Growing Your Social Capital

1) The domain expert in my industry is Katie. She runs a social media management and marketing business in my area. I admit that I have met her before at other local events, but I have never talked to her about entrepreneurship or a business idea. She has her own co-working space, a healthy roster of clients, and a steady income. I contacted her through social media because she is always on it and I thought it was the easiest way. I sent her my idea napkin to look at and offer suggestions. She liked the idea but suggested that I market it differently than an incubator (which I had already been thinking about). She suggested a more holistic feel and does not think housing professionals for consultations is realistic. She said it would be easier to have good relationships with these professionals and either set appointments to bring them in on as-needed basis or send the entrepreneur to their office to meet. Her job is to grow businesses, which is what my goal is. Her clients are generally more established and have more money than my prototypical client, but this gives her the insight to what it takes to grow. She is very well-known and would send young entrepreneurs my way if I were to ever go through with the business.

2) The second person I talked to was Susan; I would consider her an expert on my target market. Susan used to write for our local newspaper, and I know she is active networking in our community, so I attended an event I knew she would be at. We have a young professional group in Ormond Beach that has weekly events (often at a local brewery - win-win!). I consider her an expert because she hosts working retreats for women who fall into the young entrepreneur group. Considering that she was able to quit her day job and travels often now, I can safely say that she has been successful in targeting that market. Her business is almost like mine, but not permanent. The entrepreneurs who attend her retreats may only do so once, or they may attend regularly. They co-work, share ideas and advice, and network over the course of a few days. Relationships are often formed during these retreats. Lacey is about female-owned business, so she didn't mind talking to me for a few minutes. She would probably like me to return the favor by attending a retreat (they are really, really expensive…) so I might have to find a different way to reciprocate. Susan knows a lot of people who work at home, so she would be a good referral source for my incubator.      

3) The second person I met is Carly Williams. Carly is a graphic designer and website developer, so she could be the person that is a supplier to my industry. I didn't send Carly my entire idea napkin, but instead told her this was a business concept for an entrepreneurship class and explained the basics. This is something she is familiar with as she has run her business from a co-working space before, though they didn't offer some of the services I plan to offer. I only spoke with Carly briefly, but I think the return expectation would be for me to use her service if I ever need them in the future. (which I will). She said she would love to be a contact for those services, but probably would not want to work in the incubator as she already has a dedicated workspace. She thinks offering the service of an already-developed relationship with a professional to a young entrepreneur is a unique idea.

I think in the best my networking has been from a business-to-customer standpoint, because my baking business, dog treat business, etc. are B2C models. I have focused on just trying to meet new people that want to buy my product, but is that really networking at all? In this assignment, I had to seek out other people already in business in my industry to get feedback. This was both nerve-wracking, but exciting to connect with people who have similar ideas. I'm not the biggest fan of the saying "It's who you know, not what you know" because I think that diminishes the importance of having experience and knowledge in an industry before you enter it. I don't know that I will ever follow-through with the incubator concept, but it was neat to talk to people that offer similar services to get a better understanding of the industry.