Networking in a New City

[Bones81]

My wife and I planning to settle down in Salt Lake City later this year and I would like to meet business owners and entrepreneurs there. It would be great to have a network of friends, mentors, and potential business partners to socialize with and bounce ideas off of.

I've spent my career in banking and other than creating an Amazon affiliate site a few years ago, I don't have any entrepreneurial experience. I believe my best options would to either partner up with someone who has a skillset that compliments mine, or go to work for, learn, and eventually acquire an established and well-run business (e.g. find a baby boomer with a boring business that has potential to expand, learn how it works, and eventually buy them out so they can retire).

We decided on SLC based on lifestyle; neither of us have lived there before or know anyone in the area. I'm curious if others have been in a similar situation and how they went about building their business network.

Ideas that come to mind:

• Online social networks such as this forum, Facebook groups, LinkedIn etc.
• Business brokers - although I'm a bit hesitant because the best businesses usually aren't for sale
• Try to meet professionals that service businesses - bankers, lawyers, accountants, etc. They would likely provide better leads than a broker.
• Go to work for a bank that has a lot of small business customers - Collect a paycheck for a bit, meet lots of business owners of various types of businesses, see their financials to see what has good margins, etc.
• Social clubs for skiing, hiking, etc. Join a gym or CrossFit box. Meet people with common interests. I'm not a religious person, but being non-LDS in SLC probably isn't a big a deal as it used to be given all the transplants that have moved there.

Would love to hear everyone's suggestions, and if you live in SLC, let me know and I'll buy you a drink or coffee sometime.

 

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[Hong_Kong]

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