"Chaos is not the absence of order, it's the potential for all orders." -Jordan Peterson

What if chaos isn’t confusion at all? What if it’s simply change—raw and waiting to take shape? When we reframe chaos as pure potential in a changing environment, it becomes a friend to the networker, not an enemy.

Picture this: a crowded coffee shop. You’ve been directed to a side room where a few business owners have already gathered.

Some are laughing together, clearly familiar. Others are mid-conversation. You hover for a moment, wondering how to break in. You sense there are connections here, but you’re not quite sure how to access them.

If we define chaos as disorder or confusion, that scene fits perfectly. So why do we keep walking into it and call it networking?

Because deep down, we’re not looking for calm.

We’re looking for change.

The Referral of a Lifetime

If we were already fully connected—if every new relationship we needed was in place and every existing one felt completely fulfilling—we could stay in our offices or on our job sites.

But we don’t. We network because we’re seeking opportunities. We’re seeking the potential for change.

This realization is key. It’s what makes all the awkwardness and uncertainty worth it.

We’re after the possibility of a new relationship that can move our business forward. We’re after the deepening of an existing connection that could lead to collaboration—or even the referral of a lifetime.

Making Room for Growth

Think of a gardener preparing the soil for planting. He’s excited about the potential ahead, already imagining the harvest six to eight months from now.

There’s much work to do, and it all begins with the soil.

He takes a mesh strainer and pours soil on top. Then he mixes it around, pressing and pushing it through the screen. Clumps break apart, air fills the spaces, and the soil loosens so roots can travel downward, unimpeded.

Change is happening, and it’s messy.

There’s pressing, pushing, and separating, all to make room for growth.

Now let’s return to our opening scene — that side room in the coffee shop where a few business owners have gathered.

If we could grow more comfortable with the chaos of change, we might begin to see those moments differently. We could approach a future conversation with excitement instead of hesitation.

What if the chaos of unlimited conversations began to narrow into just a few key ones? And what if those few led to introductions with people who would become future business partners, employees, clients, or even the source of a remarkable referral.

Every networking meeting involves sorting and sifting. Not every conversation will be meaningful. Not every person will leave a mark on your business. But some will, and that's what keeps us showing up.

The more often you step into the uncertainty of pure, unbridled potential and walk away with something real—a lasting client, a partnership, a new friend—the more confident you’ll become in your networking.

The Change That Built My Confidence

Here’s where I’ve seen the unpredictability of networking play out in my own businesses.

Our largest commercial window-cleaning client to date came through a referral from my BNI chapter. Joining a chapter with a weekly commitment felt like a big, scary change, but it paid off in spades.

Then in 2023, when I decided to start The Networker’s Tour Guide, I had to make the conscious decision to network on behalf of a brand-new business. That meant stepping into rooms where people already knew me as the owner of Window Cleaning Plus. Would they accept this new version of me? Would they cheer for me as passionately as they had when I ran a trades business? What if The Networker’s Tour Guide failed? Would I look foolish to people I’d worked so hard to build relationships with?

Those were real questions, full of real, messy potential to go either way.

I embraced the change and moved forward, holding onto the belief that networking is about creating opportunities for others that they wouldn’t have had without you — so that when you need help, you can ask with confidence. And I was going to need to ask in a big way.

My network came through for me in spades. My people weren’t thrown off by a new title; they knew I was still the same committed business owner, still looking hard for opportunities and referrals for them.

The Groundwork for What Comes Next

Every time we walk into a room full of new faces, we’re stepping into change.

And every time we push through the awkwardness, we’re training our confidence to grow stronger. I’ve learned that chaos isn’t something to fix; it’s something to face with purpose.

Because inside the swirl of introductions and conversations, there’s potential waiting to take shape. That’s what networking really is: change in motion.

And when we can see it that way, we stop fearing the noise. We start listening for opportunity.

In the next part of this conversation, I’ll talk about the people who make that kind of growth possible, the leaders who create the order that allows chaos to thrive safely.

Because confidence may grow in chaos, but leadership gives it a place to live.

Go network my friend, and remember:

What feels like chaos is just the change your potential needs to grow your business stronger.

The Networker's Tour Guide, Faithann Basore, and her husband Dave have owned Window Cleaning Plus (WCP) for 11 years. Growing WCP through networking has given Faithann the desire to guide other small business owners through the networking terrain so they can feel comfortable and build long lasting relationships in their business.

Got networking questions? Email me at [email protected].