Innovate or Evaporate?

Innovate or evaporate – this seems to be the new mantra for sustaining businesses. Given the high failure rate of entrepreneurial activity, entrepreneurs naturally ask  ‘How do I continue to innovate so I don’t evaporate?’ Constant innovation depends on access to information and ideas, and the access to information and ideas depend upon the entrepreneur’s ability to network.

In my mind, networking has become a clichéd term which ranges from meeting people in parties to having a Facebook and LinkedIn account. It can be an exhausting exercise as also a resource intensive one. When I was little, I would hear my entrepreneur father tell me networking requires energy, time and money.  For an entrepreneur, all these resources – time, money and energy, are precious and also limited. The obvious question would then be: How can an entrepreneur network with greater efficiency and effectiveness? Should I network with my ‘close and deep’ contacts or should I spread my wings? Where should I expend my resources?