Networking is not a novel idea. However, it takes many professionals a while to master.
Business owners do not always have the luxury of trial and error when it comes to networking, as time is of the essence.
Time spent away from the business is time lost if the benefit is not more significant or impactful to the running of the business.
What does this mean?
Professional networking for the residential assisted living entrepreneur is vital but must be strategically aligned.
In residential assisted living, the number of regulations, changes in legislation, equipment adjustments, resident and family demands requires professional networking to be strategic.
The stakes are too high for anything otherwise.
Residential Assisted Living Academy is that option for assisted living homeowners and employees.
It is beneficial for proper professional networking for organizational advancement, innovation, and strategic alliances.
The 3-day fast track course offers an expert team of experienced professionals that makes networking comprehensive.
WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING?
Specifically, what is a professional network, and how does it foster growth and development in the assisted living homeowner?
Simply put, professional networking is focused on networking among like professionals. It is not the all-encompassing business networking, which fosters collaboration among multiple business disciplines to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Professional networking takes on a different flare.
Professional networking might well be considered a closed loop. Specifically, professional networking builds collaboration amongst industry-specific professionals.
As a result, it strengthens the individual businesses as well as the industry internally.
For the assisted living homeowner, Residential Assisted Living Academy is the premier professional networking organization.
It offers more than training and education.
It fosters camaraderie amongst assisted living homeowners. It builds networks within networks.
The organizational structure ensures alignment amongst professionals and builds a powerful national coalition with the potential to shape and frame policy.
The benefits of professional networking are immense.
BENEFITS OF PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING
Professional networking is powerful because of its concentrated attention and effort. Here are the most common benefits.
1. Focus
The power of professional networking is in its focus. It is purposefully non-interdisciplinary – this means you will always get information specific to your line of business.
2. Industry Expert Access
Most small business owners would never have access to the subject matter experts of their industry. Membership in Residential Assisted Living Academy grants your personal access to the assisted living industry’s leading experts.
3. Industry-Specific Legal Expertise
Lawyers may be a dime a dozen, but good lawyers are a rare commodity. Specific legal expertise for assisted living homes is hard to come by in most communities, but these rare practitioners are intimately associated with Residential Assisted Living Academy. They help homeowners from the inception to the operation of the home.
4. Regulatory Knowledge
Senior living is a highly regulated industry, and rightfully so. The regulations governing the industry are immense and can be overwhelming for some. Residential Assisted Living Academy members receive guidance to navigate the murky regulatory waters. Additionally, regulations change, and members are updated as to these regulatory changes in real-time.
5. Marketing Specific Knowledge
Learning about marketing strategies might be exciting, but if those strategies are not proven effective in the assisted living industry, learning and time spent might be in vain. Residential Assisted Living Academy members get proven industry-specific marketing strategies. Even more, it is curtailed to variances in state and local municipalities, demography, and economics.
6. Legislative Advocacy
National advocacy is a key aspect of membership with the Residential Assisted Living Academy. Shaping the industry with legislation is a unique advantage amongst assisted living homeowners.
7. Friends for Life
While building a thriving business is phenomenal, nothing trumps the company of like-minded friends. Relationship building is perhaps the most powerful benefit of professional networking. It is an essential part of the entrepreneurial journey that is often overlooked. It results in building and supporting the entrepreneur, which ultimately builds and supports the business.
WHO’S IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK?
Professional networks are focused groups. Those associated with a professional network join with a goal in mind: to be better at what they do.
This is true of assisted living homeowners; they align with Residential Assisted Living Academy to become better at owning and operating assisted living homes.
Professional networks may also include paraprofessionals that support and undergird the assisted living home.
These professionals include:
- Social Workers
- Public Health Departments
- Religious Leaders
- Local governmental officials
- Healthcare Professionals
While these people are not intimately aligned with your industry, they can offer significant support. Having them on speed dial is just as crucial as the assisted living homeowner who trained with you at Residential Assisted Living Academy.
You may want to work with paraprofessionals that other homeowners have found effective. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NEXT?
Professional networking is a purposeful endeavor. Unlike business networking, which happens quite commonly in communities throughout the nation, professional networking requires research.
It is specific and often comes with personal responsibility.
Those who network professionally are very intentional – they are focused and diligent about executing the intricacies of their businesses.
Four questions you should ask yourself as an entrepreneur should include:
- How intentional are you?
- Do you intend to position yourself as an industry expert?
- Can you see yourself growing into a mentor within your industry?
- Do you want to shape the industry in which you operate?
Residential Assisted Living Academy is a professional organization focused on developing and continual support of assisted living homeowners.
Aligning yourself and your business with Residential Assisted Living Academy provides significant benefits.
Beginning with an intense, but comprehensive 3-day course, with no end in sight, membership opens entrepreneurs to a national network of like-minded professionals. Contact Residential Assisted Living Academy today and join a network that never stops giving.
