Business resilience has become the name of the game recently, primarily due to the volatile market situation almost every industry faces today; it’s no surprise why more and more entrepreneurs are investing in disaster recovery and appropriate protection. As a result thereof, business owners are also looking more inward than usual, focusing on their core operations, addressing internal areas of improvement, and highlighting other business aspects that can potentially strengthen their economic situation first before making a move on significant business decisions.
However, while we strongly support the notion of improving financial security and business resilience, this has come at the expense of many enterprises forgetting that sustainability and growth can also be accessed externally through active partnerships and building your business network. And to break the ice on how networks and connections enable development for a company, we’ll be discussing just why expanding your business network is just as important as the business itself.
What Advantages Do Networking And Connections Provide?
Even at a young age, educators and life experiences will never fail to remind us that no man is an island and that working together and collaborating with like-minded people will always triumph over the strength of one individual. And even within the broader implications of the business world and climate, there’s only so much you can achieve by yourself until your product or service starts running into various constraints such as the lack of resources, the availability of staffing, and even a time pinch.
- Access To Partnership And Venture Opportunities: Firstly, one of the core advantages of business networks and connections is access to partnership and venture opportunities. For example, if you’re struggling to capture a sufficient market share with your current demographic, a business in the same position but from a different field can operate with you to help each other penetrate a new market. Furthermore, market entry is just the tip of the iceberg, and you can find many more enterprises open to mergers, commissions, and the like.
- Receive Crucial Business Advice And Support: Besides partnership opportunities, another core advantage of business networks and connections is reaching out to other businesses for advice and support. You can’t expect to become an expert at every possible situation, challenge, or problem that will come your way, and it’s also not smart to face it head-on without due preparation and research. Therefore, an extensive business network allows you to tap those who have experience and gain insight on the best practices to utilize.
- Employ Risk-Sharing Strategies: Lastly, there’s no denying that economic recovery has dampened, and because of fears of the first boom being unsustainable, this also exposes many businesses to risks of economic turbulence. However, one of the best advantages of strong connections within your business network is the opportunity to employ risk-sharing strategies to offset any shortfalls you might face in the short term. For example, more participative sharing in a joint project can ensure its success even during not-so-pleasant economic circumstances.
How Does A Small Company Grow Its Network?
Luckily enough, growing your business network even as a small company in today’s business landscape is a lot easier and accessible, and while you can expect some challenges in the future, there’s nothing a bit of effort and time invested can’t overcome. Namely, we’d recommend (1) leveraging a solid online presence, (2) redefining your business, and (3) making the first move.
- Leverage A Strong Online Presence: Your brand image online is not only the first impression you make on customers and clients but also among potential business partners and connections. How you present your business, engage with your audience, and communicate through your channels are benchmarks for your accountability. So, always emphasize a strong online presence, especially in more business-focused platforms like LinkedIn.
- Redefine Your Business To Attract People: Apart from your company’s online presence, you could also opt to redefine your business to attract more people if your design or overall framework has seen better days. Take, for example, BannerSolutions.com; their choice to change their name is more than just evolution at face value, but a roadmap for future positive improvements in service and experience for their customers. This tells other businesses that they are serious and among the top contenders of companies they should be open to working with for the long term.
- Don’t Be Afraid To Make The First Move: Last but not least, it never hurts to go back to basics and make the first move by actively presenting opportunities to network and connect with other business owners. You see, even though face-to-face conferences aren’t still as popular due to social distancing guidelines, many online business networking conferences are still being held. Therefore, if you want to expand your network today, then don’t be afraid to put your brand out there for the world to see.
Building Each Other And Reaching For The Top Together.
Overall, it boils down to the reality that we must work together and collaborate to reach the top of our respective industries instead of trying to bring each other down. And the only way to find like-minded entrepreneurs and enterprises is by networking and meeting these bright individuals yourself.
