Grow Your Network – Grow Your Business!
Networking is the process of interacting with others to exchange information that can positively impact our business or personal life. By chance, you interact with many people simply by communications that occur when one party reaches out to another. This can often occur without intent just communicating with your vendors and business associates. You might be surprised with the number of weekly opportunities, just by thinking about it. Networking with a purpose is to intentionally seek out someone with whom you believe has some knowledge or skill that may be better or different than yours in a specific area. None of us are perfect and fully informed about every topic that may be needed in our lives. When we seek out help, we should try to find someone that is at least as competent or believed to be more knowledgeable than ourselves. If you are initially less comfortable making a new contact, remember that exchanging ideas with someone who has a common interest is generally a low stress introduction since they can relate to your situation. A great start is one on one with someone you already know and trust or by attending meetings, trade shows and conferences. Both one on one situations and group settings can be valuable interactions.
My experience with over 35 years working with farmers is that most are quite honest, open, and willing to share their experiences. This is a plus. In addition, many of us who work in support roles to farmers are either still involved in farming in some capacity or at least have a background in agriculture. This gives you a huge potential pool of individuals interested in you succeeding. For many of you an open mind to learning comes naturally. Those that are comfortable with interactions find it easier to build relationships and are more willing to initiate conversations, building their personal networks quickly. Casual conversations occur daily out of necessity. Planning on enhancing your network with purpose will take more effort. If you are trying to find resources for a significant challenge, it is probably best to seek out multiple sources to get some added perspective. Be proactive and set a few goals for building a strong, broad, valuable network of knowledgeable people capable of adding to your success.
Three key people in my network are my doctor, my accountant, and my financial adviser. As part of my selection of these key individuals I established a few guidelines. I wanted some sound referrals. They needed to be mature enough to have significant work experience and to have lived through some business cycles, at least a handful of presidents, and earned some work life lessons. I also wanted them to be younger than me so it would be unlikely I would need to make a change during my retirement years. Finally, they needed to be local enough that I could jump in my truck and have a face to face regularly if needed. The remainder of my network has grown substantially over my working career. From family and college contacts through work and community relationships, to many folks met through my kid’s activities, my contact base has continued to grow. While some have provided more value to me over the years, I make a point to reach out to many of them on occasion. They undoubtedly have made new contacts as well.
While opportunities to grow your network are constant, adding some focus and intent may be more effective after your busy growing season. But don’t make this exclusive. Local test plots and field demonstrations are also great opportunities. The Michigan Agro-Expo in St. Johns in August is one of those local opportunities. Countless tradeshows, meetings and conferences are held by commodity groups, research entities, and ag focused organizations during the winter months. At Michigan Valley Irrigation we exhibit at about a dozen trade shows annually to meet with prospective and existing customers while building relationships with other exhibiting vendors. We also host a customer day annually and invite all our vendors and suppliers to build rapport with their staff and provide additional highly focused product information to our customers.
Build your personal network and keep learning. New products, new technology, and new research will continue to change the way we produce food. Your staff is important, and you are part of it. If each member of your team could add five people to their network each year, how much experience and brainpower would that add to making your operation better?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pete is the marketing manager for Michigan Valley Irrigation, having joined the company in 2016. He was raised on a dairy farm in western New York and graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in agricultural economics. His entire working career of over 37 years has been involved in agriculture. A farmer helping farmers. When away from Michigan Valley he operates, Joyful Noise Farm, a small livestock and produce farm and spends time with his family.
