“I can’t grow the business here. Back in South Africa, I had connections. Here in Adelaide? I know no one.”

 The business owner lamented as he sat across from me. He had arrived two years ago with his wife, two young children, and four suitcases from South Africa knowing no-one.  He came with hope in his heart for a better life.

Since then, he had bought a business, settled his children into primary school all while creating a good lifestyle for his family. While he felt good about these outcomes, he was feeling stuck.  He explained:

“To really grow, I need to build a network here. And I just don’t have one.”

 I asked him about his life in South Africa prior to coming to Adelaide.  He explained that over 13 years he had built a successful business in the same industry. When asked how he had done that, he said simply:

“Relationships…I built strong relationships with the community. Delivered on my promises. People trusted me.”

I asked whether this same formula would work here in Adelaide.

The business owner went quiet, clearly thinking before responding:

“Back in South Africa, I had deep ties into the community. Here, I’m starting from scratch.”

In that moment, I pointed out what he could not see.   He was building a network of contacts through his involvement at his children’s school, and with their various sporting clubs. He was doing what he had done in South Africa.  He was building relationships through the various communities he and his family were involved in.

The look on his face said it all – “I hadn’t thought about it that way,” he responded

The script was the same. Different country, same approach. He had been so focused on what he did not have that he did not see what he was building.

The business owner did not need to build a network from scratch – he was already two years into building it!