20A – Growing Your Social Capital

 Domain Expert

 1)Who they are and what their background is.

Devon is a pro-rider and is sponsored. He has been riding for years and knows a lot about the boards and the 
bindings.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Devon would fill the spot of domain expert because of riding for years and using different boards. He knows how the boards are made and their models.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found this person through my fraternity. He is also a very good friend of mine because we ride together.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return 
expectation? 

I have helped him with previous projects and gave him some help when looking for places to get a job. I would expect him to do well and give it his all because he is passionate about wakeboarding and the products.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

With adding this person to my team, he will know a lot about the products and be able to communicate to customers the attributes of the products. Also, he will be a selling influence because of being a pro-rider.

Market Expert

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Mike my next-door neighbor owns a watersports shop. He is selling a lot of the products that I would be trying to sell. He also knows information about selling to different types of consumers.  

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

Mike would be filling the slot of the market expert. He has experience running a successful business in the same field that I would like to be in.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

He is my next-door neighbor and I have always been to his shop. Its where I get my gear from and I have known him my whole life.  

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

When his company was first starting out he needed a lot of help moving materials and supplies and I was there for a few weeks helping. He also needed ideas for designs which I came up with for his store.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

He will be able to come up with solutions to problems and help give advice on how to run the business. He has also faced problems that I might not know the answer too.

Important Supplier

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Jim is a family friend who has a shipping warehouse for all things watersports. He has boats that are housed there and is a distributor of wakeboards and bindings.   

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

The slot that I’m filling with Jim is the important supplier. He distributes goods al across the southeast.  

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

The person is a family friend, so it was not too hard to contact him. I gave him my pitch and told him what I needed his help on.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

When his warehouse opened he needed help moving around boxes and containers, so I helped him with those tasks. Also, I helped him get a more efficient workplace at the warehouse.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Gaining Jim will allow me to have goods shipped to me at cheaper costs and he could be a main distributor for my company.

Reflection: When networking I am always open to meeting new people and trying to expand my relations. But for this company I would want to focus on people that I know and trust because this would be a very large investment. This instance differed from the past because these are people that I have already known.