Liz Barker, our Enterprise Partnership Officer, blogs about the importance of people and networking in business. With over five years experience in post, Liz says the same message still rings true. Have a read and find out for yourself!
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Business is all about people'. I quote Rupert Smith, when he said his few words at the recent celebration of 150 years of the family business, G H Smith & Son, at the Durham Ox, Crayke.
150 years, and a business in its sixth generation. It’s significant. It’s quite a thing. Without people, their business wouldn’t have stood this test of time.
The celebratory event was combined with the YO60ners networking event. G H Smith & Son generously sponsor this informal gathering of local business people, because they really do believe business is all about people. Business is all about relationships, with people. And I agree.
I’ve been an observer of business, people and networking for the five years I have worked at the Local Enterprise Partnership. I have studied how networking works in our rural area, and how valuable it is.
That old adage, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is very true. It’s because you never know, until you have a chat with someone, what it is they know that can help you. So networking, introducing contacts, sharing practical experience and knowledge is invaluable, and can even be inspirational.
I have encouraged more structured knowledge sharing at the networking-with-presentations events that I organise with the help of Hambleton District Council at their business centres. We have offered a range of topics for people to learn useful snippets of information, providing practical tips that can easily, and immediately, be put to use in their business.
It has been interesting to note which subjects garner the greatest interest. Initially we couldn’t get enough of social media and digital know how. More recently though, there has been a greater interest in topics about people.
People: you, your staff, customers, suppliers, competitors; people can be your greatest resource or could be your worst nightmare. Either way, they impact on you and your business.
In our presentations, we have shared the knowledge of local professionals who are experts in their field and also excellent, engaging speakers.
Our speakers have included HR consultants, training providers, and have also included a nurse consultant and a physiotherapist. Topics as wide ranging as how to motivate staff, how to communicate and get your message across, through to looking after mental health using mindfulness, resilience and stress management techniques, as well as caring for physical wellbeing in the workplace. All these topics have resonated with people who are running their business on their own, as well as people who employ staff.
The theme comes back to Rupert's few words: business is all about people."
If you are interested in networking, there is a calendar of events
here
If you organise networking events and would like to be listed there do get in touch with
Elizabeth.Barker@BusinessInspiredGrowth.com.
You can also find out more about Liz
here.
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