“Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none,” said Franklin.
If there was one thing that Franklin was good at it was understanding the importance and value of networking. He was cautious about those he let into his inner circle, both in his business life and in his life in public office, saying, “He that lieth down with dogs, shall rise up with fleas.” But, he knew that success was not a one-man job.
It was to this end that Franklin involved himself in such ventures as the founding of Junto in 1727, the Philadelphia-based discussion group that looked at and debated the current state of affairs. Everything from politics to morals to philosophy to business matters was discussed. And beyond the discussions, Franklin had created the group for the purpose of mutual improvement; sharing ideas, advice and business would not only help the participants themselves, but would be a collective effort for social improvement on a wider scale.
When Franklin was 30 years old and his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, was the most popular newspaper in the colonies, he launched a campaign to become clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly. He wasn’t quite ready to become one of the public faces just yet, but he knew he would need the contacts to get there. The job proved to be so boring hat Franklin passed his time making up mathematical puzzles, but he succeeded in making the connections that he wanted. Not only did they help him in bidding for government printing work but he also used them to his advantage when he would later run for public office. Franklin’s uncanny ability to set people at ease and gain their trust was one of the key factors that allowed him to develop the wide networks that he did.
Franklin was also one of the first businessmen to set up the basic concept of a franchise. Once an apprentice working at his printing house reached the age of majority – typically 21 – they became ‘journeyman printers’, who were allowed to leave Franklin and start their own company if they could find sufficient capital. But, in realizing the risk of this arrangement, Franklin created one of his own, whereby he gave the journeymen the equipment they needed to get set up. But, instead of acting independently, they would become Franklin’s partners and would pay him back with one-third of their annual profits for their first six years. Once again, Franklin had realized the importance of business networking.
In order to establish such working relationships, Franklin felt he had to cultivate an image and a reputation for himself that would allow for them. This, he knew, was no easy task. “Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended,” he said. But, from his early days working on The Pennsylvania Gazette, he had already begun building himself up into a reputable intellectual and an industrious, contributing member of society.
Franklin compared the art of succeeding to a game of Chess, “in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or the want of it.” By playing this game, Franklin believed one would learn foresight and caution, both in terms of the rules of the game and the other players. In order to win at this game and move forward with his goals Franklin had to be wary about the consequences of partnerships, being wary of whom he trusted and always taking into account the bigger picture. It was in doing so that he was able to achieve success.
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