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20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Part 1

 1) This individual has been a player in the fitness industry for a large amount of time. This individual has started their own gym facility and has grown a large social media following
2) Domain expert - providing expertise on the fitness industry
3) I contacted them through social media
4) This person plans to look over my idea napkin. They said they will provide feedback on areas that need improvement
5) This person will point out all of the obstacles that come with opening a new gym that I would've never thought of or expected.

Part 2

 1) This person has been a real estate developer in the Gainesville area
2) Market expert
3) I saw the person in a local real estate development ad. Through a series of cold calls I got in contact with the individual.
4) The individual said they would allow me to come into the office and learn about the intricacies of the early stages of real estate development
5) This person will allow me to more efficiently execute my idea

Part 3 

 1) Employee for major gym equipment developer
2) Important supplier
3) I knew the person through connections. I reached out to them via email
4) The individual said they could possibly give me a discount on a bulk equipment order if my idea ever made it to that point
5) Lower cost of inventory

 Reflection 
This exercise made me realize how you should properly network and obtain social capital. In future networking events I will always have the goal of social capital in mind. This networking experience differed from previous networking events in the past in that it was more specifically targeted towards my idea and less general in nature.

Comments

  1. Michael LombardoNovember 3, 2019 at 7:02 PM

    Hey Michael,
    I believe that this assignment gives us all a beneficial opportunity to contact people that are experts in our desired field. Is is great for networking and communicating with people that are well versed in whatever ventures we are trying to take. All the people you contacted might play a big role later in your life and help your business take off.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Liv WardNovember 3, 2019 at 9:14 PM

    Hey Michael!
    I think the professionals you ended up choosing to reach out to really had the opportunity to offer a lot of useful information for your gym facility. This activity gave a helpful networking experience by giving a targeted goal, like you mentioned, and separate categories of people to reach out to and I think by doing so, it was a perfect introductory networking exercise.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nick DiprimaNovember 4, 2019 at 9:21 AM

    Hey Michael, I think you did a great job finding powerful players in your network. The gym owner will definitely be important in helping you understand what needs to happen to make your idea feasible. Additionally, finding a real estate expert was smart, something I wouldn't have thought of. it's crucial to buy the land before construction would ever begin and a real estate expert would obviously know the ideal location. Great job!

    ReplyDelete

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