Networked

Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group which is a British multinational branded venture capital conglomerate. Its core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle, and it also manages ventures in financial services, transport, healthcare, food and drink, media and telecommunications. Together, Virgin’s business consists of more than 400 companies worldwide. (Sources from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Group)

Richard Branson said that when he started networking on behalf of Virgin Music meeting with agents, persuading musicians to sign with their company, finding distributors and he often involved swapping phone numbers scrawled on napkins. It was the '70s, after all! These days it's much easier to connect with people who can help you launch and grow your business. Just think: LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter all provide opportunities for you to meet and interact with fellow entrepreneurs, experts in the field and innovative newcomers. However, you go about making connections, from the very first moment you begin to realise that your idea is worth pursuing, the first step on the road to success is building a network. To get started, attend industry events and meet key players; join regional business associations and start learning about local market conditions. Also, remember that you can meet potential mentors at schools, clubs and business groups. Someday, when you get stuck or when something goes wrong, these contacts will be the people you'll turn to for help. (Sources from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224168)

In a nutshell, we can see from the example of Richard Branson, networking is very important to help entrepreneurs to build their dreams and career. The benefits given are such as sharing knowledge with the people you are connected, the network give you opportunities, build connections with people you may need in future which help your career, increase the confident in you when you talk to stranger and last but not least it helps to raise your profile when you attend different events and people recognize you.