Steve Crossley

Within Lancaster University I have made valuable contacts with departments and enterprise/careers bodies. Outside the university, partly through the Young Entrepreneurs Society, I have been pleased to make contacts with some leading figures such as those on The Apprentice TV Show, as well as many local business men and women.

If you think of jig-saw pieces placed on a table, each piece being fenced off from others then from above you can see that together something great could be created – it just hasn’t happened yet. If you then get rid of the fences, allow interaction between the pieces and each piece finds how it can fit in with another, then suddenly something much bigger can be created for the benefit of all pieces!

On a slightly more practical level, networking is invaluable because often it’s of mutual benefit to the parties involved (or it will become so given time) so the enthusiasm is there. When there’s enthusiasm there are no limits to what can happen.

Get the right people there. Make them feel comfortable.

All the usual methods of email, letters, phone and such like, but also newer methods such as Facebook. Talking to people in person is of course most effective.

The Entrepreneurs Society provides a professional calendar of events in return for a very low membership fee and therefore attracts people from all disciplines at the University leading to a highly varied skills base.