1. Mark is 54 years old. He has always been good with technology. For the past 7 years he has worked as an app developer.
Mark is a domain expert because he knows the technical side behind creating an app.
Mark is one of my good friends dad. I’ve always been aware of his career so reaching out to him was a no brainer.
The exchange went great. I learned a lot about what goes into the making of an app and how much it costs. He gave me a lot of useful information that I would need in order to create my app.
Mark will benefit my network because he can help create my app/ connect me to other people in the app industry.
2. Carol is 51 years old. She has been in the industry for over 20 years. She owns a local clothing boutique in the town that I live in.
Carol is the market expert. Owning a local boutique in my community, she is completely aware of my target audience and customers who would be interested in downloading my app.
I used to work at her store, so she came to mind right away. I interviewed her at her retail store. I also had the chance to talk to potential customers in the store.
She is very friendly and was very excited to help! She asked for nothing in return and was more than happy to sit down and talk with me.
This can exploit an opportunity because Carol can tell her customers, which are my target audience about my product.
3. Ken is 56 years old. He has been a lawyer for 25 years and has his own law firm. His law firm is very familiar with patenting products.
Ken is a supplier for my product.
Ken is my step father. I interviewed him in our house.
Ken enlightened me on the long process to patent a product. I learned a lot.
Ken can exploit an opportunity because if he can get me a patent on my product than no one can copy my idea and I can start designing/producing the app.
Reflect: I enjoyed this exercise a lot. It showed me how important networking is. Even though I only interviewed 3 people, I received way more contacts from my interviewees that will benefit my business. This differed from my networking experiences in the past because I have never networked for business connections since I’ve never had my own product or business.
It is great that you have connections in your products field. During my assignment, I found it very hard to find people in my field who could reach out to help me. Networking is very important to many things, even outside of entrepreneurship. Having people who are willing to help with little to nothing expected in return is awesome. Im glad that you have such a grasp on your product, who to talk to, and what needs to be taken care of. Great job Haley!
ReplyDeleteHaley,
ReplyDeleteIt appears you have a skill to find people you need for your business adventure. As Brandon mentioned, it can be difficult to find people who fit your business idea, have the necessary skills or are willing to work for/with you. Enlisting family in your business can be beneficial, especially if it is someone with experience in the same business industry or simply someone with experience in business. For my idea I only had 1 person in mind at first, and it took me a while to find two more candidates that satisfy necessary criteria
Haley,
ReplyDeleteGood for you for reaching out to such well established people. It really puts things into perspective as college students when we interview people who are successful and in their 50's. We have such a long road ahead! Also, its great that you managed to find people that fit the criteria so well. Normally, when I think of networking, I think of just meeting as many people as I can to have in my contacts. This exercise proves it can be so beneficial to what we want to accomplish!
Haley,
ReplyDeleteGreat job for finding people to help you grow your knowledge. Finding people can be tough at times so good job finding people who can help you. Networking is a great thing to master because of all the benefits.
Haley,
ReplyDeleteI think it’s great that you were able to reach people that cover such a wide range of areas. Surrounding yourself with likeminded people will hopefully allow you to achieve your goals a lot easier. Also, having access to a lawyer is such a valuable resource, not only in regards to patent issues, but also in the event that other legal issues arise.