Is Your Network Actually Working For You?

Dan and I rarely leave the office together. Yesterday we did, and two hours later, neither of us wanted to go home.

We’d made the trip up to Newcastle to spend time with a group of business owners we’d been looking forward to seeing. The venue was the GlassHouse, which neither of us had visited before. Stunning space. Plugs everywhere. Coffee on tap. The kind of place that makes you feel like the day’s going to be good before it’s even started.

And it was.

The Right Room Feels Different

There’s a version of networking that feels like homework. You show up. You exchange cards. You eat a limp croissant. You leave and immediately forget half the conversations you had.

If that’s what networking means to you, I get it. I’ve been in plenty of those rooms.

This wasn’t that.

The people in the GlassHouse were at all different stages of their businesses. Different industries, different journeys, different ways of seeing things. But the energy was the same across all of them: curious, generous, and genuinely invested in each other.

That’s the thing about finding the right network. It’s not the format. It’s not the venue. It’s whether the people around you stretch you, challenge you, or make you think differently about what you’re doing. If they don’t? It might be time to find a different room.

What “Stronger Together” Actually Looks Like

One of our core values at YMWAV is Stronger Together. And I’ll be honest — values are easy to put on a website and not think about too hard.

Days like yesterday remind me what it actually means.

We sat with business owners who were open about what had worked and what hadn’t. Who asked real questions, not polite ones. Who had made time in their week to show up and be properly present. That kind of energy is rare. When you find it, you don’t take it for granted.

We crossed paths with some brilliant people we’d connected with through Atomicon and the old 4N network too. The world gets smaller when you find the good ones.

Big thank you to James Sundin, Tony NG, Karen and Paul from Orangetree, and Brad Burton for making our week. The Geordies always show up with sunshine and a genuinely different way of seeing things. We were lucky to be in the room.

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

Building a business is hard. Building a franchise network is something else entirely.

Neither Dan nor I would be where we are without the people around us. The franchisees who took a chance on us. The mentors who gave us honest feedback. The business owners we’ve met at events exactly like yesterday’s who’ve made us think harder, faster, and more clearly.

If you’re going it alone right now, I’d gently push back on that. Not because you can’t, but because you don’t have to. There are brilliant people out there doing interesting things who would love to be in the same room as you. The trick is finding them, and then showing up properly when you do.

Don’t settle for a network that leaves you flat. The right people are out there.

Cat Robson-Scarborough is Co-Director and Franchise Operations Director at Your Man With A Van. If you’re curious about what we’re building, or just need a reliable pair of hands to help with your next move, you can find your nearest branch here.