Domain expert in your industry.
- Anthony Sterino has owned and operated restaurants and other entertainment ventures for decades. Today he owns a corporation that operates various restaurants, nightclubs, amusement parks, and even a beach on the Jersey Shore.
- He fills the role of a domain expert of operating successful service and entertainment operations, and as another goal of mine is to open a restaurant he is an valuable contact to have.
- This person is a friend of my father, who also operates restaurants in New Jersey, and my father gave me his contact information.
- The exchange I had with him was simple, I explained to him about the idea I had for my restaurant and about the demographic of the area I would like to open it in and he offered my some advice as to how to make my restaurant more efficient and successful.
- This person gives me an option to exploit an advantage because he has been successful in a field that I wish to get into one day, and his network is much more extensive than mine so it would be an helpful to take advantage of his contacts.
Expert on your market.
- Alex Silverstein owns and operates a restaurant in the same area I wish to one day open mine.
- This person fills the slot of expert on my market as he operates a restaurant that applies to the same demographic as mine would appeal to. This is helpful because he can give me insight as to what types of ideas work with the certain demographic of the area.
- As he operates a restaurant where I live I have seem him around. When this assignment came up I made it a point to talk to him and ask him about how he appeals to the people in the area.
- We discussed how to appeal to people in the area. He gave me insight of what has been working for him over his time. I think it is a good relationship because he can help me start out and from my experience restaurants always thrive when others are around.
- I think this is a valuable contact because it is always good to know someone who has went down the same path you wish to go down and to have succeeded.
Important supplier to your industry.
- Stephen Elliot is a food supplier for Cysco and has been a supplier to restaurants for years.
- This person fills the role of supplier to your industry as he has been a supplier of food and restaurant products to various restaurants in the area where my parents own their restaurants.
- This person has been a business partner and a friend to my father for years so I received his contact information from my father and got in contact with him.
- In my exchange with this person I found out what kind of budgeting a normal restaurant needs to set aside for inventory to start out. What I can feel someone in this industry can get out of a relationship like mine, is the potential of future cliental.
- This network will lend itself to my advantage because even if I'm not within his territory he has a connection of sellers, and will be able to put in a good word for me, which result in me being able to make better deals for the supplies I need to start my business.
Reflection
- I think this networking experience made me feel able bit more mature and ready to step out and make my own connections, even if they were facilitated by people I know. I feel this event will lead me to more people I can make connections with in the future because you are always able to meet more people by those you already know. I think one of the only was this networking experience differed from mine in the past was that I had to go and reach out to the people I was trying to meet, instead of it being by association or coincidence.
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