A large and important part of becoming a successful entrepreneur is making connections with other people, from potential customers and suppliers to employees and investors. And while digital communication has made life a lot easier, nothing can replace actually going out and meeting people face-to-face.
Clear Books, which provides cloud accounting software, was founded by chartered accountant Tim Fouracre in 2008 with old friends that he used to work for. This connection turned out to be extremely fortuitous as the company has gone from strength to strength and now employs over 40 people.
This growth itself was also due to strong personal connections. The Clear Books team grew organically through recommendations from existing employees. As we all know, recruiting mistakes can prove especially costly for small businesses, so it’s wise to really get to know someone before making a hiring decision. Receiving a personal assurance of someone’s suitability or credentials is invaluable in these circumstances.
And it doesn’t stop there. Networking and making connections never comes to an end if you want your business to keep growing. You just never know when your network will prove useful. Through networking and attending industry events over the years Clear Books has met advisers, shareholders, partners, customers and suppliers that would never have been discovered from behind a computer screen.
With this in mind, here’s five reasons why you should attend business events and promote yourself and your business in person as much as possible:
1. The power of body language is invaluable
More than half of communication is nonverbal and communicated via your movements or facial expression. If you meet a potential customer or business contact in person, communicating face to face allows you to read their level of interest more accurately and adjust the conversation or pitch as required.
2. It saves you time
Rather than spending months swapping phone calls or sending emails back and forth, one quick face-to-face meeting can seal a deal in moments. It may seem like more work to take time out of the office to meet people, but a personal connection can make for stronger relationships – faster.
3. It helps get your business out there
It’s clear that social media has become a vital networking and promotional tool, but with so many competing voices it’s easy for your message to get lost. Talking to someone in person makes it much more likely that you’ll have a captive and receptive audience for your ideas. As the old saying goes: ‘people buy from people’, and this is no less true in the age of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
4. Interactive learning is the most effective kind
We learn more by actively doing than passively watching, which is why demonstrating your product or service in person is more effective than doing it remotely. Similarly, if you’re looking to learn or improve your own business skills, attending an interactive seminar or workshop can help you retain more information.
5. Your business will stand out
These days everyone tends to communicate with a quick text, email or instant message. If you make it your goal to go out and meet people, you and your business will stand out, have more impact and create more meaningful connections. This also applies to making yourself known on the speaking and exhibiting ‘circuit’. It’s for these reasons that we’ve set up Clear Books’ first ever Community Exhibition. Our goal is to save small businesses time and also to build a community where entrepreneurs can come together to share ideas and the experiences that only they understand.
