Growing your Social Capital

Growing your Social Capital

Domain Expert

1) Who they are and what their background is

·      My domain expert name is Samantha Garcia and she is a sales representative at a chair/office furniture company

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

·      Samantha is a domain expert because she has experience in office furniture sales which is similar to my idea of selling booths in Library West

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

·      I googled common sites that sell common furniture like City Furniture and El Dorado because they have experience in selling the type of merchandise, I would like to sell

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

·      She was very pleasant to talk to and did not expect anything in return, I simply explained to her what I was calling and talking to her about and mentioned that I was a University of Florida Student and she was more than happy to speak with me

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

·      I think she can be a viable source because she has been in the industry for roughly 5 years and has dealt with similar merchandise that I would like to sell

Market Expert

1) Who they are and what their background is.

·      Daniella (prefer not to mention last names) who is a student at the University of Florida studying Marketing

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

·      Daniella is my market expert because she represents exactly the target market I hope to reach, someone who spends hours in Library West

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

·      Daniella is a friend of mine who I have not done an interview with and I called her and asked her if it was ok for me to talk to her a little about my idea

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

·      She was very sweet and talked to me about her endless hours studying at West and how she loves the booths and wishes she could find one every single time she went. She only hopes that I can execute this idea and add more booths!

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

·      She gives me an insight of what my target audience is thinking, and I could use her words to implement some features into my product

Supplier

1) Who they are and what their background is.

·      Christian is the supplier for big chain stores like I mentioned above, el Dorado and City Furniture

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

·      He is taking the slot for supplier because he works in the industry where they provide the materials and make the furniture for these big chain stores

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

·      I found Christian on the same site I found my domain expert and they actually have worked together before which is why I chose him as my supplier

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

·      We talked on the phone for some time and he did not expect anything in return like the others, he simply was happy to share what he does and how his profession works

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

·      I think by talking to Christian and knowing how his supply profession works gives me a good insight of what I would be working with when I pursue this opportunity, I have created 

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

·      Finding a targeted network definitely was more difficult to find then simply interviewing a friend or someone on campus, but in the long run I can find it to be beneficial because it gives an actual insight to the field and can help spark ideas and some knowledge on the field you are choosing to go and work in