Extending your network lies at the heart of Linked In and yet the thought of it makes most of us cringe for various reasons. However, the evidence for the value of targeted networking is piling up and we are taking advantage of that in our Mastering 9 Conversations project supporting refugees who want to start a business. The tool of relationship mapping has revealed that those children who have contacts with higher income peers than themselves go on to have higher incomes in later life. In the academic field, research has shown that young academics who co-author with leaders in their field advance more quickly in their academic careers.
One reaction may be, what happened to meritocracy? But we have to recognise the reality of what these studies are telling us and extend the advantages of targeted networking to those who might benefit.
The 9 Conversations project started after observing that some refugees to the EU wanted to start, or restart in some cases, their own business, but suffered from lack of knowledge of their new home. For refugees who are on limited visas that can be revoked at any time for law breaking, it is especially important to be aware of tax laws, banking rules, food hygiene regulations and so on.
The project developed a programme which would support refugees in being able to describe their business ideas and to meet local experts who could help them in the right direction. The refugee community is often tight knit with a great deal of mutual help but links to the local community can be weak and this is what we sought to strengthen.
In the new Mastering 9 Conversations project, we are strengthening the original 9 Conversations programme as well as developing a train the trainer course for organisations which would like to offer it.
Initially we looked on the 9 Conversations in both projects as merely a reference to the Business Model Template that is at the heart of our programme. But as time goes on, we recognise more and more the value of extending the locally anchored network, not just for the sake of knowledge that will keep your business on the straight and narrow but as an essential step to stability and growth of the proposed business.
