Why Networking Is Important for Business Owners

Why is networking important for business owners? Because it’s the best way to build know, like, and trust. Your network is the community that supports you through the good, bad, and ugly of business. It is where you’ll find the support and suppliers you need.

It’s your little black book of tried, tested, and recommended contacts. And it can help alleviate the loneliness many business owners feel. My network is in my phone, sending me WhatsApp messages about anything but business. They are the people I turn to when I need help, support or a lift – my marketing team and clients.

I even met my husband networking. A guaranteed outcome? Not one I’d put my name to, but I can name other couples who met the same way, like James and Kelly West, founders of ONLE Networking. 😄

I can switch off my marketing, but NOT my networking.

I can pause every other channel. Emails, ads, the lot, off, and the business keeps ticking over. As long as I stay consistent with my networking and the activities that make it successful, like the one-to-ones outside of the meeting.

And if I’m honest, LinkedIn is the other thing I would never switch off, because it helps collapse the time between meeting someone and them becoming a client, a referrer, or an awesome buddy. Another way to stay connected outside the room.

The benefits of networking for business

I’ve been networking for over twenty years, and I’ve run networking groups for a good chunk of that time. So when I say the benefits go further than most people expect, I’m not guessing. I’m telling you what I’ve watched happen, over and over, including in my own business and life.

It’s the same thread I keep coming back to when I talk about what makes a good coach. It’s not the framework, or the qualification on the wall; it’s trust. People don’t work with a coach because of a clever process; they work with someone they trust enough to be honest with. Networking runs on the same currency. People buy from conversations, and the trust built often happens outside of the meeting and talking about business. Get that right, and the rest follows.

My three top tips for successful networking

1. It’s relationship building, not selling
   Walk into a room to sell, and people feel it. They switch off. Walk in to build a genuine connection, and selling becomes something that happens later, almost by accident. Before you go anywhere, it’s worth being honest with yourself: are you turning up to sell, or showing up to build relationships?
2. Not every room is the right room
   One good room beats five random ones. Choose based on where your ideal connections actually are, test before you commit, and then be consistent. That consistency is what makes networking work, online or in person.
3. Show up, don’t just turn up
   Arrive on time, stay the whole session, listen more than you talk, be present. It sounds obvious written down. But it’s the difference between a room that works for you and a room that’s just another line in your diary.

Making it work for you

Why I network online
Face-to-face has its place, but online is where I do most of my networking now, and it’s not just about convenience. There’s no right or wrong; it’s what works for you, in person, online, breakfast, lunch or after work. Decide where you can be consistent and start showing up.

A few reasons it works so well:

• No geography, no time zones, no travel, which would have saved me more than one embarrassing sprint across a school playground when my kids were little.
• Diverse opportunities. A wider mix of people and sectors than you’d get in one local room, which tends to make the conversations and the follow-ups more natural.
• Efficient and intentional. No coffee cups to juggle, no lunch to eat one-handed. Just focused time that fits around a business, not the other way round.
• Global reach. Different perspectives, different ways of working, connections that wouldn’t exist if everyone had to be in the same postcode.

Have a purpose
Know who you help and what problem you solve, and go in looking for ways to add value rather than counting conversations. Networking with purpose grows your business. While networking for the sake of being seen mostly just fills your diary.

Build a process, then be consistent
Without a process, follow-up gets forgotten, and opportunities quietly disappear. With even a simple one, capture the connection, nurture the relationship, move it forward, and networking stops being random and starts being a genuine driver of business results. Small, regular actions beat one big push every time.

An Invitation

Networking doesn’t work if you see it as a task to tick off. However, it DOES work when you treat your network the way you’d treat any other relationship in your business: with intention, attention, and follow-through.

I host two ONLE groups, Wiltshire and Basingstoke. Communities of people who notice when you need a lift, who share opportunities freely. A network that leads with relationship stands to have a huge impact on your business, and, as it turns out, on your life.

If you want to see what I mean, you’re welcome to book a free guest visit to ONLE Wiltshire or Basingstoke.