Growing Your Social Capital

Paul 

1. Paul works closely with the manager of Hertz in Orlando. He is active in the car business and has been since 1997.

2. Paul would be a domain expert. He knows the ins and outs of renting vehicles and what sort of packages are required along with insurance and estimated pricing. Technically he would be really beneficial for the type of company I want to start because all of feedback I have received recommends analyzing a current car rental company. 

3. Paul is a long time friend of one of my dad's business partners so he has been within my network for a while.

4. I got to talk to Paul and get insight on how a car rental company was run and what the expectations were to run a successful car rental company. I really just wanted his time, and hopefully I can apply the knowledge that I gained regarding my venture to my business. 

5. Not only will he provide me with a plethora of information, but he will be there when I need a helping hand regarding the technical aspect of my company which will be quite often. I know a lot about cars, but not necessarily car rental businesses.

Peter

1. Peter has been paralyzed from the waist down since he was 19. He currently runs his own non-profit Orlando Children's Church.

2. Peter would be my market expert. Not only is he a potential customer and fits my demographic but he has so many connections with other wheel chair organizations were I could really delve deeper into research regarding people who would be in need of a wheelchair van.

3. Peter's children went to my school and I volunteered at his non-profit every Saturday so he has been a long time family friend. My dad also bought him one of his wheel chair vans.

4. Peter gave me multiple contacts to expand my network within the wheelchair community. In return I hope to take advantage of these contacts and fully understand every need that they would expect when it comes to renting a wheel chair van.

5. Not only is this person within my network but he has expanded it greatly. Having all of these other people that are now included in my network and fit my demographic, I have the potential to make a lot of these people first time customers of my business.

Mike

1. Mike has been a dealer located in North Carolina since 2002. He specializes in wheel chair vans.

2. Mike would be the supplier. It's simple, he's had years of experience in the industry and would be beneficial for buying the inventory to start up the business.

3.Mike and my dad have worked together closely over the past decade so he, again, has been someone who is already within my network.

4. Mike was able to give me ballpark prices from a wholesaler perspective and then retail providing me with all the possible margins. Having these potential numbers in my back pocket will enable me to generate a good estimated cost required to start up the business.

5. Again, he could potentially be the buyer for my business or at least be able to refer me to other wheel chair van dealers. 

Reflect: This experience showed me the true benefit of knowing the right people and networking. The more people you know the more people you acquire in your network and the more diverse the group is. Knowing how successful they have been in their ventures has provided me with so much passion and confidence to do the same with their professional insight. This differed because I was specifically targeting them because I have a structured business plan put together. I was eagerly looking for their advice and expertise regarding this specific venture.