By Jean Kruse / Guest Editorial
Experts agree that networking is a must for every small business owner. Few other tools are more effective in building visibility about you and your business and gaining access to potential customers, colleagues and referrals.
There is a whole world of people ready to provide advice, sympathy, information, brainstorming help and sales leads. Some become customers; others become colleagues, mentors and lifelong friends. All you have to do is meet them. It’s called networking, cultivating ongoing, informal relationships with an eye toward sharing information that can ultimately benefit you and your business. But while we may be absolutely brilliant at what we do as entrepreneurs, not everyone is a born networker. Social situations can be intimidating, especially when you are just starting out and the knowledge that many other people may be equally uncomfortable in these settings is rarely much comfort.
A good start is to prepare the 30-second “elevator speech,” a concise description about who you are and what you do that can be delivered completely in the time it takes to travel between floors. When preparing your elevator speech, focus on how you help customers solve problems or improve their lives and businesses. Also consider different elevator speeches for different audiences, e.g., potential customers, other entrepreneurs, family and friends and people who may know nothing about your industry.
Although Facebook, LinkedIn and other online social networks have made networking tremendously convenient, do not forsake the “traditional” methods of building relationships. You get different benefits from social networks, in-person networking, phone calls and face-to-face interactions.
Business and professional associations are great places for building your network. In addition, there are groups specifically for women entrepreneurs and professionals. There are groups that meet monthly that allow only one person from each type of business, one accountant, one attorney, etc. There are many groups that are sponsored by a business or an organization that charges a monthly fee. Groups range from simple meet-and-greets to themed programs and discussions on relevant issues.
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) sponsors two free networking groups called roundtables. One meets at 7:30 a.m. and the other meets at 5:30 p.m., both on the fourth Thursday of each month. There are always a couple of SCORE mentors at each roundtable to keep the conversation moving. Make sure you always have plenty of business cards to share at each event. Visit www.scorecr.org to find the location of each event.
Listening skills are the most important attribute of a successful networker. So don’t worry if you are not good at talking. Network with the intention of helping other people, not yourself. Listen, ask questions and chime in when you feel the time is right. The conversation may never touch specifically on your business, but the next one with these same people might. It will also show that you are not there solely to sell your business, which is a real turn off. Concentrate on remembering the names of each person, possibly writing an identifying clue inconspicuously on the business card of the person with whom you are chatting and repeat their name out loud during the conversation.
It is far more important to understand the needs of the other person before you tell them about your needs. Your goals should not be on the forefront of your mind. You are trying to develop a relationship with someone, which means you should be thinking about them. It is your job to understand the people in your network, where they are coming from and what’s important to them.
Don’t expect anything. The fact that you reached out and made contact with someone does not put them in your debt. No one is required to “pay you back.” Instead of approaching networking with the goal of gaining favors, try reaching out with curiosity. Contact interesting and relevant people and see what happens. Some of them will respond and some of them won’t. Learn about the people who follow up. Find out what makes them interesting and how you can help them and don’t expect anything in return.
East Central Iowa SCORE’s volunteers provide free, confidential business mentoring and training workshops to small business owners in seven counties: Linn, Jones, Benton, Cedar, Johnson, Iowa, Henry, Keokuk and Washington.
Jean Kruse is a SCORE counselor, past chair of SCORE CR and a certified public accountant. She operated her own CPA firm for 13 years and in 1988, joined RSM McGladrey, a national firm, where she provided accounting and tax services to small businesses.
