Leveraging Your Network for Business Opportunities and Partnerships
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIt’s not always what you know, but who you know. Networking has become the primary way to secure professional opportunities today, and estimates show that 85% of open jobs are filled through people networking. It’s not just beneficial for people looking to get a new job. It can also help business owners by presenting opportunities to develop relationships with potential partners, clients and investors in hopes of growing their enterprises.
In this day and age, it’s paramount for business owners and professionals to recognize how important their own networks can be, and how to properly leverage them to create future opportunities.
Develop solid relationships
Relationship development is something we do every day, whether it be with family, friends or mentors, with many being some of the most significant relationships in our lives. By using the same tactics when developing our professional relationships, those too, can reflect our personal ones – authentic and mutually beneficial.
A key to developing and maintaining your new relationships is through consistent communication. This isn’t always easy, as 38% of professionals say it’s difficult to stay constantly connected with their network. Luckily, our current technology makes it easier. Use texts or social media to set up in-person lunches, video calls or hold online conversations to stay in touch with your contacts. You never know when a 15-minute conversation could lead to your next big break.
It is prudent to be strategic in who to develop relationships with. While it’s ideal to have a robust network of connections, it’s harder to maintain full relationships with a large number of people all of the time. Make sure your contacts fit within your network, and that you can have an authentic relationship that’s more than just business.
Find similar passions with your connections
A key aspect of any relationship is finding similar interests. In business, it’s just as important to share passions and a vision for success with your contacts as in your personal life. We often hear the advice to practice a 30-second elevator pitch and sell ourselves or company to prospective recruiters, clients or investors. This can also be used when searching for similarities in your network, but expanded further to potentially pursue an opportunity together with a contact.
Speaking from personal experience, this was how myself and my business partner, Dr. Steve Green, came together to form Arora Sleep. We both share the passion and experience of playing basketball at Indiana University, both under Coach Bob Knight. We met during my freshman year in 1992 and were recently reconnected by another former Hoosier who’s in both of our networks.
In our initial conversations on Arora, Dr. Green laid out his vision to help fellow Hoosiers sleep better with something that’s never been done in the sleep space. I shared this vision and was equally passionate about other aspects of how we’d run the company. We moved forward on creating Arora Sleep with our combined vision and principles – something that could be replicated with your network.
Leverage your relationships
Every relationship is different. They all begin differently and they all differ in depth. The one thing that should be shared across all professional relationships is that your contacts understand your top qualities – your work ethic, teamwork skills, leadership and more. Should you want to pursue a business proposition with your contacts, they know what you bring to table and how they can work with you.
Another vital key is trust and leveraging your contacts’ trust in you. Most people will not agree to a business venture unless they trust the other person, which is why it’s important to show your contacts you’re trustworthy across the board. You can leverage trust in business discussions moving forward.
The keystone of Dr. Green and my partnership is our trust in one another. We know the other will always work as hard as they can to better our business and our patient experience every day. It’s not easy to have that trust in many people, which is why leveraging the trust you have with your contacts can go a long way.
Networking and leveraging relationships is no new trend in the business world, but it may be more important now as our industries continue to adjust to the ramifications of COVID-19. Professionals are looking towards their networks for hiring, partnerships and other business ventures based on their relationships and trust in those they know. It’s crucial that professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs leverage their connections to move forward.
Brian Evans is the Co-founder and President & CEO of Arora Sleep. He is a medical technology executive with over 12 years of sales and marketing leadership experience and developed the Arora strategy.