“How’s business?”

This is a question that I get asked a lot at networking meetings. (It’s also a question I ask a lot, as it is a great way to get a conversation going.) Being a positive person, in the early days of my business, I always found myself telling people that business was good. My answer was true – I always had plenty to do, to keep me busy and I was taking on new clients and my business was slowly growing. However, business was far from fantastic and I was spending much of my time promoting my business and going networking. I was not that busy with client work. I did not have to work long hours, because I just did not have enough work to fill the hours.

So was I lying when I answered people with “Business is great, thanks!”  When I started networking and meeting other business people, I soon realised that if you answer in a positive, enthusiastic way, it puts you and your business in a much better light. It makes you feel better about yourself and your business; and it encourages people to carry on talking to you, instead of yawning or walking away to find someone more interesting.

The phrase ‘fake it until you make it’ was one that I subscribed to from an early stage in my business. I discovered that if you tell people that you’re struggling to find new business and that you have little or no work coming in, they are less likely to give you work. Tell people that you’re finding business tough and instead of feeling sorry for you and giving you work, they will give the work to someone else who is busier. Why does it work this way?  Because the busy people are obviously the good ones, aren’t they? How often have you walked past an empty restaurant in favour of one that already has full tables?

Another thing I noticed when I first started networking was that positive people were much nicer to talk to. When I ask someone “How’s business?” and I receive a negative answer about how dreadful it all is and how difficult things are, I find it really difficult to carry on speaking to that person. Business is not always rosy, I know; and some people are more sympathetic than me. However, focussing on the positive aspects makes the negative aspects easier to deal with. While it can be helpful to discuss challenges and issues at networking meetings, there is a time and a place for doing this. Some networking meetings are specially set up for this, or have sections set aside for dealing with business problems. If you need help with your business, I believe that you need to ask people for their specific help and advice – do not just dump everything on them and have a good moan when they ask you a polite, conversation opening question.

Business networking is about meeting potential clients, suppliers, peers and people who will refer you to new clients. It’s about meeting the people you need, in order to grow your business. This is why you should approach networking with a positive attitude. If you’ve had a bad day at work and you are feeling really tired, don’t go to an evening networking just so you can have a moan about life. Go home, have a quiet evening and get a good night’s sleep. If you can’t get up early to go to a networking breakfast, with a smile on your face and a willing attitude to talk and listen to other people, then stay in bed!

How do you stay positive when you’re networking?