It was a good networking event last night. I didn’t meet any networking horrors (thank goodness), but I did meet someone who made it very difficult to help him, and I wanted to post briefly about that.
He’s a small business owner who wants to expand his business to working with the federal government. He’s been talking to some people at a small business development center, and they suggested he partner with a larger organization until he gets a track record with the government. He asked my opinion of that advice. I said I thought it was sensible, and I offered to connect him with a resource that could link him up with some prime contractors looking for subs.
It wasn’t the help he wanted. He asked me “What would you advise if I wanted to go it on my own?” I asked a few more questions try to figure out how to help him, but I finally had to walk away. The longer I spoke with him, the more I realized that he was looking for a particular answer. He wanted someone to tell him that he could be successful by bucking the trend of the good advice he had received. He was looking for a magic bullet that would allow him to break into a new market without working at it or paying his dues.
Life rarely works that way.
I had to compare him to someone else I met at the same event who wants to break into a new market. He doesn’t have experience in that market, but he’s willing to intern with a company to get the experience he needs. The second gentleman understands how it works. I can probably get him an introduction to a company where he can intern.
Looking at these two people, both wanting to do basically the same thing, but going about it in very different ways, reminded me that success is rarely a straight and narrow path. Our road sometimes veers in odd directions. That’s part of the fun of the journey.
So be open to the different paths. And when someone offers you sensible advice, don’t ignore it just because it isn’t exactly what you wanted to hear.
Tags: Networking, Networking Events