Headquartered in Connecticut, U.S., LCR Capital Partners is a private investment firm that sources capital from well-known high networth investors who are seeking permanent U.S. residency through the EB-5 Investment Visa.

Networking plays an important role in building a valuable support system in life and some times, even a successful career. If you have a goal, a startup, a business, or an idea, your network provides motivation, feedback and adds tremendous long term value. Building a network from the ground up takes time, effort and possibly some resources. There are a few things that I have learnt from my experiences that I can share:

Nurturing & Building Existing Relationships
Fostering positive relationships is important in our every-day life. We build many relationships throughout our life with our friends, families and co-workers. It is important to nurture these relationships over time by staying connected regularly and appreciating the presence of these key people in your network.

In his book ‘The Tipping Point’, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the overall impact of smaller actions. Individuals in an economy, act as ‘connectors’ in each other’s lives allowing them to move ahead. However, the tipping point arises when 20 percent of your network provides 80 percent of the value received and similarly when you add value to other people's lives. By continuing to nurture these relationships and fostering a sense of genuine care and belonging, one can create strategic networks with people around the world.

Adding Value to People’s Lives
Adding value to others’ lives is the

best way to create a network that could last you a lifetime. Being sincerely in terested in what someone has to say or share is a premier way of creating a strong bond with them. It is crucial to understand that in order to create a long term relationship,one must treat a potential relationship as non-transactional and proceed to add value to it despite the absence of a direct/concrete gain.

The law of attraction as many of us know it, holds true when it comes to creating stable networks; what you give to the universe gets multiplies and comes back to you. Therefore, it is important to assist others to achieve their goals and share information that would be relevant to their progress. And at the appropriate time, in its own way, it comes back to you.

"The concept of building a global network is a powerful one, and can significantly make a difference to your personal and professional progress"

I remember an incident that might be able to emphasise the importance of the above point clearly. A few years ago, I was at a luncheon with my mentor, he received a call from a friend of his, who was stuck in Turkey because he had lost his passport. He needed someone’s assistance to get a new one in order to be able to travel back to the country. I somehow overheard the conversation and offered to help. My batch-mate from college was working with the Turkish foreign services at the time and I requested his assistance. Many months later, once this gentleman was back in the country, we struck up a conversation, figured out mutual interests and sometime later he agreed to join the board of one of startups.

Genuine Interest & Efforts
Whenever I plan to meet someone new, I always make it a point to read about them online, to know more about their lives and interests. Now, social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter help you gather useful insights about one’s life, their interests, and their views.

It creates afoundation for a productive conversation which can turn into relationships with mutual value. By finding a common ground for casual talk, you can create a relationship with a person in a more effective manner than with conversations about just business deliverables. Such conversations help you figure out areas of mutual interest, on which you can later exchange notes, thereby creating a channel of communication and eventually top of the mind recall.

The concept of building a global network is a powerful one and can significantly make a difference to your personal and professional progress. However, one must keep in mind that relationships are built over many years and require a great deal of effort and patience. Remember, ultimately, as humans we build relationships with humans.