Assignment 20: Growing Your Social Capital

Part 1
 1. This person is the head mechanic at one of the Tire Kingdom's in my area. He went to trade school for car mechanics and his father was also a mechanic so he grew up around fixing cars and knowing which tire brands are the best for the season or type of car you have.
 2. Domain Expert. This person would be a domain expert because he knows tires in and out and I'm trying to produce a tire that would be functional, as well as environmentally friendly, so he would be very helpful on my team.
 3. I asked my mom who she thought would be a good fit for this type of position and she suggested I should talk to someone who works with tires everyday. So, when I took my car over to get the tires replaced I started talking to the head mechanic and asked him questions for this assignment on the spot.
 4. He changes my tires and I pay him to do it. For the information, he explained what he did and what his background was and I listened. I explained my idea for my potential product to him before asking him for his thoughts on the idea and he said it was plausible and that he knows of certain materials I could make them out of.
 5. Including him in my potential network will help me have some idea of what needs to go into making a tire for it to be functional, which is one of the most important aspects of my product.
Part 2
 1. This person is the owner of the Tire Kingdom franchise branch in my area. She has a masters in business and has other entrepreneurial projects on the side.
 2. Market Expert. This person would be a market expert because she already owns something that sells the type of product that I want to sell so she knows the market for this product very well.
 3. I asked the previous person if he knew who the owner was and he gave me her card. I called the number and asked her the questions for this assignment over the phone.
 4. She just answered my questions. I'm sure she makes a large profit off of the branch she owns so when I take my car there, she sees some of that money. I explained my idea for my potential product to her and she had really good ideas for marketing and who a potential buyer would be.
 5. Including her in my potential network would help me scope out my potential market and the best way to advertise and figure out what the prices should be set at in order to make a profit and make sure people will actually buy them.
Part 3
 1. This person is a manager over at Goodyear. He has a bachelors degree in business and he has been in that position for about 10 years.
 2. Supplier. Goodyear is one of the main tire manufacturers in the country and this person has experience in the tire manufacturing business so he would know a lot about the things that go into actually making a tire. This would be very useful to me, as I can find different potential materials and he would be able to give me feedback on whether those would be a good fit for a tire or not.
 3. I looked up top tire manufactures and Goodyear came up. Then I searched for local Goodyear manufacturing plants and then called the number that came up and eventually got to talk to the manager there. I was able to talk to him for this assignment over the phone.
 4. I explained my idea to him and he was able to give me some feedback on what goes into making a tire that keeps the prices lower and the tire functional. I asked different questions on the types of materials that could be used instead of rubber and he said that he would do some research on it with me if I were interested in actually starting this business.
 5. Including him in my potential network would be very beneficial since he knows how tires are manufactured and all the basic requirements that need to be met before they can sell them. He would also be very helpful in coming up with different environmentally friendly materials to use in making the tire.
Reflect: I have never had to network before so this was a completely new experience for me. I found it pretty easy to do and I met some really nice people. This experience will help me in the future because now I feel more confident in asking questions and approaching people I wouldn't normally approach.