Networking is more important than ever for small business owners
Small business networking is a skill worth perfecting. Investing your time and effort into in-person networking could help you find your next client or deep professional relationship.
It’s sometimes difficult to quantify the results of in-person networking. Think back – how many of your recent clients or business partnerships resulted from meeting someone face-to-face? How many were generated through a mutual friend or contact?
Networking is still critical for small business owners for several reasons. Read below to learn more about the ways networking can transform your business for the better.
Growing your business
The classic reason for small business networking is for businesses to grow their bottom line. Whether you’re hoping to meet your next client or make a lucrative partnership with a vendor, building relationships can increase your revenue, lower your expenses and more.
The power of digital marketing to target and segment potential customers is incredible, but there is no substitute for face-to-face interactions for closing a deal. Face-to-face meetings can give your potential customer or partner a better idea of what doing business with you will really be like. You can convey your enthusiasm, professionalism and expertise much easier in person.
On the flipside, meeting potential clients in person can help you determine whether or not they are a lead worth pursuing. Many times, you don’t find out that a lead is unqualified until you’ve already put quite a bit of effort into making the sale. Seeing someone in person can help you more quickly determine whether they are ready to make a purchasing decision.
Finding employees
Depending on who you ask, the percentage of jobs filled through networking can be anywhere between 70% to 85%. No matter how you slice it, the majority of jobs are being filled by networking. In one survey, LinkedIn found that networking was the primary means of finding employment for most respondents and, in some cases, outranked applying for jobs by a factor of 7 to 1.
As a small business owner, you probably aren’t looking for a new job. But when you’re ready to hire a new employee, how will you fill that position? Having a robust professional network could help you fill open jobs without even needing to post open positions online. In fact, around 80% of available jobs are never posted.
If you can build relationships with other well-connected professionals, you will increase the chances for quality candidate referrals that will help you hire new employees more quickly, and retain these employees longer.
Building reciprocal relationships
Small business networking is built on entrepreneurs helping each other. To be successful, you should go to every networking event thinking: “What can I contribute to a new professional relationship?”
No one wants to be in a relationship with someone that is only concerned about themselves. Professional relationships are no different. Have an open mind and approach each new person as a potential connection without pre-judgements.
At the Chamber, we host some of Nashville’s best networking events, including those specifically built for small businesses. Our Nashpreneurs Happy Hours are held every quarter and are a great way to connect with other small business owners outside of the office over drinks. Check out our events calendar to see upcoming networking events or small businesses.