Is it possible to construct an entrepreneur's personal network: what can the ProfitNet project tell us?

This paper is about the personal networks of entrepreneurs (owner managers) of small businesses. Although it is well documented that effective networks are positively related to firm survival and innovation capacity, no efforts have been made to evaluate the effectiveness of constructing such a network on behalf of entrepreneurs. This is important because it is unclear whether entrepreneurs actually know how to build or use a personal network. The research draws on literature to construct a framework consisting of the key benefits associated with personal networks and applies this to the ProfitNet project of Sussex, England. ProfitNet is a product of the University of Brighton which brings entrepreneurs together in small sector specific groups to learn from each other. The main findings are that the project does create an environment which offers members general and innovation related benefits of a personal network.