20A – Growing Your Social Capital

1. Expert in my industry.

1. The contact I have for this is Jackson, who has been working as the store clerk for M&C Army Surplus for 15 years.

2. Jackson will be the expert in my industry, because he has a lot of experience selling preventative supplies to local residents in Gainesville.

3. I found this person by walking into the front door at M&C Army Surplus (near my house) and immediately interviewing him and asking questions.

4. Jackson was able to give me valuable insight to people's needs and what drives demand locally. He explained that people around here only look for the cheapest of all prices, regardless of what quality comes with it. This means that the overall market of Gainesville is very price-conscious. However, for my product, I am more-or-less looking at the market sector of college individuals. This segment might put more of a value on their life than the general elder population of Gainesville.

5. With this information, I can split the HSK into two separate packages, one all-inclusive package for those who value quality, and one cheaper, limited package that includes less for those who value price.

2. Expert on my market.

1. The individual's name I spoke with is Collin Austin, who is the CEO of New Scooters for Less.

2. Collin has been selling scooters to college students for 10+ years and has learned the market segment in and out.

3. I found this person by visiting NS4L while my scooter was being prepared ans asked if I could interview the man in charge.

4. Collin explained to me that in order to get a good grasp on the market of college students, I must focus on customer service and ensuring that the customer had a great experience purchasing from me. He tells me that his customer retention rate is what makes NS4L so continually profitable.

5. This information is useful because now I know what college students remember when dealing with a business. I can implement features like product returns if they are faulty, or perhaps implement a survey to gauge and track customer satisfaction.

3. Important supplier in my industry.

1. The third person I established contact with is my dad, Gregg Ackerman. He is an expert in the field of IT and owns his own technology company.

2. This person is the important supplier for my product.

3. I found this person because he is my dad and all I had to do was call him up.

4. If me and my dad were to work together, he would be able to help me set-up the online shop and easily manage it with the click of a button. One of my dad's biggest business sources of revenue is e-commerce set-up and installation.

5. With an e-commerce shop, I will be able to nationally market my product online. With an e-store, I would not have to worry about having a limited customer base due to a constricted location. I would just be able to ship out my product to whoever buys it nationally.

Reflection:

This targeted networking ended up being a complete success for me. Initially, I thought it would be tough to get to question such high-up authority around local businesses. However, there seems to be an unspoken code that all small-business owners help each other out. Once I made it clear that I am an aspiring entrepreneur, everyone was very willing to help and answer any question I needed answered.