20A: Growing Your Social Capital

Domain Expert:

1. Who are they, what their background is
1. Maddie, she owns a business that only employs people with disabilities
2. How is this person a "Domain Expert"?
1. She decided to open up a business that only employed people with disabilities because she saw a shortage in jobs for these people.
3. How I found and contacted this person?
1. I found this person because I was talking to my roommate about my opportunity and she told me she thought she knew of someone who did something similar. I reached out to her via Instagram.
4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation...
1. I explained to her my idea and we compared and contrasted our ideas. She told me what has worked for her and what hasn't and how we can continue to improve and work on this opportunity that we have both seen.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
1. I was able to see how her idea worked and how it could be improved on. This will allow me to see where I can further improve my idea and how I can continue to exploit different ideas for this opportunity. Having her speak to me about her experience was eye opening and showed me that a few people do see this as an opportunity.

Market Expert:

1. Who are they, what their background is
1. Her name is Nicole and she is very involved with people with disabilities and works with them multiple times a week to help prepare them for the workforce.
2. How is this person a "Market Expert"?
1. She is a market expert because she is directly involved with people with disabilities and she sees how this opportunity would open a new market for them.
3. How I found and contacted this person?
1. I have know Nicole for about 2 years now. My opportunity actually became a thing because of a group her and I were apart of that help prepare students with disabilities fro the next stage of life.
4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation...
1. Nicole just told me about the market that exists for people with disabilities and if this coffee shop became a thing, she would tell the students about the opportunity. She also told me more about the skills that these students learn and how they would be applicable to this certain setting.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
1. She was very eager about seeing how this opportunity turns out. She is willing to spread the word about it and even develop curriculum for these students that would help prepare them for this specific opportunity. Including her will help widen my range of contacts and different opinions and people on who I can contact.

Industry Supplier:

1. Who are they, what their background is
1. Her name is Ms. Marcoach and she is a teacher as a school for students with disabilities
2. How is this person an "Industry Expert"?
1. She has taught at this school for 20 years and she has seen different people go through different stages of life. She teaches these students and them tries to help them figure out the next stage of life.
3. How I found and contacted this person?
1. I found this person because I have known she is the teacher for these students. I came in contact with her by calling the school. 
4. Nature of Exchange: What they did for me, what is the return expectation...
1. She just told me about the students and how they try and prepare them for the workforce. She told me that each student is different and they all require different checkpoints and things that will prepare each of them. She just said that she would like to know how it turns out and she would be more than willing to let the parents know about the opportunity. This would help me start out with students to employ.
5. How will including them enhance my ability to exploit an opportunity?
1. She is yet another resource that I can use. I can contact her if I have questions or don't quite know how to handle different situations.

Finally: Reflect. This experience requires you to do a little 'targeted networking.' How will this experience shape how you participate in any future networking events? Did this experience differ from your networking experiences in the past? How?

• Target marketing is a hard thing to do. It was hard for me to find someone in each section because since what I offer is a service, I feel like each person is a little different than if it was a product. I think this experience will shape how I participate in future events because it has helped me find different resources and see how I will try and use them to positively influence my opportunity. I think this experience just showed me that there are more direct resources out there than what I originally thought and it helped show me how many people are interested in this opportunity and how it turns out.