Growing Social Capital

Domain Expert

Dr. Larry Brock is a retired periodontist who owns his own small franchise here in Gainesville. He grew up in New York, youngest of three siblings in an Italian family. His family wasn’t in the best monetary situations and forced him and his siblings to find different solutions to problems and getting the items they wanted as kids. He also aided his father whenever he had a chance in fixing their car and other items around the house. He contributes these experiences to leading the creative ability he has now. He holds a few patents for dental tools and is always thinking of how to improve daily items and thinking of different solutions to other problems. I’ve had the chance to work under Dr. Brock’s management and have seen first hand his true passion for being innovative with every burden that falls to him. Fortunately, he’s always open to listening to other ideas and I took the chance to present to him my opportunity. After hearing my short pitch, he knew he could relate to the idea presented and provide feedback. He explained the website he’s been developing over the last year that matches car enthusiasts with specific wants to others willing to sell some of their collection that would meet these wants. Including Dr. Brock in my network will help further my knowledge of matchmaking type of business. His experiences and solutions with this type of business will help me avoid and produce better results while I can do the same for him and his business venture.

Market Expert

Tim Brooks is currently in his senior year here at the University of Florida as an advertising major. Growing up in Vero Beach, a small town, he was use to talking to anyone and everyone he met. He feels like this was where he started to find his passion in business. As the years, progressed and he stepped into college, he focused his education and mindset towards advertising and market research. I had the chance to meet Tim through one of my classes and decided that he would be a perfect candidate to present my opportunity to and hear his feedback. After expressing my idea with him, he stated that one of the most common mistakes every entrepreneur makes in starting a business is not focusing on the market they need to hit. Finding out who your client is and what they exactly want is the key to growing your business. Thankfully, his advertising experience along with market research opportunities he’s had will help me pinpoint the specific type of market I need to target for my business venture while he uses different ideas gathered at UF to see his knowledge at work.

Supplier

Enrique Santiago is another student at the University of Florida. Throughout the first couple of years in college, Enrique has progressed from his part-time job as a leasing agent to a more involved director for other leasing agents. He’s seen the insane turnaround that students go through living in one place and having to move to another place the next year. I’ve had the chance to meet him while I was looking for a new place for these upcoming semesters. I’ve recently contacted him while setting everything up for my new place and expressed my idea to see what he thought as he constantly sees students in and out of apartments. Including him in my network will allow me to see first hand the needs of my clients and give Enrique the opportunity to test any prototypes within his company to better help his clients.

Final Reflect

This experience has thought me that anyone you meet can have the potential to help in your future needs. There is always the saying, “it’s not how much you know but who you know.” I feel like this explains the importance of networking and the relationships you build. I never really have been in other networking experiences but this has definitely opened my eyes to see the potential of every relationship.