For this part of the assignment, I was unable to find three people that fit the parameters of the assignment for the specific industry my opportunity is in. Although I could not find three, I was able to find one personal assistant that I could do this assignment on. This personal assistant's name is Mia.
1) Who they are and what their background is.
- Mia used to be a personal assistant when she first graduated college. She went to the University of Delaware and majored in finance. She was unable to find a good job in finance so she became a personal assistant at a large financial company in New York City.
2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
- Mia would fall under the supplier category because she used to supply her assistance to the people that needed her help.
3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
- I found Mia through a family friend. She is close friends with my first cousin that currently lives in New York City with her.
4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation?
- Since she lives in New York, I was unable to have a face to face conversation with her. However I was able to have a FaceTime conversation and get all of the information I needed. She was willing to listen to my idea and thought very highly of it.
5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
- Including this person in my network will help my exploit my opportunity because she gave me a lot of good ideas as to what I need to do to succeed in the personal assistance business. She left me with a lot of good marketing ideas, along with the steps I need to go through in order to build a reputable business.
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?
- This was a great learning experience for me. It is the first time that I actually started networking for myself. I think I am walking away from this exercise with a lot of new knowledge that I am going to need in the future. Everything gets better as you practice it more, and I believe this was the first step I needed to start networking for myself more and to build a reputable organization.
Hey Max,
ReplyDeleteAs helpful as college student assistants can be, I understand how it would be hard to find many to interview. I can say this as, me nor none of my friends have ever been employed as assistants. Mia is a great example of how your assistant database could get great use in the corporate world. Your interview time with Mia via Facetime was great exposure to learning more about how your company could thrive in the business world. Great job Max!
Hi Max,
ReplyDeleteI think it's great you found Mia while conducting this assignment. Talking to someone who is a personal assistant can give you a different perspective. I never understood the importance of networking until this lesson. I also need to start networking myself because of how beneficial it can be to me and my service. Mia's knowledge and background experience will definitely help you when starting your business.