Founders of Ulink Network
How to start a business with the founders of Ulink Network. Starting a business is never easy. In 2008 the Great Financial Recession hit the US economy with full force and not only took down Wall Street and Main Street but like a tsunami, flowed around the world. It’s only some five years later that the memory of this 75 year event is now starting to fade as the economy continues to grow and get stronger.
If you therefore go back to 2010, no right thinking person would be thinking about starting a new business. However, that wasn’t the case with two entrepreneurs who decided to come together and start a brand new business which they called Ulink Network. These two entrepreneurs were Jim Pelley and Adam Frick. If you’ve met Jim you’ll know he has a sense of humor which he no doubt needed starting his new venture. If you haven’t met Jim he definitely has a sense of humor because in an earlier life he was a writer for Saturday Night Live. As for his partner, Adam Frick, who knows what he was thinking as at the time he was the one that was supposed to have the common sense of the two. Regardless, they both made a decision to start a new businessand obviously the words ‘no’ or ‘fear’ or ‘uncertain’ were not part of their vocabulary.
As a result of knowing no fear or lacking the ability to distinguish between success and failure, they agreed to start their new business with its core focus of helping business owners come together and not only network but network so much more strongly. The name of their company is appropriately called Ulink Network and as they like to say, Welcome to 21st Century Networking.
Jim and Adam were guests on my radio show on 105.5FM and Money 2.0 on May 07, 2013, and we had a conversation about starting a new business including the vision, work and effort it takes. To stand out from their competition and therefore attract new members, Jim and Adam decided to create some differences and highlight these in their marketing. One of the major differentiators they came up with is using technology or an app on each member’s cell phone. The app on the member’s cell phone allows them to send, in real time, a referral to a member when they come across someone they meet that needs help or a service from another member of Ulink Network.
Not only does the app allow members to send a referral but it also means each member carries the name and contact for all the members of not only those in their Chapter but the entire Ulink Network membership. This allows them to find a person that provides a service they need or if they aren’t sure if the member is the right option for them, to call someone that knows that person and get some feedback. The technology Ulink Network uses includes QR codes to easily scan and get information about the members they meet; no more need for the old fashioned business card.
My conversation with Jim and Adam was around starting a business. If you would like to hear my interview with Jim and Adam, please click the following link Jim Pelley and Adam Frick from Ulink Network. Jim and Adam were the first guests for the show and my conversation with them starts about 4 minutes into the show.
