10 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Should Take Relationship Building SeriouslyJason Jacobsohn
September 08, 2008
Each and every
day, I work with entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses by
providing advisory services and opening up my network. One of the
thrills of my diverse network is that I am able to connect
entrepreneurs to the right people. Without actively building
relationships, entrepreneurs will have a difficult time building and
growing a business.
It’s not always
necessary for entrepreneurs to build out an entire network of various
resources by themselves. Rather, they need to be aligned with power
connectors who have large and diverse networks. As you get to know
these people and build trust, they can become one of your biggest
assets.
Power connectors
have the ability to open up their networks to connect you to virtually
anyone who can be helpful for you as you grow your business. Of course,
you need to focus on building relationships in order to meet one of
these connectors. Below are 10 reasons why it’s critical for
entrepreneurs to take relationship building seriously.
- Access to Equity Capital: Most entrepreneurs at some point need capital, which can be challenging
to raise. In order to get in front of investors, you need to know them
or get a high-quality referral. While debt capital also requires
relationships, it’s not as stringent as equity capital.
- Access to Talent: For any growing business, the
right talent is crucial to the firm’s success. Entrepreneurs need to
have a good network to draw management, advisors and employees. As you
get to know people, you will have direct access to the right people or
receive quality referrals.
- Access to Partners: Finding the right partners is
an important step for entrepreneurs to take their vision to the next
level. Spending time building relationships is a great way to find
channel partners, business partners, service providers or other
like-minded individuals. While it’s challenging to do it alone, finding
the right alliance is critical to success.
- Access to Prospective Clients: Finding clients is
obviously the lifeblood of any business. To find clients, it’s crucial
that entrepreneurs spend adequate time attending networking events and
reaching out to their existing network. Selling isn’t a quick process.
You need to develop relationships over time.
- Access to Peers: Part of what makes the
entrepreneurial experience exciting is connecting with other
entrepreneurs and learning from each other by discussing challenges and
successes. Spend time meeting other entrepreneurs at events or through
referrals. As you build these relationships, you will have direct
access to other like-minded people with whom you can share ideas and
get feedback.
- Validation of Business Idea: No matter the stage of
your business, it’s still a good strategy to talk to others so the
market can validate your idea or future plans. It’s usually a good
tactic to talk to other people before you implement an idea. You need
to make sure your prospective customers will buy into what you’re
proposing.
- Exposure: When funds are tight, entrepreneurs needs
to be creative about receiving PR and exposure in the community.
Without talking to people in the community (media, entrepreneurs,
investors, etc.), you will have a difficult time receiving inexpensive
buzz. At the same time, you need this exposure to acquire customers.
- Demonstrate Expertise: Most people have expertise
in a particular subject, which can be a valuable personal asset. Don’t
be shy about letting people know your knowledge, which will help you to
become remembered and can lead to new opportunities. As you become
known as an expert, you will be presented with speaking opportunities,
which can also lead to sales.
- Starting a Business: Would-be entrepreneurs may not
have the resources to start a business until they get to know certain
people in the community. By connecting with the right people,
entrepreneurs can get the critical help they need to get started. Many
entrepreneurial support organizations exist that you may not know about
until you are proactive and meet people.
- Sanity: Entrepreneurs spend many hours working very
hard at building a business, which is necessary. However, it’s also
necessary to get out of the house or office and interact with people.
Without this human interaction, you may get a little crazy.
Final Thought
If you are an
entrepreneur, take the above points very seriously. By dealing with
entrepreneurs on a regular basis, I understand their resource
constraints. I step in to help alleviate some of the challenges and
help them move forward.
As much of my
networking activities take place in the entrepreneurial community, I
can be a good resource for small and growing businesses. In fact, on
May 8 I’m co-hosting the Great Chicago Networking Extravaganza, which is designed to help people become more effective networkers.
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