Today I received an email from an SEA alum. He began with some pleasantries. Then told me what a honor it was to teach a class each year to the new SEA students. Then he launched into the question he has for me.

Perfect request. I would have helped him anyway, but he made sure I remembered who he was (I did) and that I remembered he adds a great deal of value to SEA by teaching an important class each and every year (I might have forgotten that).

So now I am completely motivated to help him right away using all of my business contacts. His question was how to value a business and while I know the rudimentaries, each industry has different measurements and I don’t pretend to be an expert. But I know an expert. He founded and runs a company that helps clients buy and sell businesses. He knows more about valuations than pretty much anyone in the region. I send him an email, explain the request, and immediately he agrees to contact the alum and guide him through the process. For good measure, I ask him if he could come teach a class on business valuations to the 2007-2008 SEA class and he agrees.

Voila. This is the unique and immense value of the SEA network.

Lessons learned: Ask for help. Stay involved with SEA. The payback is enormous.

Gillian Parrillo www.sacwomen.com Click to Open Web Page