Are you still struggling to grow your business despite innovating and working with great work ethic? If yes, is a lack of enough clients the reason for you to hold back on your plans to expand? If the answer is yes, it may be a good time for you to step up your business networking game.
Why you need Networking?
Consistent inflow of clients
You need a consistent rate of increase in your clients to keep your business on the path of growth. Lack of a networking strategy will always keep you in the small box of your current clients, which you will struggle to move out of later on.
Meeting operational expenses
This is critical to small businesses. A sizeable business network will bring you more clients. More clients would mean more inflow of cash for you to be able to fund your business administration. It is only then that you can even think about expanding.
Learning
The more you interact with different entrepreneurs and other people in your industry, the better your understanding of your own business gets! You get to learn new ideas and approaches to do something which you had never thought of before. This brings a host of virtually intangible benefits, which will immensely benefit your business in the long run.
Efficiency
Yes. you can actually get more efficient with a good business network. With a network that includes friends from your industries, asking for favor becomes easy. Also, collaborations and value partnerships with other businesses help you get a lot of your stuff done quicker than you could have imagined!
Long-term relationships
Not only do you need to develop a giant body of customers, but you also need to retain all of the current ones. They are the reason why your business survives in the first place. Generating a network by meeting new people and prospective customers strengthen your relationship with them, which is the stepping stone towards developing long term business relationships.
How to nail your business networking?
Have an open attitude
Business really isn’t for the shy and introvert kind. Thanks to the digital age, many beginner entrepreneurs think that they can handle all their business marketing tasks through a computer. Unfortunately, that is far from reality. Artificial Intelligence keeps evolving, but your business must not underestimate the importance of a human touch which will always be irreplaceable. For instance, while some hotels with robotic bellhops are doing well today, others that offer an authentic touch to their guests can even do better! Hence, being open to the idea of socializing is the first step towards stepping up your networking game!
Prefer face to face conversations
Face to face conversations breed a positive attitude and also boost productivity! As discussed earlier, long term business relationships are critical to your business’s growth, and personal conversations with peers and even competitors help you gain information that you wouldn’t find easily otherwise and also expose you to an environment full of other potential clients. Hence, meeting people in person need not be considered a waste of time anymore.
Business events
To pursue your networking goals, you need to socialize. And how do you get to socialize? By grabbing every opportunity that lets you do that.
Business events are arguably a frequent affair for most businesses. And if the case differs for you, you need to change. Either organize events at your workplace and invite other entrepreneurs and their friends or let others organize events at your workplace to develop more relationships.
Also, remember the 7 C’s of effective communication, which will help you leave a good impression on them.
Work in shared spaces
We discussed business events where you meet different entrepreneurs one in a while. Now imagine working with them! Shared spaces give you the luxury of exponentially growing your business network by giving you the freedom to interact with business people from diverse backgrounds.
Happy Hustling!