Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneurial Networks

It would be impossible to identify the first network. The concept of individuals forming groups to pursue a common purpose is ageless and fluid. From medieval craftsmen's guilds to today's political organizing on the Internet, networks have extensive reach. In the business world, the traditional "old boy" networks link boardrooms to golf courses, and chambers of commerce are a mainstay of cities and towns across America. Ethnic enclaves are evidence of a high degree of networking among immigrants who share job information, rent, transportation and countless other resources best accessed through each other. For young professionals "networking" is a buzzword that is put into gear at Friday evening happy hours in pubs across the country. On Sunday mornings at church networking is alive and well regardless of wealth or race.

Networking is everywhere. Informal or formal, personal or professional, social or business, it has touched most of us in one way or another. Nevertheless, practitioners of microenterprise development need to ask how this ubiquitous phenomenon can be harnessed to the benefit of microentrepreneurs. Does their need and ability to network differ from those of anyone else? Is not networking a natural outcome of people coming together for a common purpose (e.g., learning how to start a business)? Does networking among microentrepreneurs need special attention? Can it to be taught? Do its benefits merit program investments?

To date practitioners have addressed these questions in a somewhat haphazard fashion, having sponsored networking activities with varying degrees of success. Most flourish as an idea and fade in reality. However, the power of networking done right is like a siren call. Some practitioners have answered it with carefully designed, conscious approaches to building entrepreneurial networks among their clients, graduates, alumni and borrowers with more enduring results in terms of the network itself and the business gains for individual members. This guide surveys these efforts and highlights the lessons they offer. Establishing the rationale for a conscious approach to networking in the need to build social capital, it provides a brief overview to the diverse networking experience among microentrepreneurs. Individual chapters explore distinct types of entrepreneurial networks in detail.

Volume 6: Staying Connected: Building Entrepreneurial Networks (PDF)

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