The Go Succeed Start team hosts this online masterclass 'The Five People Every Entrepreneur Needs in Their Network', delivered in partnership with EMEEN.

Entrepreneurial success is shaped not only by ideas and effort, but by access to information, markets, finance, expertise, and opportunity. Evidence consistently shows that the strength of an entrepreneur’s network is one of the most important drivers of business survival and growth. Yet many aspiring founders approach networking informally, without a clear strategy for building the relationships that genuinely move their business forward.

This workshop introduces a practical, structured approach to strategic networking, helping entrepreneurs understand who they need around them at different stages of their journey and how to build purposeful, high-value connections that accelerate business progress.

Aims

The programme aims to equip aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs with the skills to:

• Understand networking as a strategic business tool, not a social activity
• Identify the critical relationship types that support business growth
• Integrate more effectively into local and regional enterprise ecosystems
• Convert connections into practical business opportunities

Workshop Focus

Participants are introduced to a clear framework The "Five People Every Entrepreneur Needs in Their Network" which identifies five essential relationship types that underpin successful businesses across all sectors, including technology, manufacturing, services, creative industries, and social enterprise.

The session helps participants to:

• Map their existing networks
• Identify gaps limiting business progress
• Build a targeted, intelligent networking strategy aligned to their business goals

Outcomes

By the end of the session, participants will:

• Have a clearer understanding of how real entrepreneurs use networks to grow
• Know which relationships matter most for their stage of business
• Possess a personalised network-building action plan
• Be better positioned to engage with local enterprise support ecosystems

This Go Succeed workshop is open to all individuals in the early stages of their business, throughout Northern Ireland, and is facilitated by Enterprise Northern Ireland.

About the Presenter

Steve Lazars has worked alongside successful businesses, entrepreneurs, and business support organisations for over a decade, helping founders and SMEs develop, grow, and navigate Northern Ireland's business ecosystem. Through this work, he has built one of Northern Ireland's largest ethnic minority professional and entrepreneurial networks, reaching over 16,000 professionals from 109 nationalities across Northern Ireland.

Steve is the Founder of The Business Zone and EMEEN, organisations dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship, business growth, employment, and strengthening the economic contribution of communities across Northern Ireland.

Registration instructions: This event is free for individuals and will be hosted online via MS Teams. Please note, your email confirmation, Live Stream link and access code will come from noreply@glistrr.com, please add this to your list of trusted accounts to prevent information landing in your junk folder.

Accessibility: If you have any accessibility requirements or adjustments you would like to make us aware of, please contact enievents@enterpriseni.com and we will endeavour to make the reasonable adjustments, given advance notice.

This workshop is brought to you as part of Go Succeed NI. Go Succeed represents a significant investment in local entrepreneurs and businesses, funded by the UK Government.