Kevin Spacey said it best in his Netflix original series House of Cards:
“Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after ten years; power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who does not see the difference.”
This statement is true across all spectrums. When it comes to your business, you can simply replace power with networking and achieve the same meaning.
In New York City, almost every entrepreneur who starts his or her own business has the same misdirection and pitfalls. He or she will take an idea, build it out, run with it, and try to make a profit within 24 months. People lose sight of a very important factor: their businesses’ network. There are many businesses that are profitable for years that start off hot and just keep on rolling. But, the importance of building a network is second to none when you’re trying to create an empire.
To clarify, I don’t mean “empire” in an evil sense, but rather the sense of owning your industry. As an entrepreneur, I would never go into an industry without the intent to own it, revolutionize it, and evolve it. I believe most self-starters would agree with me. Here in-house at DOG Media, my team and I focus massive amounts of energy on networking. We believe having a vast network is crucial.
Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t profit eventually you’re bound to go under, but our focus is networking over generating profit immediately. A great network can be monetized in ways that initial business could not. If you’re investing in anything, profits are gained when resources are re-invested early to grow a broader spectrum. On the contrary, when profits are put in savings, the long-term growth is halted. I believe people should be looking at their networks in relation to business growth in the same light.
For example, take Tomorrowland, an international music experience. They’re reaching their 10-year milestone this July, and if you look back to their history, they have grown in scale and spectacle. They have continuously invested their resources in making it a great experience for attendees. On the other hand, the Ultra Music Festival in Miami has been around since 1999, and I hear common complaints about the experience from Ultra fans. This is the difference between investing in your brand and banking on the name of your brand.
Superstar rapper Jay-Z also said it well: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.”
Businesses need to have this mentality more often. Your business is only as strong as its assets, and it’s ability to evolve and grow through your branding and marketing. At the end of the day, companies need to start looking at networks as true monetary value just waiting to be uncovered, not just value added.