Well, actually I have been at this for a few months now. But it is the first week of this business start up diary.
As a bit of context: I have run my own business before, so some of the start up questions I wrestled with to no end the first time, were no-brainers this time. For example, how to register the business and where (answer: just do it in the province that you work out of), whether to incorporate or not (answer: unless you are making over $120G annually on a regular basis, don’t), and so on. The bottom line with starting up my own business the second time is really the bottom line: unless you have customers willing to pay for your product or services, all other questions are theoretical musings for which I have no time.
Now I am running my own business consulting company, and I did what I could to establish a good foundation. I joined an industry association (three, actually) and a couple of community groups, and have learned some important lessons in how to make the right connections. The number one lesson seems to be, unless you are busy and active in an association, it may well be a waste of money.
I have learned that simply joining an association and showing up for occasional breakfasts, dinners, etc., may be useful from a learning perspective, especially if the speakers are good, but is not very progressive from a networking perspective. To get your money’s worth you have to join a committee, a team, or something. And you have to be prepared to spend at least an hour a week, often more like two to four, to really get to know other people and give them the opportunity to get to know you. Since some of these people could easily be your future clients or business partners, what better way to check each other out without risking money and heartache than through one of these forums?
The other lesson I learned though, is that it takes a long time to establish networks this way. In my experience it takes two to three years before the network is humming. The advantage is like anything else in this world: short term pain for long term gain. I find now I have a list of about 80 to 100 contacts, all of whom I am in the process of setting meeting times and lunches with. And all of these people I like, which makes it easier to work with them, and they all return my calls and actually want to speak with me! This is a huge difference from the first time I started my business when I felt I was practically begging for someone to give me a chance, and bruised my knuckles and ego literally and figuratively knocking on doors.
Now to the actual business start up diary... (Click to continue on to page 2.)
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