20A – Growing Your Social Capital

Since my idea revolves around tutoring people to make them more familiar with technology, I have made contact with the following people to build my idea:

• I've made contact with a professor who currently teaches at a college campus. He would be the domain expert since he has experience in the methods of teaching to students. This professor was relatively easy to contact because I was a student in one of his classes and found that he teaches material very well. I believe this connection will help me develop some teaching skills that will prove to be useful when I or other tutors teach.
• The second contact I've made was with a human resource recruiter for the Synovus Bank. I've met this person before for other purposes and found that her expertise in HR will prove beneficial to my idea, thus making her a supplier to my teaching industry. Since my idea requires tutors and the recruitment of them, understanding how to hire and manage teams effectively is an important aspect to consider when starting this industry.
• The third person I contacted is an expert in the market. Since my industry has an emphasis on senior adults, I've contacted a representative of a senior retirement community. With this connection, I hope I can learn ways of better understanding where the majority of my customers. Perhaps he can bridge my services I am offering to his represented community as well as promote my idea to the community.

After attempting three contacts, I found that it was overall not too difficult. The only thing I found most difficult was trying to search for contacts who had expertise in an area. As my example demonstrates, it was helpful to make contact with people I have already met. It proves helpful to know people who you may contact again in the future.