5 Key Connections That Drive Small Business Success
There are five business relationships every entrepreneur should establish and nurture for building reputation, spreading business awareness, and getting more customers. By forging these key connections, businesses owners will gain access to additional knowledge and resources that will move their businesses forward.
1. Neighboring Small Businesses
A large percentage of small business customers come from a five-miles radius around your business. Therefore, your next customer is most likely located close by and engaging with other business owners right around the corner from you. Connecting with these business owners and building meaningful relationships unlocks access to each other's customers.
Take Action: Reach out and connect with at least one new business owner each month. Start the conversation by asking about their backgrounds and businesses, and then share what you do. The more interest you show in their businesses, the more interested they will become in yours.
2. People Recommending You
A special relationship exists when people put their reputations on the line and recommend your business. Make sure you identify who your "fans" are and that you nurture your relationships with them. Typically these people include both customers and other local business owners. While nurturing relationships with existing customers is pretty well understood and acted upon, relationships with other business owners are often left to chance.
Take Action: Identify businesses that you would be willing to recommend, and that would also recommend you to others.
3. Local Leaders
Every community has a few business owners who just seem to have a knack for getting things done. Having these business owners in your circle of connections unlocks access to vast local knowledge and resources, saving you time and money.
Take Action: Ask all your connections who they turn to for meaningful advice, and look for instances where the same person is mentioned multiple times. They also are usually highly involved in the community, so check out who is organizing larger local events or meetups.
4. Industry Leaders
Successful business owners typically welcome the opportunity to help each other out and have a lot to gain by having a network of peers they can turn to. That's why there are so many local and national groups for specific industries.
Take Action: Either join an industry group or do some Google searching to find business owners in your industry you can connect with.
5. Trusted Advisors
Small business owners are constantly bombarded on the phone and in person by sales people pitching the latest website, payment processing, accounting, social media, or advertising media for their businesses. Having a trusted network of other small business owners you can turn to for advice on what actually works is priceless.
Take Action: If you come across a product or service you feel might be beneficial for your business, validate it by asking other business owners for their opinion. Accessing the knowledge and resources of other business owners is critical for small business success.
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