1. The first person that I made contact with was Mark McMurray who works for Wells Fargo. Mark is fulfilling the domain expert slot for me as he is a wealth management adviser for Wells Fargo, and has done so for the past 20 years. I found this person through mutual connections. My family has an old friend that is coworkers with Mark, so he was able to put me in touch with him for the sake of this assignment. I received Mark's email address and sent him an email explaining who I am and if we could chat over the phone. During our conversation he provided very valuable information and insight into the advising profession and what that may look like for someone like me trying to get a business idea solidified. By including Mark in my network, I will be able to create a better connection with him, and he could point customers in my direction for the very specific need of student loan advising.
2. The next person I reached out to for this assignment was Janet White who works for Discover Bank in Jacksonville, Florida. I was able to make contact with Janet by simply reaching out to Discover bank because I knew that they provided student loans, through research of my own. By explaining who I am and what I was looking to do, Janet was more than willing to speak with me. Her and her team are looking to target the same customer market as I am with a very similar service so she fulfilled my market expert contact. The favor Janet did for me was that she provided me with a glimpse into the market research that they have done up to this date and gave me advice on how to kick start a business. By including Janet in my network I will be able to check in and see how her project is going and compare it to my service as well.
3. The final person I contacted fulfilled the supplier role of this assignment. This person was harder to get in contact with because there aren't many suppliers of this type of service for students who are taking out student loans. There is a company that assists students in receiving more scholarship money as well as appeals to the government to be awarded more in federal grants. I reached out to this company and was able to speak with Michael Little who was on the appeals team. He was able to provide great information as to what it takes in order to make money in a service like this, as well as which market to target. Adding Michael to my network will be beneficial to me if I ever am looking to switch up the direction of my business.
This assignment was a very interesting networking experience. It required that I step outside my comfort zone and seek out people that fit a specific billing. This will change the way I network in the future as I will be more comfortable with seeking others out and making conversation.
Hey Brandon!
ReplyDeleteI applaud you on this assignment for I am sure this was challenging to do as all of your contacts are working in financial services. I know during last summer, I worked at Wells Fargo while I was taking the internship class at UF and we had to do plenty of interviews with our supervisors, which always made me so nervous starting out. So I applaud you for getting all your interviews in because I know how it can be extremely intimidating. Moreover, I think it was a great idea to get people from different banks because it lends a broad perspective in loan services.
Hey Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI thought that you did an excellent job on this assignment. The first thing that really stood out to me was that you found excellent connections and sources of knowledge, especially considering the type of service you are looking to offer. I feel that these connections, which clearly were able to offer great information and assistance, can help you really foster and better your product. I also think that it would be beneficial for you to continue to reach out to these people, especially because they are so knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the sector that your service resides in. All in all, great job on this post, and keep up the great work!