In This Edition:
Your network plays a huge role in determining how fast you grow, how well you navigate challenges, and whether you're still standing in year five
How to map your current network and strategically build the relationships that will accelerate your growth
You can't build a business in isolation. The people around you determine how fast you grow, how well you navigate challenges, and whether you're still standing in year five. Customer are only one piece of the puzzle. The right network opens doors, provides answers when you're stuck, and keeps you moving forward when everything feels impossible.
Your network can be organized into four categories: Customer, Connector, Mentor, Support Crew. Understanding each of these personas can unlock the keys to building these critical relationships.
Customers
Customers are the people you serve, and the key is understanding them at a depth most people skip. Don't build your business on assumptions about what customers want. Meet your ideal customers where they are, ask questions, and learn the real problems they face.
While building/launching: Have coffee with 50+ people who fit your ideal customer profile. Learn their daily frustrations, their workarounds, their budgets. Your job isn't to pitch. It's to listen until you can describe their problem better than they can.
While maintaining/growing: Create regular touch points with your customers to ensure you're still delivering what they need. Ask what's working, what's frustrating them, and what they wish you'd build next. Your roadmap should be guided by their evolving needs, not your assumptions about what comes next.
Connectors
Connectors are your force multipliers. A solid connector doesn't just make introductions; they turn their connections into real business for you. The key is ensuring this relationship is symbiotic. You need to deliver results so they look good for the introduction. I've had multiple connectors bring me into 3-4 different companies they have worked with. It’s win-win when they know you’ll deliver the results they need.
Action item: Identify 3-5 connectors and deliberately stay in touch quarterly. Share wins, ask how you can help them.
Mentors
Mentors can saves you years of trial and error. They've already made the mistakes you're about to make, navigated the challenges you're facing, and can spot the blind spots you can't see yet. A good mentor doesn't just give advice; they help you think through decisions, validate your direction, and connect dots you didn't know existed. You don't need a formal mentorship program. You need people willing to answer questions when you're stuck. Look for one of the following attributes in a mentor:
Someone who's 5-10 years ahead on your exact path
Subject matter experts in your industry
Skills mentors who help you understand areas outside your expertise (finance, marketing, ops) well enough to make informed decisions about whether to learn it yourself or outsource it
How to find them: Look for people already doing what you want to do. Follow their content, attend events where they speak, or join communities where they're active. Alumni networks, industry associations, and even LinkedIn can be goldmines.
How to engage: Ask specific questions. "I'm working on X and struggling with Y. How did you approach this?" Come prepared, respect their time. Share outcomes when you take action based on their advice. The best mentor relationships develop naturally when you're genuinely curious and engage with their advice
Your Support Crew
Your Support Crew (aka your hype squad) keeps you sane. These are the people who may never become customers, but they'll click your test links at 11pm, celebrate your wins, and let you vent when you're questioning everything. They might be fellow entrepreneurs in totally different industries, your spouse, friends, or family who just genuinely want to see you succeed.
Entrepreneurship can be isolating. Most people won't understand why you're working weekends or stressing about a client email. Your support crew gets it, or at least, they get you. They remind you why you started when you've forgotten. They're not just nice to have. They're essential to your longevity.
I've got a solid crew in my husband, friends, and family. They test things, listen to me process, make me snacks and genuinely cheer me on. Don't underestimate how much you need these people.
Your move: Map your current ecosystem on paper. Who's in each category? Where are the gaps? Then get intentional about filling them and nurturing the people already there.
Carrie
