Growing Your Social Capital
A. Person #1: Mauricio Suarez
1. Background: Mr. Suarez is in upper-level management at Cheney Brothers Inc. (CBI). He has been with them for over 15 years (company founded in 1925) and now oversees three regional departments.
2. "Slot": I would consider Mr. Suarez to be a domain expert in my industry. Because my business idea is so specific, I don't know of any company exactly like it. However, Cheney is responsible for stocking tens of thousands of food items and delivering them to consumers (mostly restaurants).
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents have direct contact with Cheney over the last ten years as they have been customers of Cheney and use their services for their restaurants. I asked my parents who the highest-level person they knew in the company was, and emailed him.
4. Nature of exchange: I asked Mr. Suarez about the nature of my business idea. Although he laughed and joked about the idea that I would be creating a "competitor" to his company, he said he sees a strong foundation in the idea, but that he believes the execution is much more important. "With any good idea like that, it sounds good on paper, but it's the way you actually do it that counts."
5. Network: Having someone like Mr. Suarez in my network would help my exploit an opportunity because of the people and manufacturers he works with. It could potentially open me up to a huge list of customers.
B. Person #2: Santiago Gallardo
1. Background: Mr. Gallardo is the manager at a local restaurant depot, and has been for over seven years.
2. "Slot": Mr. Gallardo fits into the "slot" of an important supplier to my industry. At his company, they supply thousands of local restaurants with their food needs. Although what I want to do is at a much smaller scale, their supply chain and methods are extremely useful to understand.
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents also buy from restaurant depot. I went with my father the last time he went to purchase food items and I asked an employee if I could interview someone for five minutes for a school project.
4. Nature of exchange: Because Mr. Gallardo was busy, I did not have time to ask about my business idea. Instead, I asked about what the resale business is like and how they keep organized with so much merchandise. Mr. Gallardo explained that it is much harder than it seems, specifically because of the organization part. They have a nationwide system that tracks inventory and pricing. He also explained that it is rewarding seeing how many local restaurants they support, even smaller family businesses!
5. Network: Having Mr. Gallardo in my network could help me understand how supply chains work and how you go from purchasing merchandise to reselling it straight to a consumer.
C. Person #3: "Steven" (last name unknown)
1. Background: Steven is the successful owner of a nationwide (some international locations) pizzeria chain.
2. "Slot": Steven is the expert of my market. He has spent his whole life building restaurants from the ground up and understand better than anyone how food comes from the manufacturer and ends up on a customer's plate.
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents are one of his franchisees and have direct contact with him. I scheduled a short phone call with him.
4. Nature of exchange: I was able to ask Steven about my business idea. He said it reminds him of his entrepreneurial spirit and that it was good to see "positive energy" during these times. He said the idea was solid, and that he has restaurants facing that exact unmet need. However, he said it would best be targeted at smaller restaurants, as larger restaurants have inventory management systems that operate nationally.
5. Network: Steven would be the best to have in my network due to the sheer knowledge and insight he has on every part of the restaurant and food industry.
D. Reflection: I will admit it was a little nerve-wracking to have these conversations, especially with an idea that you are not even 100% certain about. This will definitely help me maintain confidence in future networking events, and was definitely different in the sense that I had to seek the networking opportunity myself!
1. Background: Mr. Suarez is in upper-level management at Cheney Brothers Inc. (CBI). He has been with them for over 15 years (company founded in 1925) and now oversees three regional departments.
2. "Slot": I would consider Mr. Suarez to be a domain expert in my industry. Because my business idea is so specific, I don't know of any company exactly like it. However, Cheney is responsible for stocking tens of thousands of food items and delivering them to consumers (mostly restaurants).
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents have direct contact with Cheney over the last ten years as they have been customers of Cheney and use their services for their restaurants. I asked my parents who the highest-level person they knew in the company was, and emailed him.
4. Nature of exchange: I asked Mr. Suarez about the nature of my business idea. Although he laughed and joked about the idea that I would be creating a "competitor" to his company, he said he sees a strong foundation in the idea, but that he believes the execution is much more important. "With any good idea like that, it sounds good on paper, but it's the way you actually do it that counts."
5. Network: Having someone like Mr. Suarez in my network would help my exploit an opportunity because of the people and manufacturers he works with. It could potentially open me up to a huge list of customers.
B. Person #2: Santiago Gallardo
1. Background: Mr. Gallardo is the manager at a local restaurant depot, and has been for over seven years.
2. "Slot": Mr. Gallardo fits into the "slot" of an important supplier to my industry. At his company, they supply thousands of local restaurants with their food needs. Although what I want to do is at a much smaller scale, their supply chain and methods are extremely useful to understand.
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents also buy from restaurant depot. I went with my father the last time he went to purchase food items and I asked an employee if I could interview someone for five minutes for a school project.
4. Nature of exchange: Because Mr. Gallardo was busy, I did not have time to ask about my business idea. Instead, I asked about what the resale business is like and how they keep organized with so much merchandise. Mr. Gallardo explained that it is much harder than it seems, specifically because of the organization part. They have a nationwide system that tracks inventory and pricing. He also explained that it is rewarding seeing how many local restaurants they support, even smaller family businesses!
5. Network: Having Mr. Gallardo in my network could help me understand how supply chains work and how you go from purchasing merchandise to reselling it straight to a consumer.
C. Person #3: "Steven" (last name unknown)
1. Background: Steven is the successful owner of a nationwide (some international locations) pizzeria chain.
2. "Slot": Steven is the expert of my market. He has spent his whole life building restaurants from the ground up and understand better than anyone how food comes from the manufacturer and ends up on a customer's plate.
3. How I found/contacted them: My parents are one of his franchisees and have direct contact with him. I scheduled a short phone call with him.
4. Nature of exchange: I was able to ask Steven about my business idea. He said it reminds him of his entrepreneurial spirit and that it was good to see "positive energy" during these times. He said the idea was solid, and that he has restaurants facing that exact unmet need. However, he said it would best be targeted at smaller restaurants, as larger restaurants have inventory management systems that operate nationally.
5. Network: Steven would be the best to have in my network due to the sheer knowledge and insight he has on every part of the restaurant and food industry.
D. Reflection: I will admit it was a little nerve-wracking to have these conversations, especially with an idea that you are not even 100% certain about. This will definitely help me maintain confidence in future networking events, and was definitely different in the sense that I had to seek the networking opportunity myself!
I think it is great you were able to find professionals and suppliers in that industry. It is not always easy finding people who have expertise in exactly what you are about to do. I really liked how you utilized your parent's connections in order to branch your network out even farther. If I could ask you one question, it would be: Who did you learn the most valuable information from here?
ReplyDeleteHey Jean,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job of finding well established professionals in your field, which is something I personally struggled with. Along with that I believe the nature of your interactions went very well and allowed you to gain useful information that will help you in the future! Overall your post waa very informational and interesting to read about.