Networking is a very important skill in business but a lot of business owners limit themselves when making connections. Although networking can be a good way to generate leads, it’s also a brilliant way to make partnerships with other businesses, connect with potential mentors, and find out what other rival companies are planning. If you want to get the most out of networking, it’s important that you are able to connect with people outside of your own industry. When you work with business people in different industries, you get a fresh perspective and open up new opportunities that you otherwise wouldn’t have had. These are some of the best ways to start networking outside of your industry. 

Take Stock Of Existing Connections

Before you start trying to network with different people, you should take stock of your existing connections and see whether there is anybody that is outside of your normal circle. These are the people you should focus on because you can use them to expand your network. Their network will be filled with the kinds of people you are looking to connect with, so call them up and ask if there is anybody they think you should meet with. You’ll be surprised how many new connections you can make this way. 

Get Involved With Charities

There are a lot of great reasons for business owners to get involved with charities but people often overlook the networking benefits. There’s a reason why networking experts like Haval Dosky do a lot of charity work. If you start working with a big charity, it’s likely that other business leaders will be involved with their efforts too. This is a brilliant way to do something positive with your business and meet a wide variety of business contacts at the same time. 

Change Your Business Event Schedule

Hopefully, you are already attending business events to promote your company and network with people, but the likelihood is, you are attending events that are directly related to your own industry. That is beneficial, of course, but you should consider changing your event schedule up a bit. Instead of sticking to the same events each year, think about where the gaps in your network are and use that to guide your event schedule. 

Be Patient

You need to be patient when trying to expand your network outside of your industry because it will take a lot longer for you to see any kind of return. If you work in finance and you connect with somebody else in that industry, it’s likely that you will work together in the near future. But if you network with somebody that works in IT, you might not see how that helps. However, if you are considering investing in a new tech startup but you need some advice about its viability, that IT expert will probably be able to help. So, be patient and keep building your network because it will pay off. 

Most people don’t think to expand their network outside of their industry but it has a lot of great benefits.