Found a surprising stat about Detroit networking meetups

I was looking at some old city data from last year and found out that over 60% of small business owners in metro Detroit say they've never been to a single networking event. That blew my mind because I thought everyone was doing it. I found this in a report from the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Has anyone else noticed a disconnect between how many events are out there and how many people actually show up?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sean2d ago

That stat makes sense if you look at who actually runs these events versus who attends. A lot of the bigger networking groups in Detroit are geared toward tech startups or white-collar professionals, not someone running a landscaping company or a corner store. The DEGC report probably didn't mention that most of these events happen during business hours downtown, which is basically impossible for the guy running a shop in Southwest Detroit.

mason8471d ago

Heard a radio interview with a guy from Eastern Market who said the same thing. He was saying a lot of these networking groups are set up by people who work downtown and don't realize that a small business owner in the neighborhoods is usually their own delivery driver, their own accountant, and their own janitor all in one. So taking two hours off during a weekday to go talk to a bank VP just isn't happening. The DEGC loves to push those participation numbers, but they never break down how many of those attendees actually own a small shop versus how many are just employees of some big company already getting all the city contracts. What's the point of going to a network event if the guy you're networking with doesn't have the power to actually do business with you?