Nebraska SBDC Blog

In these COVID-19 times, one of the things that stand out is that you cannot have too many friends or too large of a network. Even though our connection to our friends and network has changed with social distancing and more zoom calls and such, we and our organizations need those connections now more than ever. Last year at a conference put on by the America’s Small Business Development Center (ASBDC), I attended a seminar about networking for introverts. It was an excellent presentation, and I came away with some great pointers.

In this article, I will discuss the importance of growing and nurturing your business network.

One of the ideas that stood out to me was determining how connected we are to our network. Ask yourself, “Can I call this person up if I need help?” “Do I have their phone number in my contacts or just an e-mail address?” “Would I anticipate that they would be responsive, or would it be a little hit or miss with them?” “How responsive would I be if this connection reached out to me for help?” These are all questions to ask yourself to determine if your connection to this person is solid, if you might need to nurture it more, or if this a connection that fades away and another takes its place.

When building “solid” connections in your network, I would propose trust as being a key factor in nurturing the connection. We all have had friends, relatives, or neighbors ask us who we would recommend for car repairs, a dentist, a hairstylist, or a real estate agent. Unless we want to see our friend with a really bad haircut, we probably send them to a hairstylist or barber that we trust. The question becomes, “How is that trust built in our network?” Trust is likely built based on our own experiences with the auto mechanic, the barbershop, the dentist, or the real estate agent. If you have a bad experience, you are likely shopping for a new provider and wouldn’t dare recommend it to your neighbor or friend. What if there was a way to build your network in a more tactical approach?

The Omaha Small Business Development Center as part of the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) recently partnered up with CenterSphere (www.centersphere.com) to grow our network and clients. CenterSphere is a small business not unlike many we work with each day. Their primary goal is to connect businesses on a one-on-one basis through small chapters of members with differing occupations. The idea is to “get to know” the real estate agent, banker, and dentist in the group so you build trust and become comfortable referring your friends, family, and neighbors to them. The “value add” we provide back is educating the members on the services of the NBDC including market analysis, assisting with business plans, helping build cash flow projections, and connecting small businesses to government contracts to name a few.

As you look to grow your network, look for connections that will be there for you. An email address is nice, but a cell number is better. Relationships are somewhat like gardens in that we need to dedicate time to them. If gardens aren’t weeded and watered, they tend to not grow. The same goes for networking in that it does take time, but it is well worth it to make sure your friend doesn’t end up with a bad haircut.

About the Author:

Tony Schultz is the Omaha Small Business Development Center Director at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. To reach Tony please email the following: tonyschultz@unomaha.edu.