Individual #1: Gilbert
Who are they and what's their background?
Gilbert owns a construction company that builds apartments and homes up from scratch. They have owned the company for around 15 years now and has been in the industry for around 20 years. His primary location for conducting business is in Miami, Florida.
Which slot is this individual filling?
This individual, Gilbert, is filling up the spot as the domain expert in my industry.
How I found and contacted the person
Gilbert is one of my dad's good friends that helped him build our past homes. I haven't met him since I was a baby but my dad told me about him once I mentioned my assignment. He gave me his phone number and I proceeded to contact him about filling up the domain expert slot in my industry.
The nature of exchange I have with this person
The nature of exchange I have with this person is pretty one sided: Gilbert is simply doing me a favor by helping me out and providing me with information about the industry.
How will including this person enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
This person will be essential to my operation as he will lay the foundation for my parking garages and will know all about the contracts, property laws, and things as such that goes into play with the construction of large structures.
Individual #2:
Who are they and what's their background?
The second individual I have chosen to join my force is Chance, a parking garage owner in South Beach, Miami.
Which slot is this individual filling?
This individual will be filling up the spot of the expert on my market.
How I found and contacted the person
I found this person by doing a little of research about parking garages in my area and stumbled across him on the internet.
The nature of exchange I have with this person
After briefly talking to the guy and having a friendly conversation with him, he seemed willing to help me out just for the sake of it. I asked if there is anything I can do in return and he said that he's just looking to help.
How will including this person enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
Since this person has all the knowledge and experience needed to raise a parking garage, he serves as a valuable asset and can really help me know the ins and outs of building garages such as the structural design, materials to be used, and tips for maintenance.
Individual #3:
Who are they and what's their background?
The third individual is a contractor and buildings material supplier named Miron who has been in the industry for almost 10 years.
Which slot is this individual filling?
This individual is filling the slot of an important supplier to my industry.
How I found and contacted the person
I actually found this individual through my market expert Chance, as he was in charge of providing the materials needed to build up the Chance's South Beach parking garage. I was given his number and contacted him with a phone call.
The nature of exchange I have with this person
Just like with Chance, Miron seemed enthusiastic about my idea and just wanted to help. Thus the exchange was pretty one-sided: he helped me out of kindness.
How will including this person enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
Having Miron on my team will significantly enhance my ability to exploit the opportunity as he will be the main supplier that provides all the essentials I would need to construct a parking garage. Without these materials, it wouldn't be possible to solve the unmet need of limited parking in the city of Gainesville.
Reflection:
I really feel like this experience shaped the way I would participate in any future networking events. First and foremost, it taught me how to speak to people of a higher up position and who's help I need. I feel like the communication there is a key aspect of getting a long with people and social networking. It also taught me that everyone is connected in some way or another. As such, I was able to meet Miron from my market expert, Chance. I feel like this experience taught me that networking means branching out and making new connections with different people. I have never really networked like this in the past since I've never considered a legitimate business so my networking experience does differ from that in the past.
Hello Samuel,
ReplyDeleteI believe that you did a great job identifying a domain expert, a market expert, and also an important supplier in your industry and writing a detailed summary of who they are, how was that you got into contact with them, and the nature of the exchange. I also noticed that you learned a lot from those exchanges that helped you to improve your situational and relational communication. Finally, I am glad that while in the process of writing this assignment you got to improve your business network. Great job!
Sincerely,
Javier Alfredo Felis Perez
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteGreat job with your interviews and identification of your experts and supplier. You did .a great job of finding people that were directly related and had experience in the parking industry. You seemed to have gathered a lot of valuable information from your interviews because of this. I agree with your reflection that this experience aided in presenting how our opportunities would come to life in the real world.
Best,
Reed Blevins