20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert.

• Kenneth V. owns a drive-in movie theater a county away from my hometown. It's the only drive-in theater within an hour driving distance so it's a popular attraction for teenagers and young adults because of its unique novelty. The slot I chose for Kenneth was domain expert for my industry because movie theaters, even including drive-in theaters, are among the venues included in my business concept of a food delivery app inclusive off all stadiums, theater, and other large venue events. I personally met Kenneth several years ago through my grandparents as they're friends with him from church. I asked my grandmother for his number and I gave him a call. The call didn't last too long but he was able to give me useful information about running his drive-in and working with the food vendors he provides for guests to get food and drinks from. I asked him about my product and he was in favor of my idea. He followed up with mentioning how he commonly gets feedback about long waits for the lines at his concessions and would love to use my product and counter this issue for not only his business but for other venues. Having Kenneth in my network would enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity because this opens up many opportunities such as securing other connections.

Market Expert

• Brad P. is somebody I know from my hometown. He went to school with my older brother and eventually got a degree in Marketing from FSU not long ago. The slot Brad will be filling is the market expert. I chose him for this slot because he used to have sponsorships and brand deals while he was in college and is now currently a marketing and brand ambassador for Instacart, a grocery delivery and pickup service. I contacted him through Facebook and he was quick to respond. He gave me an overview about Instacart and what they do. He also gave me insights about his role as a marketing and brand ambassador and his background with sponsorships about effective market segmentation and promoting a brand's image. I believe this was important information to know as he works for a company that deals with grocery delivery and my concept deals with food delivery at venues. Including Brad in my network would enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity is due to the fact that he already has a background with marketing promotions and is now working for a service that's concept is similar to my own. 

Supplier

• Michelle J. has a bachelor's degree in Business Management with a specialization in Supply Chain. She has business experience for roughly 10 years and has previously worked for services such as Tapingo which was eventually bought out by Grubhub. The slot Michelle would be filling is the supplier. She was recommended to me by a childhood friend who is Michelle's niece. I discovered her on Facebook as well, seeing that she's involved with food delivery services as well as other restaurants. I contacted her and she replied by first explaining about her job roles. She mainly deals with offering and securing partnership deals between restaurants and food delivery services, mainly in regionalized areas. I asked her what she thought of my business concept and she said that I would have to contact companies, stadiums, theaters, and other large-scale venues that would be able to promote my product. She believed that my product has potential and would be able to offer my product if it became a reality. Having her in my network would help me exploit this opportunity because she can sell directly to the consumers.

Reflection:  This assignment taught me the importance of networking and how it's vital for those who wish to pursue a business opportunity. I learned that you can gain positive networking connections from people you know and people you don't know. Even if you know someone who directly can't help you with your opportunity, they may know someone else who does so it taught me to get my name known to anybody as possible, you may never know if they or someone else can help you exploit an opportunity. It does differ from what I used to network in the past because email was my main source of communication whereas in this assignment I used Facebook and phone calls.