How to Connect with Other Small Businesses?
If you want to open your business up to multiple collaborations and opportunities, you will need to network. You also don’t need to live in a big city to build professional relationships with other companies or entrepreneurs. Here is how to connect with other small businesses.
Be Active on Social Media
The internet has the power to connect small companies and professionals from all over the globe. So, you could connect with another organization in the comfort of your home office in the middle of nowhere. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, connecting more than 500 million users. So, you’re making a big mistake if you’re not on the social media network, which has the power to connect your business with many like-minded brands that share your goals and values.
Schedule a Coffee Meeting
While the internet can connect you with millions of professionals, you should still utilize traditional networking tactics to build solid connections. For instance, once you’ve connected with another small company, arrange a coffee meeting with the owner or a senior member of staff to discuss a potential collaboration. It is a casual yet professional way to sit down, chat, and see if there are any mutually beneficial opportunities to be had. For example, you could exchange services, or you could launch a joint marketing campaign to reach a wider audience, improve brand awareness, and increase profitability.
Pitch to the Right People
If you have an offer you believe another small business couldn’t possibly refuse; you will want to pitch a proposal to the right person. It can, therefore, be disappointing to draft a pitch, spend hours finding the right person’s contact details, only to discover the email is no longer active. Instead, you should use an email address verifier to ensure it is still active, so you are confident it will appear in the right person’s inbox.
Reconnect with Past Colleagues
You can guarantee there will be people from your past who will have gone onto bigger and better things in their career. The person who once sat across from you at a desk could now be a CEO or director of a company, which is why you should attempt to reconnect with past colleagues, so you can professionally build on the established relationship. It’s often not what you know but who you know in business. So, browse your social media followers’ profiles and reconnect with past friends and colleagues via LinkedIn to see if there is a mutually beneficial opportunity.
Attend Corporate Events
Many people view corporate events as boring or formal, but you should view them as an opportunity to expand your business, which can be exciting. It is easily one of the best ways to meet many local business owners, so you could develop multiple professional relationships in one day, so it could be an excellent use of your time. However, you must follow up after the event, so drop a connection a message via email or social media before arranging a coffee meeting.