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Dragon urges small businesses not to shy away from networking |   |
New research suggests that over 80% of senior decision makers at small businesses have reduced the time spent at traditional face-to-face networking events for fear of being out of the office for too long. This comes despite the fact 76% believe networking is more important during the economic downturn.
The research, released by T-Mobile, surveyed over 500 SME owners of enterprises with fewer than 250 employees across the UK to uncover the challenges they face as the economy slows down.
At a time when the majority of SME business owners believe face-to-face contact is more important, reducing business networking in a recession could impact their ability to reinforce existing relationships and cultivate new business leads.
Dragon urges small business owners to network
Commenting on the research, Dragon’s Den entrepreneur, James Caan said:
"Relationships are quite simply critical to business success. The companies with the strongest working relationships will be the ones that come out on top through these tough times. The Christmas period is rife with networking opportunities and represents an important time for business leaders and employees to get out, meet people in the flesh and bring in the business.
"From direct experience and from the point of view of the businesses I run, the concept of mobile technology by default makes you more productive and more available. I actively encourage my team to get out and meet business partners and prospects as much as possible, as I know this will not impact productivity or mean we are any less available to make important business decisions.
"Whether I or my staff are out travelling to business meetings or attending a networking event, not only can we call and text, we also have continual access to email and the internet, ensuring that it’s business as usual. In a downturn when markets are volatile, when you’ve got to be available and decisive, I think communications can make a huge difference."
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Posted December 12, 2008
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