by Suneet Shivaprasad, CEO & Founder of Startup And Grow Event List (SAGElist)
At the moment there are more than 8.6 million people in London going about their daily lives. 8.6 million people deciding on what to wear or eat today. 8.6 million people choosing whether to walk, cycle or drive. 8.6 million people making decisions.
If you have a business or you have developed a product you only need a tiny fraction of those Londoners to choose you and your product in order to be successful.
Opportunity Is Everywhere!
All too often it is easy to be swallowed up in the minutiae of running a business; trying to cut procurement costs or figure out how the latest legal regulations will affect you. Product development is no easier, as choice of colour and testing feedback can lead you into increasingly frustrating loops.
It is in this cycle of trying to improve your product or service that letting people into your problems becomes more and more important.
Among the populace of London there exists the people who will fill in the gaps in your knowledge, who will help you solve the most indecipherable problems, who will willingly buy what you are selling and recommend you to others.
Marketing Is Good But The Personal Touch Is Better!
While the advent of social media and the internet as a whole has enabled entrepreneurs to compete with the established powerhouses of known brands, nothing can compare to meeting someone face to face.
It is in the companionship that you share with another person that valuable relationships can be built and the burden of creating value in a concept that you dreamed up can be dispersed.
I have found that the most valuable lesson I have learned while running my own business and working with other entrepreneurs is that going to events is a requisite to finding opportunities that you didn’t know existed.
It is nothing new to suggest that networking can be valuable but this only applies to selective networking.
Look For Opportunities In The Common Ground That You Share!
Figure out what problems you need to solve. Then look for events where there are speakers trying to teach you how to solve that problem. The common ground that you share with the audience will lead to valuable opportunities opening up.
With London boasting a plethora of events, try and attend at least 1 or 2 of these events every week and see how the landscape changes.
