Allan Hu: “Attending a particular entrepreneurial conference changed my life”

No matter how path-breaking your business idea is, its success in the future will depend on one essential aspect – your network. You may get all the important gears in place – a good inventory management system, efficient CRM, a brick-and-mortar store along with a digital presence, and a solid marketing strategy. But when it comes to entrepreneurial success, it’s not possible without networking. Serial entrepreneur Allan Hu sheds more light on this critical aspect of business success. Let’s delve.

Being small doesn’t stop one from thinking big

That’s how Allan puts it across when it comes to the attitude and mindset of future successful entrepreneurs. Allan thinks it’s their network which makes them bigger despite their age. He shares, “I was just 17 years old when I had started an e-commerce Android phone battery brand. Eventually it picked up and became a popular method of making money online. Having said that, I had horrible amateur camera phone pictures for my listings but I could generate good money because of two things – one, my product was available at a way lower price than my competition. And two, networking – it helped me outrank the big tech companies in sales volume for most phones as I had great contacts, although there was very little traffic on Amazon for cell phone accessories back then. But the point is, it didn’t matter whether I was small – I was as big as my network!”

Networking – doorway to possibilities

Allan believes that an entrepreneur’s net worth highly depends on his network. He realized this is 2013 when he was attending a small young entrepreneurs’ conference. He met and later got hooked up with some digital marketing guys and that turned out to be a breakthrough for Allan. Allan shares, “I just asked them for help and all they gave me was a few links to different online forums, but I persisted and ended up networking enough to create some mastermind groups. Because I connected the people in those groups and was the organizer, many helped me despite my lack of experience and knowledge. Some were gurus or veteran online sales guys and they really boosted my knowledge quickly and helped me attain entrepreneurial success!”

To sum it up, Allan recommends entrepreneurs to network with other like-minded entrepreneurs – it’s wildly encouraging!

Given his experience and proven track record as a successful entrepreneur, Allan’s advice is well worth considering.