Natural Entrepreneur: From Their Mouth to Your Customer's Ear

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Sharing Customers, Information, and Money

“New Hampshire is such a small community,” says James McKim, chairman of SwANH. “In a small state, there’s so much overlap it’s unbelievable. It’s fairly easy for companies to connect to networking groups.”

And they do.

For example, BNI-New Hampshire has grown from nine small chapters in 1997 to 25 large chapters today, says Mike Roberts, executive director. “Our groups pass an average of 750 to 1000 referrals every week in New Hampshire.”

BNI has developed a structured networking program geared specifically to generating business by qualified referrals, says Roberts. A qualified referral occurs when a BNI member identifies a product or service needed by one of their own business contacts and then recommends another member to provide it. The potential buyer and seller are introduced and the deal is made.

By contrast, MicroCredit-NH, a group that provides access to capital and business training for microenterprises, has no formal networking program; yet 72 percent of members cite networking opportunities as a key advantage and at least 66 percent of members have sold their product or service within the organization to other members and outside the organization through member referrals.

“The MicroCredit groups in New Hampshire place a higher than average weight on networking compared to groups in other states,” says Rob Riley, executive director. “There are 109,000 microenterprises in the state of New Hampshire, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They may not have the resources to belong to other types of networks, and the micro-entrepreneur doesn’t always fit in the standard groups—someone who makes soap in their home, for example. They need to be connected to other entrepreneurs.”

Gary Hunter is the owner of Hunter Multimedia Services, and an active member of MicroCredit and the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce. “I met another videographer in MicroCredit. When he has a job he can’t do, he suggests me. We network together. People contact MicroCredit or the Chamber and they recommend me. Those groups offer a certain amount of accountability. They’re good networking vehicles because of their level of standards and their credibility.”

In addition to helping members find customers—and potential customers find members—most networking groups serve other functions, such as educating members, working for a political agenda, or finding capital.

The New Hampshire High Technology Council offers free business clinics. According to executive director Carol Stephens, “Someone who is starting a company can present their product or service before CEOs and presidents of high tech companies and venture capitalists. We’re the model for this type of networking; people call up to ask how we started.”

Building Relationships

Both networking organizers and the networkers themselves agree that good networking requires more than business cards (although they’re essential).

“You need to create a relationship and I think that’s where most of us have difficulty: going from nothing to something. That’s where formal networking is crucial,” says Tom Strickland, president of Sequoya Technologies Group, LLC, in Peterborough and a veteran of BNI and the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce.

In fact, networking is so critical to some companies that they turn to experts to improve their skills. Stephen Gianotti, president and founder of the Woodland Group, specializes in individual, group, and organizational dynamics. Not only does he help others network, but he considers networking to be the backbone of his own business.

“Everyone assumes they have the ability to network,” says Gianotti. “We all walk around assuming we’re communicating. But if networking isn’t working, you have to evaluate what you’re doing. How involved are you? Are you a board member, a committee member? People believe your behavior more than your words. You have to follow up, deepen the relationship. It’s about the relationship first. If the business doesn’t develop, at least you walk away with the relationship. And if networking isn’t working, it may not be what you tried but how you tried it.”

Honing Skills and Ideas

Groups where members have a common interest or come from a single industry provide a safe environment for members to develop their networking skills. They can practice their communication style without jeopardizing a potential business relationship. That’s one of the primary advantages of New Hampshire Business and Professional Women explains Tammy Leocata, the group’s president. “Many of our members have said that they wouldn’t be able to get up and speak if this was a mixed group. Here they feel in the company of sisters.”

The importance of industry-specific networking was driven home to the New Hampshire software industry when then Governor Stephen Merrill established a task force to study the impact of software companies on the state. At a 1994 conference on software, 400 people showed up, astounding the organizers. A group from the conference decided to form SwANH to help software and internet companies sell and develop products, help individual engineers build their careers, and provide information on everything from financing to the latest industry standards and methodologies. Since then thousands of individuals and their companies have taken advantage of SwANH’s networking and educational events.

Networking with peers is especially important for small business entrepreneurs. “I miss having someone to stand at a white board with and hash out ideas,” says Strickland. “You can’t do it all by yourself.” Networking not only keeps him in touch with his own field, it gives him a resource he trusts when he needs expertise outside his field, and that improves his service to customers.

As SwANH’s McKim states, once you begin networking, “you never know what opportunities you’ll uncover.”

Editor's Note: SwANH's 10th annual InfoXchange conference, coming up on September 30th at the Nashua Marriott, features a full day of power networking, interesting seminars, and a keynote luncheon. It promises to deliver lots of value and fun.

Sharon Bailly is principal of TechWritePlus of Peterborough, NH. She can be contacted at s.bailly@att.net or (603) 924-0935.

Upcoming Events

Feb 21 (8-9:30a): NH Forum on the Future, NHHTC, CR Sparks, Bedford, NH

March 1 (6:30-8:30p): Women's Business Center and MicroCredit-NH Networking Event, Bank of America, Portsmouth, NH

March 6 (10a-noon): Growth Capital Resources in New Hampshire, City of Nashua, Office of Economic Development, Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH

March 8: (12pm -1pm) Break the Rules and Close More Sales, Amoskeag Business Incubator, Manchester, NH

March 16: Peak Pitch (pitch your plan to invstors on the chairlift), Mt. Sunapee, NH ($)

March 22: Breaking Trends in Web Develoment, UVCIA, Hanover, NH ($)

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