Developing a “five star” business network is not as hard as it seems. People say that to develop a powerful network requires years of hard work. However, all it requires is three things: knowledge of who you would like to develop a connection with, your purpose for connecting and knowledge of the value you can bring to his/her career and also your follow-up. The first element to building a business network is to to have a knowledge of who you want to connect with. This may sound obvious but he key element in preventing you from building a business network is confusion over which type of connection you are trying to make. If for example, you want to find a mentor for your civil engineering business you would not network with mechanical engineers. The second element to building a business network is to know the purpose of connecting. In order to get the most value from your business network, you need to know why you are connecting.

Are you looking to improve your knowledge of business network and your supply chain? Do you want to find someone with sales expertise for your business?

The third element you need to consider in developing your business network is to consider what value you can bring you to your potential connection . Do you have a unique viewpoint on social media or message that you can share? You are less likely to be able to build a “five star” business network if you do not have a ‘massive transformation’ you can bring to someone’s network. The final element you need to consider in developing a five-star business network is your follow-up. To maintain a high quality network of individuals interested in your success, you needs to follow-up and have a buy-in and have a commitment to their success as well.