1) The people I chose Are David, John and Carlos. David is the domain expert. He is a commercial real estate investor and has been in the field for 30 years. He owns several apartment complexes in different college towns. John is a bar owner in Gainesville. He is the market expert. He is very familiar with my target audience, college students, as they make up a vast majority of the clientele in his bar. Carlos is a supplier to my industry. He owns a company that supplies lighting fixtures to new construction apartment complexes across the state of Florida.
2) David fills the domain expert slot because he has a significant history in owning and managing major apartment complexes. John is the market expert slot because he owns a successful business that targets the exact same market, college students. Carlos is the industry supplier, because he supplies lighting fixtures to apartment complexes that are being built or renovated.
3) David is a friend of my dad who I have met many times. I asked my dad for his phone number and reached out. He was very friendly. John owns a bar that I previously worked at, so I had a close relationship with him and was able to easily reach out and speak with him. Carlos is a friend of David’s, so David reached out on my behalf and put me in contact with him. I got his phone number and we spoke for a while.
4) All three of them did me the favor of talking on the phone and allowing me to ask them questions and for advice. David did not expect anything from me in return because he is a close friend of my father and they do things for each other all the time. I have done many favors for John as his employee, and after this favor I am sure if he ever needs something from me, he will reach out. I made sure he knew to as well. Carlos expects me to use his business if I am ever in need of his services. By helping me out, he knew that he was potentially gaining another client in the future.
5) Including these people in my network will allow me to have connections and mentors that I respect and that can help me make important decisions to progress my business and start something that will truly succeed.
Reflection: This networking event made me realize how easy it is to do. I have always been discouraged from attempting to network with adults and professionals because I am young. However, what I realized is these people do respect me and recognize that young people are the future and if they help me now it is a small, easy investment that could help them in the future if I succeed. This differed from the past when I was significantly more timid with networking. I certainly will not be anymore.
Hi Ben. I enjoyed reading your reflection that showed you are now more comfortable with networking. You are correct in saying that it is so easy to do and I feel like until you have experienced it you don't realize just how important it is. Networking with the right person(s) can be so beneficial so definitely keep up the good work. You are headed in the right direction with the right mentors.
ReplyDeleteHi Ben,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, networking, especially with those with more experience than you, can be very intimidating at first. However, I came to learn that it's not so bad after all, and people at networking events actually want to meet you! It is also interesting to really see who is really in your network. As I considered my network while completing this assignment, I realized I knew way more people than I thought I did. Great post!
Hi Ben,
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job on your post! I really liked how you actually reached out to people and got the time to talk to them about your business idea. I definitely agree that including these people in your business idea will give you a wide variety of connections that will further help your business idea. Great job Ben!