20A- Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry.
Rob Pollack who works at BDI which is a B2B business that supplies parts to other businesses who need them. I chose Rob as my domain expert because even though his company sells different kinds of products, it is the same type of business. They stock supplies to other companies for them to use them to better their business. I found this person through my boyfriend, it is his uncle and I reached him through the phone. I asked Rob what he thought of my product idea and he thought it was great and that all restaurants on the beaches would want to use them. There was nothing I did in return except just have a conversation catching up. This person will be very helpful to have in my network because he will be able to teach me great selling skills and ways to reach out to other businesses in a B2B market. I have never worked in a company like this and he has years of experience to share and help me.

2) One person must be an expert on your market.
Rosella Rossi used to own a restaurant in my hometown, Corned Beef Corner. Rosella fills the market expert slot because she used to be an owner of a company that is a target audience for my product. She knows all about being on the buying end of purchasing restaurant supplies and lives in a coastal town. I found this person through my father, she was a friend of his and I used to work at her restaurant when I was younger. I called and asked her about my product, what she thought, and if she would have used it in her business. She said she definitely would have, and thought it was the best alternative to plastic straws that restaurants could use. She would be great to have in my network because I could use her to learn about what my target market looks for in a supplier and learn from that.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry.
Ron Pollack works at CBI, Cheney Brothers, which is a business that sells food and restaurant supplies to food service companies. Ron fills the supplier slot because his company sells very similar products to the same target market that I have for my product. They sell disposable plastic supplies (along with many other products), such as cups, cutlery, straws, etc. These are very similar to my disposable straw product idea. I found Ron through my boyfriend as well, he is his father and I contacted him through the phone. I asked Ron what he thought of my product and he loved it. He thinks this is what all restaurants should be using instead of straws, especially in Florida because of our beautiful beaches where plastic highly effects. This person is great to have in my network because he is in a very similar business, he has been working there for years and could give me a lot of tips and tricks on how to deal with businesses in my target audience.

Reflect: This was a great experience that taught me to push to find people that can help me in specific ways, instead of waiting until I fall upon them. My networking experiences in the past have always been in person at events, like student organization meetings, company tours, etc. This was very different because I went into it seeking out specific people instead of meeting people from a large group.