend Jen who owns her own psychiatry practice in New York. She would fill the market area of expertise because she understands how to target customers in this area. My parents have been friends with Jen for years and I have met her many times so I got her contact from them. If she did me a favor I would make sure that I did something for her in return since she went out of her way for me. Since Jen has a lot of expertise in this area, having her in my network could be a very big opportunity in the future.
3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry.
Since my service involves psychiatry, our supplier may be someone who supplies medicine to psychiatrists to give to clients. My contact that would be a good supplier to this industry is my dads friend from college that works in pharmaceuticals and has been for over 20 years. I contacted this person through my dad. We have been family friends with his family since before I was born so I do not think I would need to do anything in exchange for a favor. He is very well connected in this industry so having him as a contact could be very beneficial.
For all of the people I contacted for my network, I asked if I could show them my idea napkin to establish potential goodwill.
This experience shapes how I will participate in future networking events because I now realize how important networking is to create a successful business. It's hard to start completely from scratch without having connections that can help you be successful. This experience differed from my networking experiences in the past because I have never taken them very seriously. More recently I am realizing how significant networking is not just for opening a business, but for many other jobs and avenues as well.
Hello Ava,
ReplyDeleteGreat job finding people to interview for this assignment. Seems like you have good connections all ready from family or friends and networking won't be that hard for you. I agree with you in that starting a business from scratch with no connections is nearly impossible to become successful and this is why having good conversation and networking skills is important.
Hi Ava!
ReplyDeleteI like that you contacted people who you found through your network, which greatly increased the chance of them responding to your request. I also have not taken networking opportunities seriously before this project and was also something I learned to change. Great post with lots of detail and depth and I have no critiques on this assignment.
Hi Ava,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you did a great job of identifying key roles in your industry and forming connections with them. In my opinion, the most useful connection is the owner of her own psychiatry practice because she has experience in this line of work. I believe that it would be very beneficial to get her feedback and advice throughout the implementation of your idea.
Hello Ava,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the most useful connection you established was the owner of her own psychiatry practice because she has experience in this line of work. Not everyone has the opportunity to make such a powerful connection like that so great job, use her for any help you need. I agree with you in that starting a business from scratch with no connections is nearly impossible, everyone needs a little hlep somewhere along the way. Great post!
Hi Ava,
ReplyDeleteYou did a really wonderful job of contacting and networking to people of positions that are informational. It is helpful to read about your contact to the owner of her own psychiatry practice because of the knowledge she has on the issue you are covering. Overall, your post was very informative of the market at hand along with other experts who have a lot of experience in entrepreneurship.