Is there anybody out there?
Grub Club, a business that organises supper clubs in unusual places with top chefs, relies on a strong network for its success. Siddarth Vijayakumar, co-founder of Grub Club, says that the company often connects with chefs and venues on Facebook.
One of the biggest companies in Grub Club’s network is Airbnb, and it was just hours after connecting online that Vijayakumar met with Airbnb to talk about arranging an event for Christmas.
“London is the worst place to be on Christmas day when you don’t have your family around. Myself and my co-founder wanted to change that, so a few Christmases ago we did something called ‘Bring Your Own Christmas’.
Airbnb provided Grub Club with a great space to rent and 30 people who were stuck in London on their own for the day attended, each bringing a dish along that reminded them of Christmas celebrations at home.
Networking groups
While social networks can be great for making initial contact, nothing beats regular face-to-face chats for building a rapport with other business owners. Networking events and local business groups can be a good avenue for forging these connections.
Sarat Pediredla, co-founder of Newcastle-based Hedgehog Lab, an app developer and technology consultancy, finds local networking groups vital for business growth.
Pediredla is a member of the north-east England group Entrepreneurs Forum, which is made up of founders and CEOs. The group, which members have to pay a subscription fee for, includes leaders from a range of businesses.
Pediredla says: “You can hear about similar problems people are facing, we chat about things such as how to get funding and how we can put the north-east on the national agenda.”
“The Chatham House Rule applies [at our meetings], which means that all the conversations can be really open and honest.” He adds that the regular entrepreneur speakers that visit the group to share their experiences are also a source of inspiration.
The forum’s members come from all across the north east, and this gives Hedgehog Labs opportunities to connect with other local business, such as a nearby advertising and marketing business. Since meeting through the forum Hedgehog Lab has worked on a joint project with the company for the travel and tourism council.
Working with like-minded brands
The most valuable business relationships are formed on shared values, as Luca Marini, founder of online fashion business, Finery, attests. He says his team keeps an eye out for brands in different industries, but with a similar ethos and customer base, to work with on events and promotions.
That has included collaborating with beauty, flower, hospitality and food brands that have a similar approach: a “focus on attention to detail and quality products”.
How does Finery pinpoint like-minded enterprises? “It comes organically,” says Marini. “We hire people that believe in Finery and act as ambassadors – they’ll say to me “have you seen this great flower brand?” And the connections blossom from there.”
Whenever Finery holds a press event they’ll carefully pick the caterer from nearby businesses they admire. This has included working with Margaret Crow, the entrepreneur behind the Hackney-based bar and restaurant, The Richmond.
It’s good to talk
For small businesses, making links with the right companies can open up untapped markets and raise their reputation, by association.
“Businesses in our network are very active on social media,” says Ben Barney, founder of Spice Origin, which sources fresh spices direct from growers in India. “We follow one another, the unique shops stock my produce, we’ve a dialogue going. I follow local food festivals and they follow me. We exhibit at the festivals so we get the benefit of that and the network that comes with it.”
Barney is scrupulous when it comes to the businesses he networks with because they are ambassadors for his brand.
“I don’t want to be a wholesaler,” says Barney. “I’m trying to link with companies like Scotia Spice because it will help tell my story. Scotia Spice does great curry kits but it’s in quite a crowded space so the idea is they buy my spice so they can start marketing their products as organic. They can say they are supporting farmers directly, allowing them and their customers to feel good about the providence of the spices.”
The power of connecting
For Barney the key to his business’ success online is being part of a conversation, and regularly reviewing other businesses that are using social networks effectively.
“A company called Has Bean coffee was very much the inspiration for the business,” says Barney. “He built his entire company on Facebook. He has a very similar ethos to what we’ve adopted. We contacted him through social media and visited his business. We talked about the challenges he faced and what worked and didn’t. It was immensely helpful in getting things right from the beginning.”
Meanwhile, Grub Club has made contact online with businesses Vijayakumar admires. “If I see a nice picture on my feed, I find out about the company and connect with them if I like what they do.
“One company I love is called Flaviar it provides high quality spirits. I found them on my Facebook feed. I dropped them a message saying I’d like to collaborate. On the back of that we have done some great events together like a spirits-paired six course dinner, it was a great event and sold out really fast.”
Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with Facebook sponsor of the Guardian Small Business Network Connected for Success hub.
