Yes, you might want to conquer the world – but, unfortunately, you could struggle to do it entirely by yourself. You might not even be able to do it when at the helm of a large team if you haven’t chosen enough of the right people for that team.
According to one sobering statistic mentioned by Entrepreneur, about 20% of all small businesses fail within a year of being formally established. Here are some of the biggest reasons why honing your networking skills could immeasurably help you to thrive in the corporate space.
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Networking can help you to find a job in the first place
If you aren’t in a practical position to start your own business, you would naturally need to find employment with one that already exists. The jobs listing site Indeed explains: “The most common time for using your network is during a job search since many positions are filled using personal contacts instead of advertisements.”
Nonetheless, this is something of a chicken-and-egg situation, as you could lack many useful corporate contacts if you are still relatively young and don’t have a long history of employment.
You could find valuable opportunities for self-development
This can happen through various means. For example, you may have an employer who provides you with access to the likes of training courses, seminars, and certification exams.
It’s important to emphasize, however, that self-development is very much your responsibility. In other words, you should ultimately take it upon yourself to look for opportunities – whether they come from your boss, a co-worker, or perhaps even someone you know only vaguely on social media.
Networking can lead your business into previously unexplored territory
As previously acknowledged, you don’t simply need people – you need the right people. That means people who share your goals and aspirations. So, you need to engage in what you could call purposeful networking, rather than simply forge contacts from here, there, and everywhere.
As you recruit more and more of the right people to your team, you should increasingly find it easier to expand your business. However, you don’t have to just rely on people under your own wing.
Spending time at university, for example, could help you to find potential investors among the other students. Meanwhile, attending conferences could bring you into contact with new clients.
If the COVID-19 pandemic has left you wary of attending conferences and similar business events in person, you could use a platform like ON24 to hold such events of your own online.
You can increase your visibility as an entrepreneur
Another advantage of networking – such as through attending events or holding your own – is that you could increase your profile. Doing this could, in turn, lead many people to see you as a go-to expert for various situations.
If you work in cybersecurity, for example, many people who grow to know you could soon become eager to ask you what tips you would be happy to provide to help these people in bolstering their own companies’ digital defenses.
