Copyright (c) 2008 Christian Fea
The longest lasting and profitable strategic partnerships are those in which each company brings something to the table that the other company lacks. There are certain situations in which it simply makes sense to form a strategic partnership. For instance:
- Partner when one business lacks wide access to the market, and the other partner has a large customer base or access to the market, but needs more products or services to bring to its customers. A great example of this is the partnership between IBM and Microsoft. Microsoft offered a great product, but had no market reach; IBM had reach, but needed the innovative software that Microsoft had created.
- Partner when one business is highly specialized or has a strong niche skill. Large businesses often outsource to smaller businesses that specialize in certain areas.
- Partner when trying to break into a new market, while keeping costs contained. - Partner in government contracting situations in order to win the contract. A larger company may partner with a smaller enterprise in order to qualify for certain contracts that are reserved for minority-owned businesses or small businesses. Sometimes the smaller company will need the resources of the larger business in order to adequately fulfill the government contract requirements.
Also, consider partnerships when there is a need to get to the market rapidly. By focusing on your core competencies, weighing the option of creating a product or service versus finding someone who already offers the same thing, and thinking win-win, you can bring a potential opportunity for partnership to a company with whom you would like to work. Keep in mind that you need to think about how all the parties in a partnership benefit, not just your company. If you are only out for yourself, your partnership will fail.
A strategic partnership can also take the form of finding profit by cutting costs. For instance, two small businesses might find a way to reduce rent by sharing space in a warehouse or office complex. Or perhaps you can share the cost of a database subscription or business group membership with a strategic partner to help you both defray the costs. Small businesses can also lease space from larger businesses. One woman runs her small coffee shop out of a local gas station. Her lease monies were more than the retail profits that were being generated by the few items that were selling in the space. She had a steady stream of clientele. Both businesses found the arrangement profitable.
Think ahead when looking to develop profitable strategic partnerships. You can look to increase market share. You can reduce costs and keep more money in your pocket. You can partner with large or small firms. Whatever you decide, it's in your best interest to keep your potential partner's best interest first and foremost in your mind's eye. By thinking ahead, and seeing the world of opportunity, you'll be able to develop partnerships that create a better business environment for everyone involved.
Related Articles
Add Parallel Income Streams to your Business Through Collaboration Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 14/10/2007 | Internet
By using a Collaboration Marketing Strategy, you can operate in Parallel Streams of Productivity. This means you can, in all practicality, double, triple, or quadruple your profit enhancing activities by exercising a fraction of the time, effort, and money that your most likely exerting today.
There's Strength in Strategic Alliances
By: Christian Fea | 28/03/2008 | Business
An alliance is really just a business-to-business collaboration. Some people use the term business networking when referring to alliances. Alliances are formed for many reasons. When you are a small business owner, it's important to understand that there is a strength that can be utilized by strategic alliances, which may be overlooked in light of developing new business and developing additional revenue streams.
The Powerful Value of Personalized Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 04/06/2008 | Business
Web based marketing strategies are based on the trends set by traditional broadcast advertising tools: commercials, radio spots, billboards and print advertising. These mediums are effective but broad ranging, which can be a bonus or a setback.
Relationship Marketing: Lead Scoring for Success
By: Christian Fea | 20/08/2008 | Marketing
Developing a relationship marketing platform for your business is an important step in every marketing campaign. Having a relationship marketing plan for your business puts the focus of your business on customer fulfillment and strong customer relationships.
After You ~ Joint Venture Strategies With the Other Guy in Mind
By: Christian Fea | 01/04/2008 | Business
As an entrepreneur and business owner, it's a given that you are constantly thinking of ways to grow your business and increase your profits. Joint venturing is a great way to do just that. However, many times business owners approach the concept of the joint venture with a "what's in it for me attitude," as opposed to taking a look at what's in it for the potential joint venture partner.
Focus Your Energies by Forming a Joint Venture
By: Christian Fea | 05/06/2008 | Business
Doing what you do best - and only what you do best - is the ideal situation for everyone. For example, if you make an excellent widget, then you want to keep perfecting those widgets, not deal with the online sales and shipping of your widgets. Or, if you are a writer of children's books, you want to focus on the illustration - not on the distribution and marketing of your books.
Capture Targeted Traffic With Joint Venture Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 13/12/2007 | Business
The underlying fundamentals of joint venture marketing are simple. You partner with a company and have them deliver your message to their customer base. In turn, your collaboration partner garners a percentage of your profits by expanding their asset offerings.
Proposing a Joint Venture Offer That Cannot be Refused
By: Christian Fea | 12/04/2008 | Business
Proposing a Joint Venture Offer that Cannot Be Refused Joint ventures are an excellent strategy for increasing your market reach and overall revenues. However, the question is, how can you entice a prospective partner to join you in a lucrative joint venture? Not everyone can see the big picture quite as vividly as you can ' and therefore, it is important to employ strategies to make sure you both are on the same page of excitement.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Q&A Powered by:
Latest Business Articles
Intuit Software: A Tax Preparation Tool
By: Bei M. | 21/08/2008
In the United Stats, tax legislation is popularly complicated and challenging especially in the corporate and business sectors. Almost all businesses are required to file and pay correct tax. The problem is that not all companies are able to handle well their tax preparation initiatives. That is why Intuit software...
Tips When You Strive to Buy Graphics Software
By: Bei M. | 21/08/2008
If you are regularly doing imaging and image-editing tasks in your computer, there is no doubt you are in need of an appropriate and functional graphics software program. That is why, you should aim to find and buy graphics software that would surely be of great use for you. However,...
Getting to Know More About Microsoft Business Software
By: Bei M. | 21/08/2008
There is no denying that currently, Microsoft Corporation is the world's biggest and most popular developer, designer, and maker of the most reliable computer programs and applications. Since its launch and the initial introduction of its first software, the company has never left the focus and minds of computer owners....
Develop a Better Business Model Faster by Analyzing Past Performance as Though These Were New Tests
By: Donald Mitchell | 21/08/2008
Past successes and failures show clues concerning opportunities and hurdles for creating superior business models. Learn from those experiences.
Insights on Successfully Leading Corporate Initiatives
By: Gayla Hodges | 20/08/2008
Corporations often present line managers the challenge of achieving assigned goals on corporate initiatives. In many cases the primary difficulty is that it is hard to see how the initiative relates to the day-to-day-activities of the plant or division or its specific strategic goals in production or sales, etc. Learn how to incorporate the corporate initiatives into daily work and use them to enhance achievement of goals in the strategic plan.
Secret Wholesale List Suppliers: Exposed!
By: Joaquin Reveron | 20/08/2008
You have a business. You need a wholesale list source to expand your product line and surely for possibilities of profiting more from the acquirement of wholesale products from such suppliers. Precisely, one of the easiest ways to get a source contact list of distributors and wholesalers is by hitting...
Wholesale Video Games: Extreme Infamous Tactics!
By: Joaquin Reveron | 20/08/2008
Let say that you have a successful wholesale video games accessory and your back up is your affiliated company that offers DVDs. Pay attention, this is one of the tools many of us on the top use to beat many competitors, make competitors paralyzed and not even make them think...
6 Reasons to Start a Drop Ship Baby Gift Ecommerce Business
By: Stuart Sherm | 20/08/2008
Starting any Ecommerce business is a daunting task, but here are some ideas where you can make money, have virtually no overhead and never leave your home. What you need is to join a great drop ship gift program.
Essentially you are aware that when you buy certain gifts online they...
More from Christian Fea
Benefits of Collaboration Marketing 101
By: Christian Fea | 03/07/2008 | Business
The Internet has revolutionized the ease with which companies do business, and how they stay connected to other businesses and their clients. Customers are more connected than ever before, which empowers them in a way that didn't previously exist before the invention of the Internet, creating a shift in the traditional balance of power.
Steps for a Successful Collaboration Marketing Program
By: Christian Fea | 01/07/2008 | Business
Collaboration marketing is a specialized niche of relationship marketing
Search Engine Optimization for Strategic Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 27/06/2008 | Computers
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to your website, and this is a key technique for a strategic marketing platform.
Psychological Marketing: Part of Your Strategic Marketing Plan
By: Christian Fea | 25/06/2008 | Business
Psychological marketing focuses on understanding how and why people make the product choices that they do, as well as taking into account social and environmental variables that affect people's choices. Understanding psychological marketing, and doing a bit of your own market research in this area, is an integral part of a successful strategic marketing plan.
Strategic Marketing Vs. Tactical Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 19/06/2008 | Business
Most businesses have both a strategic marketing plan and a tactical marketing plan, and it is important to keep these two platforms separate. People often mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing, you're speaking of "tactical" marketing, which consists of placing ads, generating leads, sending out mailers and brochures, etc. However, strategic marketing focuses on the message and communication of the message.
Strategic Marketing Vs. Tactical Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 19/06/2008 | Business
Most businesses have both a strategic marketing plan and a tactical marketing plan, and it is important to keep these two platforms separate. People often mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing, you're speaking of "tactical" marketing, which consists of placing ads, generating leads, sending out mailers and brochures, etc. However, strategic marketing focuses on the message and communication of the message.
Viral Strategies for Internet Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 17/06/2008 | Business
Viral marketing is a strategy that encourages your business to carry a marketing message via e-mail, and to partner with other businesses, which will attach your marketing message to their emails. This is ultimately another form of collaborative marketing for your company, but one that lends credibility because your message is passed on through other companies.
Advertising Formats for Internet Marketing
By: Christian Fea | 13/06/2008 | Business
The format of an advertisement refers to its type and the position it occupies on a page. Web based advertising formats are most similar to the types used in traditional print media advertising because of the visual medium of both. There are a variety of advertising formats to consider when you are looking to strategically market your business.
Business 
