When it comes to business success, it’s often not what you know but who you know. The level of your success is determined greatly by the quality of your relationships with others.
“You are the average of the five people you spend most time with” – Jim Rohn
You cannot achieve success by living in a vacuum. Many people do more business over dinner, at the golf club and in the bar than they ever do in their office. All of us need to create networks of like-minded people to support us, offer input, get ideas flowing, make helpful introductions… in other words, to tap into a ‘hive mind’ of knowledge and contacts to make our business journey easier and smarter. We also need to be connected to and learning from people further along in their business journey, so that we can use their hindsight as our foresight.
“The richest people in the world look for and build networks. Everyone else looks for work” – Robert Kiyosaki
Entrepreneurs and business owners have to be proficient at networking. Of course, building a network takes time and effort. It involves attending events on a regular basis to become known, liked and trusted. It also involves being a contributor, sharing content, delivering value and building a professional brand and profile.
“Networking is an essential part of building wealth” – Armstrong Williams
If you are considering starting out in a new business enterprise, building a network should be a priority for you. If you are already in business, it is advisable to review your connections and look for ways to find even better associates, partners and suppliers.
“When I started my first business, nearly two decades ago, I didn’t understand the power that effective networks can deliver” – Steve Bolton (Founder of Platinum Property Partners)
However, Steve learnt the hard way and, by 2007, when he franchised the system he had developed into his own property business, under the name Platinum Property Partners (PPP), he was a ‘network convert’. He realised that building a network of Franchise Partners – who all supported each other with an ‘abundance mentality’ and the vision to ‘Be More, Do More, Have More, Give More’ – was going to be one of the greatest advantages that PPP would have if we could pull it off. It is incredibly rewarding for Steve and all of the PPP Franchise Partners to see that we have achieved that goal.
“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity” – Keith Ferrazzi
Many business owners, property investors and franchisees in other organisations often work in isolation. Many even fear or compete against one another, where a ‘scarcity mentality’ is the nature of the organisational culture. All PPP Franchise Partners are encouraged to work together to share information and strategies to support each other. We facilitate and host both online networking and offline events to nurture our network. That means that new Franchise Partners have a ready-made network to join and leverage, thereby massively short-cutting the long, slow process of building their own high-quality network. It has taken us a decade of full-time effort from a large and highly skilled team, with thousands of meetings and presentations to thousands of people, to build our network of over 400 people (PPP Franchise Partners, staff and a professional advisory team – the PPP ‘Power Team’ as we like to call them).
So, when PPP announce that we have now recruited over 350 Franchise Partners across the UK, it isn’t just good news for us, it’s also good news for our network. As each new Franchise Partner is added, the network expands with more knowledge, more contacts, more ideas, more experience, more serendipity…
By 2025, our vision is to have £1 billion worth of property purchased and owned by PPP Franchise Partners. This may sound like a huge goal, but it is actually a very conservative one based on what we have already done and know we can do.
“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone” – Margaret Wheatley
The people who will find it toughest in the coming few years – as the words ‘cuts’, ‘difficulties’ and ‘financial challenges’ ring in their ears – will be the ones who have shunned networking, social networks and cultivating friendships within their business circles. The people who want to remain ‘business-like’, who are aloof and distant, will be the ones hardest hit in the next few years, simply because their behaviour patterns do not generate the level of support they will need.
Whatever you do to create a better lifestyle with more choice and freedom, we would strongly encourage you to view your network as an asset. Like all assets, you need to value them, invest in them and grow them. At PPP, we are passionate about growing our network and increasing the quality of support and value we deliver to each and every Franchise Partner. Success breeds success.
If you genuinely want more choice and freedom in life, a safe and secure lifelong income stream, and quality pension provision, all supported by a best-in-class organisation and network, then please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
