Some of the best things that happen in business aren't planned as business opportunities at all.

About two years ago, I met Kritika Seth, the owner of Humble Hippo, through Infiniti Connects. At the time, she was working with hampers, and I was doing my own thing with The Bittersweet Palate. We met through the community, started talking, and slowly got to know each other beyond what we did for a living.

What started as a business connection turned into a friendship.

We genuinely enjoyed each other's company. We would talk about work, ideas, life, and everything in between. Somewhere along the way, working together started to feel natural. There wasn't a formal conversation about building a collaboration. We simply found ourselves thinking, "Why don't we do this together?"

That's how our hamper collaborations began.

We worked on a few hampers together, bringing her concepts and my desserts into the same package. And because we already knew and trusted each other, working together felt easy. We understood each other's strengths, gave each other space, and most importantly, enjoyed the process.

That experience made me look at business collaborations differently.

I think we often make networking too transactional. We meet someone and immediately think about what they can do for our business. Can they give us a lead? Can they bring us a customer? Can they introduce us to someone?

But some of the best business relationships I've seen don't begin that way.

They begin with liking someone. With respecting what they do. With enjoying a conversation. With being curious about their work without immediately wondering what you can get from it.

Kritika and I didn't start working together because we had a five-step collaboration strategy. We worked together because, over time, we became friends and realised that our businesses could complement each other.

And now, two years after that first meeting, we're taking that relationship in a new direction.

We're starting grazing tables together.

It's funny how things come full circle. When I first met Kritika, she was doing hampers. Today, we're exploring something completely different together. What started with a simple introduction has grown into friendship, a few collaborations, and now a new business offering.

It reminds me that you never really know what a connection can become.

Not every person you meet will become a client. Not every conversation will lead to a collaboration. And not every professional relationship needs to have an immediate purpose.

Sometimes, you just meet someone you genuinely like.

You keep in touch.

You talk.

You become friends.

And somewhere along the way, an idea comes up.

I think that's the kind of networking I believe in now. Less about collecting contacts and more about building relationships. Less about asking, "What can this person do for me?" and more about asking, "Do I enjoy having this person in my world?"

Because when there's trust, friendship and mutual respect, business has a much stronger place to grow from.

Two years ago, Kritika was simply someone I met through Infiniti Connects.

Today, she's a friend, a collaborator, and someone I'm excited to build something new with.

And none of it was planned.

It started with a conversation.