Why do we Network?

For many small businesses networking gives you the opportunity to:

  • Meet new people
  • Discuss what is happening in the marketplace and within specific industries
  • Discover new opportunities, for any area of your life (not just business)
  • Find new clients
  • Find new suppliers
  • Find new associates/affiliates/referrals
  • For a small business owner, it can also be a great way to combat the isolation that can come with running a business on your own.

It is important when attending an event to understand what networking is all about. It is not about selling your goods or services to everyone you meet, nor even about handing out as many business cards as you can. The best thing you can do at a networking function is to engage another person in conversation and truly listen to them, thus laying the foundations for future opportunities.

Networking is about hearing other people’s stories, and keeping an ear out for ways in which you can help them. This may not mean a direct sale for you, but it will mean that the person you have built a relationship with will remember how helpful you were and is much more likely to feel comfortable in referring business to you in the future.

Sarah’s story:

I was speaking with a gentleman at a function, and discovered that he worked in a useful area in which I had no other contacts. This made me excited, as now I would be able to refer my contacts and clients to him. There was a problem, however. This gentleman had not brought any business cards with him to the function, so I could not get his contact details. From past experience, I have found that often people without cards will say that they will make contact, but then they forget, and I never hear from them again. I gave him my card, and we talked for a while. I told him that I go to networking events to find other like-minded business people to share with my existing contacts, and I shared with him some of my thoughts and ideas on networking.

The next day he sent the following:


G’Day Sarah,

Thanks heaps for taking the time to have a chat with me last night, I really enjoyed meeting you and the tips you gave me regarding networking were sensational.

Keen to keep in touch, can you please send me some details on your services too so I can have a look to see if there’s I can recommend or use myself.

Also, thought I might just pop one of our company overview brochures across to you too.

Have a great day and weekend ahead.

I know that we made an impact on one another and, importantly, I was not trying to sell him anything. We made plans to meet up in the coming week to learn more about each other. I’m sure the business relationship we build together will be fruitful for both of us in the future, possibly in ways we may not have expected.

Remember: networking is about building relationships, and not about selling your goods and services.