How to Boost Your Networking Skills

 As an entrepreneur, having a network is a given. Your network is one of your most powerful assets if you want to be a successful entrepreneur. It requires real skills to build and nurture a good network. Great networking simply means creating relationships that will last your entire career. These here skills come in very handy in that quest. 

Get into social media: No matter how shy you are, with social media, it is easy to socialize with people. That enables you to make friends acquaintances and business contacts. LinkedIn and Facebook are very handy to use when you want to build a network of real people.

 

Keep a priority contact list: With it, you can get to know a few influential people very well. You can build a list of about 100 contact persons whom you can continuously interact with like family. This list can include the top people in various fields in your industry whom you want to get to know and then regularly reach out to. With time, you can get recommendations from some of these people to open doors for you.  Depending on the business you are in, some of these people can become clients while others could lead you to clients. That helps your network a great deal.

Run a group: You can get involved in running a trade association or networking group. That way, you’ll get to know the stakeholders well, and with time, they’ll introduce you to others. Simply running a social group on WhatsApp is helpful here.

Be sociable at events: Being sociable is a very big asset any entrepreneur can have. Anytime you get into an event, it helps to quickly strike conversations even with folks you haven’t met before. You can easily walk up to someone you know who’s speaking to people you don’t know and become part of their conversation. That gets you noticed easily if you are at home with their topic of conversation. You can also arrange to sit by strangers at meals or coffee breaks to strike up conversations with them. That helps to build your network. A follow up thereafter helps to deepen the relationship.

Speak on a panel: This can either be on Radio, TV or both. It could even be to a large physical audience. If the event you are speaking on is well publicized, you can never tell who and who are looking/listening in. Speaking on a panel gives a very good opportunity to become a thought leader and an expert in your field. People easily pick interest in you if the topic you are discussing is of interest to them. They can arrange to link up with you thereafter for further business relationships.

20 Outdoor Small Business Ideas to Get Anyone Employed

Image Credit: husqvarna.com

Many young people these days are finding it difficult to get structured employment. Many remain so for a very long time because they don’t like working in the outdoors. For those who love the outdoors, there are very many outdoor businesses you can start that let you enjoy entrepreneurship and fresh air at the same time. Below are 20 of such business ideas and they are suitable for anyone who loves working in the outdoors to get employed full time or part time.

 

Lawn Mowing Service

Many homeowners always need help to maintain their lawns. By starting a lawn mowing business, you can provide regular maintenance services to local homeowners and businesses on agreed terms and fees.

Landscape Photography

If you’ve learned how to take photographs, armed with a digital camera, you can spend your time outdoors taking photographs of the beauty of nature that you can then sell or license online to make money.

Gardening Service

Tending flowers and ornamental trees for home owners is a good business. If you are good at gardening service or you like to work more with flowers and plants other than basic grass, this is your calling.

Landscaping Service

For a good business, you can focus more on big landscaping jobs for homeowners or businesses that are looking to re-do or add some exciting landscaping elements to their outdoor spaces. If you are good at it, the pay is very good.

Lawn Cleanup Service

Even though it may be messy and not too glamorous, homeowners especially those with pets, also need a way to keep their lawns neat and free of any poops and animal messes. By providing a cleanup service for them, you get to spend a lot of time outdoors making money as a result.

Plant Nursery

If you prefer to spend your time outdoors working on growing your own plants, you can raise saplings for ornamental, decorative and fruit trees for sale from some road side gardens. This business can be very lucrative if know what you are doing.

Roadside Produce Sales

Fruits and vegetables in season sold at roadside stands is a good business opportunity. By the time you get well known in the business, you can take orders by phone then make supplies to homes and offices.

Livestock Farm

Chickens, rabbits, pigs and many other food animals can be raised in a livestock farm outdoors if you have the proper training, space and equipment. Great business idea if you know what you are doing.

Pest Control Service

You could start a pest control service where you work specifically in people’s yards and around the perimeter of their homes. With the right chemicals and equipment, you can help homeowners keep rodents, roaches, bees, termites, mosquitoes and even snakes in check

Car Washing Service

This is fairly very popular in many urban centers where many people drive cars daily. If you are good at it, you easily build up a very high customer base which keeps you busy outdoors most of the time.

Window Washing Service

This is a specialized cleaning service for homes and offices. With high rise buildings, you need special equipment and the pay is very good. People who don’t have the time, equipment, personnel or even the desire to clean their own windows can form your target customer base.

Gutter Cleaning Service

Building a business around providing gutter cleaning services can allow you to build up a base of customers all year round. Helping to clean out the gutters around their homes/offices helps the environmental sanitation efforts of such neighborhoods and you make money as a result.

Food Vending

People must always eat and many are always in a hurry. A good business idea is to sell to these people various dishes that are popular at fairs and sporting events. Ice cream, popcorn, biscuits, doughnuts, peanuts and cakes can be sold at outdoor stands at different events throughout the year.

Mobile Retail Boutique

Very many female bargain-hunters always shop here. They like to patronize mobile retain boutiques on the go. Anyone who loves retail business opportunities can set up a mobile retail shop in a camper or similar setups then hawk around areas with high human traffic like fairs and similar outdoor shopping events.

Coffee/Tea Snacks Cart

Busy people like shoppers and tourists always like to get refreshments on the go. Setting up an outdoor coffee/tea snacks cart at local sporting events or a thoroughfare that’s popular with pedestrians is a good way to get patronage.

Newspapers Stand

Setting up a newspapers stand in a very busy street corner is one great way to get employed outdoors. Your ability to call out headlines to passers by quickly gets your business noticed and patronage soars.

House Painting Service

House painting is another specialty that should give you the opportunity to spend a lot of time outside, especially if you specialize in exterior paint jobs.

Outdoor Fitness Classes

You can be a fitness expert teaching classes on the go outdoors. For fitness savvy entrepreneurs, you could start a business offering outdoor fitness classes in yoga, jogging and hiking.

Ice Cream Stand

For people who simply want to sell a product outdoors, ice cream is a popular outdoor favorite. A busy street corner or areas around event centers like stadiums are good locations for the business.

Driving School

Everyone needs to know how to drive before applying for a driver’s license. Offering driving lessons to fees-paying learners is one great way to make money working outdoors.