Starting a Business? Why You Need to Know the Basics of Business

Effective networking is another skill often undervalued in entrepreneurship. Building a strong contact database and being the one who knows a guy provides advantages beyond the expected. Networking incorporates a number of skills, from interpersonal communication to managing your time. If you are looking to grow your business and become a leader in your business community, you need to master the art of networking.

Entrepreneurs wield a significant amount of power in our society, but only if they develop a reputation as knowledgeable, successful, competent and business owners. Simply running a business that turns a profit is not sufficient. Rather, you have to put yourself out there to develop a positive reputation. The old adage it's not what you know but who you know is still accurate in the business community, and the better and more broad your contacts, the better chance of your venture has strong growth.

A major advantage to expanding your circle of contacts is knowing who to go to for advice or help as your business grows and develops. Everyone you meet has a particular talent, skills, or knowledge that can be useful. Getting to know a broad range of contacts and their abilities Identifying pays off in two important ways. First, you will have a resource for just about any problem you run into, business related or not. Second, as you network with others and hear the issues they are dealing with, you will have resources to help them out as well. A reputation as a problem-solver does not mean you necessarily solve all the problems yourself, but that you know a guy who can. With a reputation as the go-to person, others will think of you first when people need what you offer as well!

Effective networking requires practice for most people. There are some who are Naturals at getting others to open up and chat, those that leave a good, strong impression under all sorts of circumstances. The rest of us need

to work to develop the skills to master the art of networking. Striking a balance between talking about yourself and listening to others is critical, as is drawing a bright line between work and personal information. Your image is going to be inextricably linked to your company's image, and managing that image is a critical aspect of networking.

Finding the time to network correctly can be difficult for business owners. Your to-do list is likely to include hundreds of tasks at any given time and your attention will be constantly pulled in multiple directions. Still, it is essential to the long-term growth and health of the business that networking remains a priority. Simply attending a monthly gathering with the same dozen people is not sufficient. Rather, specific objectives should be established for every networking opportunity, and one of those goals should be to add a certain number of new contacts from every event.

One of the best investments for any business owner is contact management software. Programs like ACT! provide an easy to use framework for keeping track of who you know and what you know about them. Its primary use is for tracking customer data, but savvy entrepreneurs use the program to keep track of all sorts of useful networking information.

Never underestimate the power of effective networking. Develop your verbal business card and share what you are doing with everyone you meet, then be quiet and listen to what they have to offer. September yourself up for networking success by honing your skills Conversational and finding appropriate networking opportunities. Get involved, because networking the right way will increase your bottom line.

About the Author - K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur with a J.D. from Duke University, is founder of www.LaunchX.com and blogs about starting a business. Read more about the basics of business startup and our website and learn more about the LaunchX System, a complete business startup kit that helps you learn the basics of networking while starting a business.