Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1.    Edwin, a pet nutrition specialist at a local veterinarian office.

2.    He has extensive knowledge about which foods provide the most appropriate nutrients for pets and the best ways to consume them.  

3.    I called local veterinarian offices and asked about the best approach for my pet’s nutrition until I eventually found Edwin.

4.    I explained my business idea and asked for advice in regard to my approach, in regard to the types of ingredients and preparation of the meals.   

5.    Having Edwin in my network will enhance my ability to provide customers with sound knowledge regarding their pet’s diet and how it relates to their ultimate well-being.

Market Expert:

1.    Amanda, a local salesperson, specializing in products for pets.

2.    She has experience in working with pet owners to determine what organic products best suit their pet(s).   

3.    Amanda and her team have a booth at a local farmers market where they offer organic homemade dog snacks and accessories, including collars and leashes.

4.    I explained my business idea and asked for advice in regard my target audience and how much of a demand there really is, or in other words, how much people are actually aware/interested in their dog’s health/diet.

5.    Having Amanda in my network will benefit my business greatly, as she can provide me with an already conscious and interested customer base and also market my products to her customers.

Industry Supplier:

1.    Frank, a local pet food supplier, who has extensive knowledge about supplying local business with more freshly sourced foods.

2.    He travels around Orlando and supplies local pet stores with their orders of pet food.    

3.    Frank provides organic pet food to my local pet shop, and the owner was kind of enough to put in me contact with hum.

4.    I explained my business idea and asked for his opinion in regard to my business idea. He explained that there certainly was a market for it and explained that the delivery element of the idea would be very appealing to customers, as it would be taking his job one step further.

5.    Having Frank in my network will benefit my business greatly, as he can aid me in reaching customers who already have set their expectations on delivery.  

Finally: Reflect. 

·       This was a relatively easy assignment, as there are multiple communities in my local areas that are semi-conscious about the realities of commercial pet food and the dangers they pose, which provided me with great people to interview. Moving forward, I would take the same approach for networking, as it proved beneficial this time around. If I had a more rare/difficult to relate to type of product than I could foresee having to search around more.