Networking

Networking is the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and expertise and to develop professional or social contacts.

• A very popular quote about networking is ‘your network is your net worth’, meaning that you are only as valuable as your network!
• In business, the importance of networking is paramount as you would have to work with a lot of people to generate value for both yourself and the people you work with.
• Having a good network has been identified as one of the most effective ways of landing a job and also to start a new business.
• In a lot of scenarios for start-ups or entrepreneurs, funding also comes from immediate networks.

How do we define a powerful network:

1. People who are where you want to be: An example of this could be people who work in a company you want to work at or someone who works in a role you would eventually want.
   1. As an entrepreneur, your network could consist of founders of startups, businesses, or management in big organizations from the same industry.
2. People at the top of their fields: If, for example, you are in the marketing industry, you will benefit from building relationships or having a network of people at the top of the marketing industry.
   1. As an entrepreneur, you should see what industry your business is in and build relationships based on that.
3. People who care about you and your growth: Ideally, your network should consist of people who also care about you personally and not just people whose relationship with you is strictly transactional.
   1. Transactional relationships are defined by one where individuals are self-serving, meaning both individuals get as much as they can from the relationship as much as they put into it.
   2. Your network should ideally have people who care about your personal growth more and less about having a transactional relationship.

In addition, your network should have people who think of you when certain situations arise. For example, if there is a problem someone is facing in accounting and you are someone who understands accounting really well– you are the first person they call to solve the solution.

In short, powerful networks are high quality relationships with high quality people.

How do you build a strong network:

• Search deep inwards first: ask yourself the following questions:
  • Who/what do you aspire to be like?
  • What values/energy do you want your network to have?
  • What are your strengths, where can you add value?
• Create a list of connections: list out 20 to 30 relationships you want to work on, it does not matter how strong or weak these relationships currently are. This list should be aligned with where you want to be eventually and what you want to do.
• Schedule time for building and connection: block out time in your calendar to work on these relationships. You could do this by speaking to them and seeing how you could add value to their lives. Find events where the people you aspire to be go to, attend webinars etc.
• Schedule important meetings: relationships require work and effort and so it is important to have regular meetings. Make sure you have booked these meetings in advance and do your best to not miss them.
• Share resources and help where possible: share resources/tools/events you think a connection might find interesting or useful. You can also host informal meetings like a dinner, meetup, games or discussions where people can come and network with each other as well.
• Don’t be afraid of rejection: there is an inherent fear in people of being wrong and as such they do not talk to people about out of box ideas or new things. One of the main ways of identifying who can be part of your network is who actually takes time to give you feedback on your ideas.