Networks and Networking

The networks of a woman entrepreneur resemble a sphere. She is at the center, the essential core, connecting not only to subordinate managers but also to her employees on the organizational surface. In turn, they link to their neighbors and network to others more distant. The intricate links form a graphic; they are a means of unleashing the energy of all.


I began the network chapter in my book Careerpreneurs (p. 61) with this image for a reason. Networking is not an afterthought, something to be done after more important matters are attended to. It is a way to add value to your business. As Lois Weisberg, the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of Chicago said, it is the way to forge the links that allow one to stand “at the intersection of different worlds, connecting people, creating opportunities, and spreading ideas.”

There is abundant evidence of the benefits of cultivating value-adding networks. Some begin with the cultivation of everyday relationships with people who are skilled, informed, and rich in resources and connected to others. As Justin Lahart recently noted in a Wall Street Journal article describing innovative companies such as Accio Energy of Ann Arbor, the bright spot in the Michigan’s economy,

“Accio Energy got its start in 2007 based on plans two of the founders [engineers Dawn White and David Carmen] hatched at Zinger man’s Deli, Ann Arbor’s renowned gourmet-food destination.”
“Arco got some of the seed money for the three-person start-up from Mary Campbell, an area venture capitalist who met Ms. White in a running group. Jeffrey Bausch, a former General Electric automotive development manager, is Cacao’s general manager. Ms. White met him while helping shuck corn at an organic produce company that Mr. Bausch’s wife, another former Ford engineer, started and Ms. White helped fund.” (“Ann Arbor and Warren: A Tale of Two Economies,” WSJ May 26, 2009, p. A14)

Such joinings appear to be serendipitous accidents, but they are anything but. It is through networks that a businesswoman can exchange vital information about resources, potential partners, joint relationships and more.

There are four general types. Personal networks are developed on the basis of personal bonds and relationships. Professional networks (the XYZ Business Association) have the advantage of offering renewed energy in your business field. Formal organizational networks (Chamber of Commerce) provide open ways of getting and receiving information. Opportunistic networks (the illustration above) are created when people come together and individually decide there is a payoff in continuing the association.

Because the value-added dimension of network affiliation comes from the quality and level of information exchanged, working to develop contacts with such strategic interest groups as customers, suppliers and investors is important. The beginning can be business roundtables, chambers of commerce, industrial councils and other loosely structured federations of business leaders or affiliations in economic development organizations or, as in the example above, simply mixing with energetic people in a vibrant community.

Researchers commonly; agree that networks are most valuable when one enters them without expecting an immediate benefit. But because time is a precious commodity, not to be easily relinquished, the entrepreneur must continually decide which networks are valuable and worth the investment.

Deciding which networks to cultivate and which to drop can be done by making a personal assessment (Careerpreneurs, pp. 86-87)

Is this network worth my time and energy?
Do I have time to cultivate key relationships in this network?
Can I take the risk of not developing this networking opportunity?
How attractive are the members and the businesses they represent?
What is the network affiliated with that I value?
What are the collective opportunities that I cannot acquire otherwise?
Is there a sense of exchange among members?
If the network contains competitors, what is their impact on my business?
What exciting programs does the network provide that are unavailable elsewhere?
What do I bring to the table?
What do I have to offer in exchange for what I gain?
What is the personal payback to my business and my profession?
Is this network too large or too small to be useful?
Is this the kind of network I need at this stage of my business growth?
Do I create connections with people in trade, professional and social organizations?
With how many people do I discuss business matters?
How much time do I spend developing and maintaining contacts?
Do I reach out beyond personal friends and people I have known for some time?
How frequently do I interact?

Finally, it is important to know the density and diversity of your present networks, meaning how many of the people you know also know each other? If the answer is 50 percent or more, there is too much in-groups activity. You can benefit from expanding your network options and leaving time for the chance meetings and random activities that can generate opportunities.

Lowcountry Women Entrepreneur’s Success Blog
Author: Dr. Dorothy Perrin Moore


Author Biosketch:

Dorothy Perrin Moore is an Emeritus Professor of Business Administration at The Citadel School of Business, where she held the title of Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. She is the author of Careerpreneurs-Lessons from Leading Women Entrepreneurs on Building A Career Without Boundaries, which received the ForeWord Magazine Book-of-the-Year Gold Award in the field of Business. She is the coauthor of Women Entrepreneurs--Moving Beyond the Glass Ceiling, now in its seventh printing, and has published some 68 refereed journal articles, book chapters, proceedings and technical reports, in addition to numerous professional conference presentations and practitioner writings. A former entrepreneur, she received her Ph.D. in Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management from the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. She is a recipient of the Academy of Management, Women in Management Division’s Sage Janet Chusmir Award for outstanding service as mentor, scholar, and role model; a recipient of the Division’s Sage Scholarship Award for outstanding contributions to research on gender in organizations; a Justin G. Longenecker Fellow in the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship and a recipient of a Certificate of Achievement as the Women in Business Advocate for South Carolina from the Small Business Administration. Her most recent book, coauthored, Island in the Storm, Sullivan’s Island and Hurricane Hugo, earned the Bronze Award in the 2006 ForeWord Magazine Book-of-the-Year awards for regional works. Professor Moore remains actively involved in developing programs and conducting research on women entrepreneurs and has served for the past eight years on the Center for Women Board. In 2010, her chapter on Women as Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners, will be published by Sage Publications in the volume on Gender and Women’s Leadership. For more information see: http://faculty.citadel.edu/moore/.