Building a business empire from scratch would need more than its share of time and effort. It would also need the presence of a powerful network that would act as a backbone to the business’s growth. However, not many entrepreneurs are aware of this fact, and end up making quite a few blunders which could potentially cost them their business. And given below are some of the most common networking mistakes often committed by budding entrepreneurs.
Managing Too Large a Network
Adding just about anyone to a personal/professional network would be detrimental for the business in the long run. The larger the size of the network, the harder it would be to manage relationships between individual connections. This in turn would ruin the business’s ability to satisfy its customers, thereby ruining the customer-business relationship altogether. Therefore, it is considered wise to maintain only an optimum number of connections that can be comfortably handled in a single network.
Opting for Quantity against Variety
Many entrepreneurs tend to fill their networks with connections that are either similar to them in all aspects. While this may initially increase the amount of resources, information and advice received by the business, at the end of the day, the same would become redundant, with no scope for variety.
Rather than focusing on quantity, business entrepreneurs would need to do focus on variety when building their networks. Having connections that are different (in terms of skills, knowledge and resources etc.) but still complement the core business can be of immense help in the later stages whenthe doors are opened to welcome new ideas and diverse plans.
Sticking to the same Goals
Business relationships are symbiotic and work on a give and take policy. Inside a network, it would be possible to come across several connections that can be of immense help to the venture’s growth, but would require something in return for their services. In most cases, this would require the business to make a few changes to its goals and priorities. Sticking to the same goals and objectives no matter what, would only drive away new connections, cut off existing ones, and earn the business a bad name in the market.
Showing no interest in own goals and priorities
Connections that have contributed to the growth of a business venture would periodically want to check on the same and get updates about the progress made. As such, the entrepreneur behind the venture would need to remain focused on the business and show interest in its development. Showing no interest in the work would cut off existing ties and bring the development to a standstill.
Rather than remaining idle and waiting for the right timing to start work, entrepreneurs are urged to keep working on something or the other in order to keep their connections interested in the business. This would in turn attract more meaningful connections while driving away the useless ones.
