Assignment #20 Growing Your Social Capital

Growing Your Social Capital

1. Expert on your market:

• Who they are and what their background is.
• Stephanie Cohen, marketer for Sprinkles and Scoops in my hometown.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Domain expert. She fills this spot because she is targeting the same market that I am. She knows who typically buys her product and has experience dealing with these customers. Her market, like mine, consists of families and people of all different backgrounds that are looking for a place to eat with their friends.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As a previous employer's sister, I sent her an email asking her a few questions about her market.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Since I worked with her sister, she was willing to answer a few questions that I asked her. We had already established an indirect relationship/network since I knew her sister, so this was just a favor she did for me, as I help her with any favors she needs from me.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• She will definitely help me learn as an entrepreneur and be able to grow my company into a successful one.

2. Domain expert in your industry:

• Who they are and what their background is:
• Efraim Silva, Owner/Operator of Chick-fil-A, Pompano Beach.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Market expert, he fills this spot because he runs a fast food restaurant. This is his main area of expertise. Although I had never met him before, he was willing to talk to me and answer some questions.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• This is my boss's boss from when I worked at Chick-fil-A over the summer, I simply gave him a call.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• I told him about my potential business and asked him for feedback from his experiences.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• His background and firsthand experience is definitely beneficial to my ability to exploit this opportunity. I can learn from his mistakes, not just my own.

3. Important supplier to your industry:

• Who they are and what their background is.
• Bryan Smith, a customer Support Manager at Gordon Food Service. He used to work as a Customer Development Specialist but changed positions a few years ago.
• Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Supplier, he fits this spot because he works closely with many companies and restaurants to supply them food.
• A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• I connected with Mr. Smith via LinkedIn when I was searching for food suppliers.
• The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• I messaged him asking her if she would be able to answer a few general questions I had about his position.
• How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• This was definitely an extremely beneficial thing for me to do for my future company. I got to learn a little bit about how companies and supplier's relations function.

Reflection
I believe that this was a very rewarding networking process. I will definitely remember doing this assignment when I am networking in the future. This was definitely a more formal way of networking that I am used to. In the future I will focus on having interesting questions to ask and focus on relating their feedback into my life.