Growing Your Social Capital

1) The first person I networked with was a domain expert within my industry. This individual, Dae, is someone who has a lot of experience with protective headgear and equipment. He is my friend's father and used to run a helmet shop in downtown Jacksonville for over 20 years. While his headgear equipment was more tailored to sporting activities, like skateboarding, he still understands the core necessity for safety products. In my conversation with Dae, he provided a lot of knowledge regarding how his helmets were constructed and why they were sculpted in their particular manner. He explained the different parts of the head that are more sensitive to damage than other parts, as well as the different supplies that went into creating his different helmets. This information was super valuable because he could be a potential partner who would provide lots of experience and knowledge regarding protective headgear equipment. 

2) The second person I networked with was an expert on the market. The individual I interviewed, Tom, is a direct seller who specializes in selling mechanical tools to roofers and general construction workers. While he does not sell protective headgear equipment in particular, he does offer many of the other supplies (i.e. gloves, digging bar, drills) necessary to perform manual labor jobs. He was once a general construction worker himself and had a brief stint within the roofing industry as well. After noticing the constant necessity of hardware supplies, he decided to capitalize on the opportunity to begin his own business. My family is currently undergoing renovations on our house, so I was able to contact this person by asking the current contractors who supplies their tools and inventory. Upon speaking to the workers, I was able to get in touch with Tom. After conversing with Tom, I felt as if I established a reliable connect who has extensive knowledge on the roofing and construction market. I explained my business concept to him and we agreed to stay in touch---in the event that I pursue this idea, he would be a potential partner to work with in designing protective headgear equipment for roofers. Thus, including Tom will enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because he provides years of experience and a breadth of knowledge.

3) Lastly, the third person I networked with an important supplier to the industry. The individual I interviewed, Cathy, is a corporate employee for Home Depot. While she is not directly involved in the manufacturing process of hardware supplies, she does have a solid understanding of business transactions are done with construction firms within the industry. Cathy is actually my mom's friend, so I was able to get in touch with her by way of my mom's social network. When I conversed with her on the phone, she explained a lot more of the logistical side of a business, particularly within the industry that I am targeting. While Home Depot may be a supplier to other firms, she also explained that large corporations would not use Home Depot as an intermediary in order to obtain their supplies. Rather, they would have a more direct supplier from whom supplies would be received. This is to minimize the cost structure of their business model. In return for all this information, Cathy simply expects me to keep her updated on this potential project of mine. Including Cathy in my network will be super beneficial because she provides insight into the more transactional aspect of businesses, a sphere that I am not too familiar with.

Reflection: This networking experience taught me how to target specific individuals who may be of value to me and my business concept. It was definitely different than past experiences of networking, where I would vaguely connect with anyone who I thought could provide me professional connections. In this assignment, however, I was very intentional with who I reached out to and communicated with.