Networking Insight

Find Multiple Employees Through Your Network

Relationships are critical to building and growing a company, especially when it comes to finding good employees. In the early days of a company, leveraging your network is generally an effective and inexpensive way to find employees. Really at any stage of development, your network can be a critical ally.

You want to find people who are trusted and good referrals. Usually your network can make those recommendations. Many times those making the introductions are similar to the candidates that they refer. If you like the demeanor, work ethic, and personality of the referrer, then chances are those who they recommend you will like as well. Of course, some referrals may be bad hires but that can happens even if you pay a recruiter to assist you.

Another great tool that can leverage your network is LinkedIn. Spend time researching potential candidates on LinkedIn and then ask for introductions to those in your network who have first degree connections. In fact, many recruiters leverage LinkedIn to find good qualified candidates. The bigger your LinkedIn network, the more opportunity to find a wide variety of candidates. However, make sure that you know those who you connect with on LinkedIn vs. just trying to connect with everyone. If you ask for an introduction from someone who you barely know (or don't know at all), chances are that this person will not be helpful in connecting you to a potential candidate.

Focus on building a diverse network across genders, industries, skillsets, and geographies. The more diverse your network, the better chance that you will be able to leverage your relationships to find a variety of employees

 

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Entrepreneurs Should Leverage Relationships to Raise Capital

Find a Business Partner Through Your Network 

Find a Business Partner Through Your Network

Entrepreneurs need all types of relationships to build and grow a company. Many of these early relationships will come from an entrepreneur's own personal network. Relationships needed include employees, co-founders, investors, and business partners. 

While it can take time to form business partnerships, it is still worth the effort. Entrepreneurs should leverage their network to find these partnerships. They should ask certain people for referrals to potential partners. 

Business partners are instrumental for a company's growth. The key is to form strategic relationships that can ultimately lead to more sales. Business relationships could be for functional areas such as marketing sales, finance, HR, and operations. By building these types of relationships, entrepreneurs can fill in gaps that they are lacking in the core team. Usually, these partnerships are formed early on as a company is ramping up its business. As more and more sales come in, then a company will hire some of these positions. 

Business partners should still be vetted like any type of key relationship for a company. Get reference checks and evaluate three different people for each type of relationship. It is good to have choices and to have a backup. By being careful about who you with, you will be positioning your company for success. Take time to find the right business partners.

Entrepreneurs Should Leverage Relationships to Raise Capital

One of the most important assets that entrepreneurs have while building a company is their network.  Relationships are critical to making things happen in a variety of growth stages. In the earliest days of launching a company, entrepreneurs perform customer development research to figure out there is a big enough pain point for their idea to solve. Many of those earlier conversations are with people whom they know. 

When it comes time to raising capital, certain relationships are critical. Early rounds of capital come from family and friends. They want to see you succeed so some will invest in you more than just the business itself. As you start to grow, entrepreneurs usually need capital from professional investors. An entrepreneur's network is critical at this point to get introduction to angel investors or venture capitalists.

Relationships are critical for the deals that investors see. Most deals that they fund come from their own network. So entrepreneurs need to find ways to get connected to investors through their network. Entrepreneurs should spend a good amount of time in the earlier days building a variety of relationships that can lead to investor introductions. Or entrepreneurs can focus on building relationships with investors as well.

As a firm continues to grow, entrepreneurs' networks will become extremely valuable for customers, partners, employees, etc. Entrepreneurs should continually build relationships. In fact, having a few key relationships of people who can make lots of connections is extremely valuable. That way, entrepreneurs only need to focus on a few key relationships versus trying to build all of the relationships that they need on their own.

Relationships are Critical for Entrepreneurial Success

When building or growing a company, relationships are an important component for an entrepreneur's success. Leveraging existing relationships are a great way to find employees, customers, partners, investors, and advocates.

Those in your network generally want to see you succeed so usually assist how ever they can. Of course, it depends on how good your relationships are with certain people. That is why is important to nurture relationships over time so when you need the assistance, certain individuals in your network will be there for you.

When stating a company, entrepreneurs should lean heavily on their network to gain early traction with the initial building blocks of launching a company: contractors, employees, capital, co-founders, etc. Make sure to reach out to people who you think can assist you. Be strategic about who you ask and why. You should generally start with people who you have the strongest relationship with in your network. At the same time, find ways to assist them too. Hopefully, you have already provided value over time so when you have an ask they are there for you right away.

While growing a company, similar needs may exist but again be strategic on your asks. You may ask less people for assistance but you should know exactly who to contact. At the same time, you may need to build new relationships to generate sales or raise capital. You can leverage your existing network to ask for introductions. LinkedIn is another great business tool to ask for introductions.

Regardless of what stage your company is in, you shouldn't have to do every thing alone. Leverage your relationships to assist you along the way. Nurture your relationships so you can build them for the long term. One of your biggest assets is your network. Keep it strong and diverse.

Find a Key Employee Through Your Network

Your network is such a valuable asset that you should be able to find a key employee. Figure out who you need and put together a description.  Once the description is ready, think about who in your network that you should ask for assistance. Be strategic and start asking those who you think would best be able to assist you.

Initially, focus on contacting those who you have a good relationship with because they know you the best. Hopefully, you have provided enough value that they will assist you.  People feel good about helping others so put yourself in that position with your network. Make sure to reciprocate as well.

The power of numbers is extremely helpful when trying to find a new key employee. The more people who you ask to assist you the more potential candidates. Those who you contact should know you well enough to be able to find some quality people who are a good match.

Most job opportunities are found through someone's network. The same thing applies for finding a key employee. Leverage your biggest personal asset, your network, to find key staff to assist you in growing your company. Entrepreneurs find most of their early hires this way.

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Find a Co-Founder Through Your Network

When starting a business, you will have a lot of needs whether it is capital, employees, customers, or other resources. For some entrepreneurs, one of the most important resources early on is finding a co-founder. By having a co-founder, entrepreneurs have another person to bounce ideas off of, share capital expenses, or share risks. Either way, it can be lonely launching a firm on your own.

It is tough to find co-founders, but a great place to start is with your network. Reach out to certain people in your network to let them know that you are launching a business and would like to find a co-founder. You need to tell people just enough about what you want to do so they can think about any referrals. Because people already know you, they should be able to connect you to like-minded people, those who have similar aspirations to start a business, those who have complementary skillsets, or those who have experience in the same industry as the business that you want to launch.

At the same time, you may have a few people who you can reach out to directly to inquire about their interest in starting a business with you. It is important that you understand how other peoples' backgrounds and skills complement your experiences. It takes time to find a co-founder so make sure that you vet a few people for their interest, skillsets, and resources. When finding the right co-founder, you will spend most of your time with this person. So, make sure that you both get along as well.

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Seven Reasons for Entrepreneurs to Get Excited About Their Network

Building a quality and diverse network can be a great asset to any professional. So, if you take the time to nurture your network, then you will reap the benefits, especially if you are building your own company.

Here are seven reasons to get excited about your network, especially if you are an entrepreneur:

1. Clients - You should be getting introductions from people in your network. The new referrals could turn into new clients. Take the introductions serious. You never know what could happen

2. Employees - You should be getting introductions to potential employees. Or you may meet potential employees at events. Either way, most potential employees will be found through your network.

3. Strategic Partners - You should be getting introductions to potential partners. The more that you build up your brand and reputation, the more that people will think of you and make these introductions.

4. Capital - The main way to raise capital is through your network. Leverage your network when you are raising capital. At some point, you may get introductions to investors.

5. Friends - One of the benefits of building quality relationships is that you will also form friendships with some of your business acquaintances.

6. Your Personal Brand - Over time, your personal brand will be enhanced. The more that you positively interact with others, the more they will see you as a subject matter expert. When this happens, referrals and opportunities will come your way.

7. Learn - By interacting with various people, you will learn about businesses, industries, products, services, etc. Make sure to absorb what people have to say. You will become more in tune with various areas of business.

What other reasons should be you excited about your network if you are an entrepreneur?

 

Build a Company Through Your Network

When starting a company, it is important to have resources to assist you in the early stages. Some of those resources include capital, people, and technology. In order to acquire many of these resources, you need work your network.

Most entrepreneurs leverage their relationships to move their idea and businesses forward. Early on, your network can provide customers, capital, employees, and advice. Spend the time reaching out to your network. Most people will generally be interested in what you are building and will be willing to assist you in a number of ways.

Be clear as to what you may need from certain people. You want to respect their time and make it easy for them to assist you. Let them know who you want to meet. Take the time to look at their LinkedIn profiles and ask for introductions.

Also, have good information prepared about your company to share with people, especially if you are raising capital. Put together an Executive Summary that can be shared.

Getting advice from people can be extremely important early on so you can prevent some mistakes. Reach out to those in your network who have already built companies. You can even try to join a business startup program that already has mentors and access to other resources such as capital.

Spend time nurturing your existing relationships, which will lead to building new relationships. Entrepreneurs should constantly be talking with people because you never who can be extremely valuable to you and your company.

Top Reasons to Apply for Founder Institute Chicago (Summer 2016 Semester)

The Founder Institute Chicago's Summer 2016 Semester is now accepting applications at www.fi.co/join. The early bird application deadline is June 5, 2016.

• World’s Largest Startup Launch Program - Become part of the world's largest global startup network with the assistance of our company-building curriculum, expert feedback, and peer support. The Founder Institute has graduated 2,100 companies and 2,500 founders across 135 cities across six continents.

 

• Anybody Can Apply - Anybody who is passionate about building a technology company is welcome to apply: idea or no idea, full-time job or unemployed, young or old, male or female, experienced in business or straight out of school. We also support a wide range of technology industries: including digital media, software, biotech, cleantech, ecommerce, advertising, consumer electronics, and more.

 

• Keep Your Day Job - Through a part-time four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs - while still keeping their day job.

 

• Graduate Liquidity Pool - Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool enables graduates and mentors to share in the equity upside of each class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great new businesses can flourish.

 

• Learn from Seasoned Mentors – The backbone of the Founder Institute is its mentors who lead the weekly training sessions. The mentors assist founders by sharing their experience, outlining the latest tactics, and providing critical feedback.

 

• Service Provider Discounts - We leverage our global scale to secure free and discounted services from leading law firms, hosting companies, technology providers, and over 200 other vendors.

 

• Fellowships - The Founder Institute offers a number of different Fellowships, providing opportunity for promising founders to launch a company in our startup program, free of charge. The Founder Institute Chicago includes fellowships for female, veteran, and technical. You can find more details at http://fi.co/fellowships.

 

• Prestige - The growing success of Graduates, combined with the difficulty in completing the program and the credibility of the Mentors, make graduation a prestigious accomplishment to help you secure investment, close partnership deals, find co-founders, and ultimately build a meaningful and enduring business.

 

Top Reasons to Apply to Founder Institute Chicago (Fall 2015 Semester)

The Founder Institute Chicago's Fall 2015 Semester is now accepting applications at www.fi.co/join. The early bird application is August 9, 2015.

Below are some of the top reasons to apply for this program:

- World’s Largest Entrepreneur Training and Startup Launch Program - Become part of the world's largest global startup network with the assistance of our company-building curriculum, expert feedback, and peer support. The Founder Institute has graduated 1,550 companies and 1,700 founders across 100+ cities and six continents.

- Anybody Can Apply - Anybody who is passionate about building a technology company is welcome to apply: idea or no idea, full-time job or unemployed, young or old, male or female, experienced in business or straight out of school. We also support a wide range of technology industries: including digital media, software, biotech, cleantech, ecommerce, advertising, consumer electronics, and more.

- Keep Your Day Job - Through a part-time four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs - while still keeping their day job.

- Graduate Liquidity Pool - Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool enables graduates and mentors to share in the equity upside of each class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great new businesses can flourish.

- Service Provider Discounts - We leverage our global scale to secure free and discounted services from leading law firms, hosting companies, technology providers, and over 100 other vendors.

- Fellowships - The Founder Institute offers a number of different Fellowships, providing opportunity for promising founders to launch a company in our startup program, free of charge. The Founder Institute Chicago includes fellowships for female, veteran, and latino entrepreneurs. You can find more details at http://fi.co/fellowships#.

- Prestige - The growing success of Graduates, combined with the difficulty in completing the program and the credibility of the Mentors, make graduation a prestigious accomplishment to help you secure investment, close partnership deals, find co-founders, and ultimately build a meaningful and enduring business.