Are you an entrepreneur who can’t wait to start a business but feels like it just requires too much social interaction? It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all have different personalities and preferences, and sometimes it can feel like our personalities limit our ability to see business success. This comes up a lot when people think about networking.
Investopedia defines it as ‘The exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or special interest, usually in an informal social setting’. However, they also point out that you don’t have to be an extrovert to create a social network.
So, even if your networking and people skills are poor, or if you’re particularly introverted, it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy entrepreneurship. In this article, we’ll look at how and why a lack of networking skills shouldn’t keep you from building your dream business. Let’s jump right in.
Embrace the Beautiful Skill of Delegation via Services and Employees
So many good entrepreneurs aren’t experts in the areas that they’re responsible for. The fact is that as an entrepreneur, you need to zoom out and take a 10,000-foot view of your role. For the most part, you are an organizer and a leader.
More importantly, you live in a time when you don’t really need specific, operational knowledge to be effective. So many business owners in ecommerce use an AI website builder service to create their online stores, even though they barely understand the process behind it.
As Hocoos points out, you just need to answer a few questions about what you’re looking for, and that’s it. It’s the same way with skills like networking or outreach. If you feel like you lack the skills, there’s always a solution or way to counter your weaknesses.
Typically, there are two ways to go about these challenges as an entrepreneur. The hardworking way would be to take a networking course and slowly improve your skills. It’s worth it in the long run, but the smart way would be to simply employ an executive who already excels at this skill.
Play to Your Strengths
Okay, sometimes delegating might not be an option at all. Maybe you’re going the solo-preneur route or don’t have the budget to hire additional staff. If that’s the case, it’s a good idea to stop focusing on your weaknesses and start playing to your strengths.
Experts also recommend doing the same. A piece in It’s Your Yale highlights research, which found that when people focus on strengths over weaknesses, they have a better chance at winning.
But what does all this look like? Well, it would first require you to be a little self-aware. Think about what you are actually good at, if not networking. Think about all the strengths you can boast of in a business context and write them down. You might recognize that your strength lies in online instead of offline networking. Focus on that.
We live in a time of asymmetric business models. The disruptors have gained much power from understanding that you don’t have to do things by the book so much anymore.
Sure, attending trade shows and conferences is always going to be helpful, but if your strengths lie elsewhere, gladly follow them.
Consider an Attraction Strategy instead of a Chasing Strategy
One potentially interesting way to counter the challenge of networking is to simply change your business strategy. It’s easy to forget that so many businesses today put zero effort into traditional networking. The logic behind why it can work is based on the classic ‘show-don’t tell’ motto.
Let your work and testimonials do the heavy lifting so that you don’t have to raise a finger for traditional networking. Instead, the results and service that you provide are at such a level that they attract leads and potential partners on their own.
As Indeed.com explains, there are five steps to this process. These include sharing a story, curating content for the target audience, building trust, using your brand’s voice, and demonstrating the value of your product.
Long story short, networking isn’t for everyone, but it doesn’t mean you’re immediately out of luck. As we’ve learned today, your options include delegating the responsibility, focusing on your strengths, and even flipping the script to not require networking at all.
As long as you bring an open mind along with some positive thinking, you’ll be surprised at how far you can go without skills like networking.
