Growing Your Social Capital

Social Capital 

1)  Jaco de Witt -- a South African coffee shop entrepreneur.
2) This person is filling the spot as the domain expert, as he also centered his coffee shop around a social business model.
3) I found the person while reading online about the rise of social entrepreneurship, and how he was able to develop his socially-conscious coffee shop "Roast Republic" through bootstrapping.
4) The nature of the contact is an e-mail regarding my business plan of creating an environmentally-conscious, atmospheric coffee shop -- such as attaching my elevator pitch -- and receive feedback.
5) Including this person in my network would help me understand the nature behind creating a successful social coffee shop -- i.e, how to offer people an opportunity to do something good as they go about their daily purchases.

1) Andrew Hetzel -- a coffee market expert and consultant with specializations in international trade and value chain.
2) This person is filling the spot of market expert -- as he has profound understanding of coffee value chain development, trade, marketing, and consulting for private and public businesses in the coffee industry around the world.
3) I found this person's online Linkedin profile that showcases his areas of expertise regarding the coffee industry and international markets.
4) The nature of the contact is also an e-mail of my business plan to create a socially-conscious coffee shop -- but asking for insights on operations and management plans, along with marketing strategies.
5) Including this person in my business network would allow for a greater understanding of the logistical side of running a quality coffee shop. Having a consultant in my networks would be beneficial for guidance on operations, management, marketing, overall business development and trade.

1) Sweetwater Organic Coffee Co., an organization that partners with international coffee growers and roasts their own coffee to supply to local coffee businesses in Gainesville, Florida.
2) This company would fill the spot of being the supplier due to their coffee supplying services.
3) I found this company while researching online the variety of coffee suppliers in the local area.
4) The nature of the contact is reach out to this organization -- preferably getting a response from the person in charge of business partnership and relations -- and explaining my business concept and receiving feedback, such as whether or not they would be willing suppliers.
5) Having a network with the Sweetwater Organic Coffee Co. would be very beneficial as a start-up local coffee shop, I would need a nearby and reliable supplier. Furthermore, their company has similar philosophies and values to mine -- partnership with small scale and local farmers, using organic and sustainable harvesting, and fostering eco-awareness within the community. The alignment of business values is important when developing meaningful networks.


Reflection -- This experience of targeted networking was very beneficial, as it helped me outline the niche that I should keep in mind when fostering networks and business relations. In the past, I would always network with everyone I came across, as I felt like everyone I met could have something to offer when it comes to business. To a certain extent, I still have this mindset in believing that there is something that every individual can offer -- however this practice really helped me see the importance of more narrow and specific networking to get people with the highest expertise in your business's domain and sphere, especially as you move forward in the entrepreneurial process.