The Win-Win of Joint Ventures

The Win-Win of Joint Ventures
Forming a partnership with another company can be a great
marketing injection into the revenues of your business. By
combining your strengths, you will become a greater force
in your industry. However, making it a win-win situation
does require careful consideration.

Creating the joint venture groundwork

First you will have to know your company, inside and out.
That means that you have a clear understanding of your own
vision, and you also know how the public receives you. Once
you have determined these elements, it will be the rock on
which you are founded. When searching for the right
partner, your vision cannot be compromised - and if that
means moving onto the next candidate, then that is the only
option in a win-win joint venture.

Analyzing prospective partners

Next, do your homework to find a company that is genuinely
interested in a joint venture. If you are a small business,
you can look for other small business to team up with -
allowing you to become a competitor of a larger company.
Both of you will win in this situation. However, small and
large companies should both be open to a joint venture
together, as this too could be a benefit to both.

Consider the separation

Once you have found the company which compliments yours,
plan your divorce. That's right, plan your divorce. This is
a business tactic used by many, where in forming a united
front, you carefully consider everything and anything that
could go wrong. You cover all of your bases up front. This
ensures confidence in each entity and gives you both a
clear future because you have removed the fear of the worst
case scenario.

Open the lines of communication

Now that you have formed your marriage/joint venture
remember that relationship will require quality
communication. Set up weekly conferences to monitor
progress as a whole, as well as check in on how each entity
is feeling about the partnership.

Chances are, as with any relationship, there will be
issues. Staying on top of any problems is crucial. These
issues can grow into such a large problem that they
ultimately destroy the joint venture unnecessarily.
Communicate on a regular basis. The agenda should include
the issues in your planned divorce to make sure you are
still in agreement.

Create the business plan

Now form your business plan. Once you have known each
other's strengths and weaknesses and have shared ideas and
compromises, make a plan together. Agree upon suppliers,
your structure, and allocations. Be sure to do this
together.

If in completing any of the steps you run into a multitude
of conflicts, then it may be time to move on and find
another partner. Negotiate on the things that are less
crucial to fulfilling your own vision. If you stay grounded
in the fundamentals, the company you joint venture with
will form a win-win situation.

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Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A strategic
Collaboration Marketing consulting firm. He empowers
business owners to discover and implement Integration,
Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve
specific business challenges. He demonstrates how to create
your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to increase your
sales, conversation rates, and repeat business.
Contact: christian@christianfea.com
http://www.christianfea.com