How To Grow Your Business With Partnerships And Collaborations

Businesses don’t grow in isolation. They’re part of a wider ecosystem that nurtures and fosters their development. 

Weirdly, though, that’s not what people think. They see businesses as a wholly individualistic pursuit of one person against the world. 

The key insight is that partnerships and collaborations are things you can leverage to be successful. Get them right and implement them properly and you can grow a business rapidly – far faster than you might think. 

So what do we recommend? Here’s what to do. 

Identify Your Goals And Ideal Partners

The first step is to identify who you want your partners to be, whether you need fleet services for trucks or SEO for your website. Think about what kind of value you can offer and what kind of value you expect in return. For example, do you want to increase your brand awareness, generate more leads, or sell more products? 

The better you can answer these questions, the more likely you are to find partners who can support your brand on a practical level. Knowing how, why, and when partners will help you improve your ability to grow and expand your reach.

Research And Contact Potential Partners

The next step is to research and contact your partners. Find out what they do and how they can benefit from working with you. You can use various social media channels and other options to find potential partners in your niche and then create pitches to see if you can work with them. Explain what you do, what you can offer, and what you expect from them over the phone or via email. 

Negotiate Terms

The next step is to negotiate terms once you get a positive response. At the start, you won’t be able to bargain hard, and you may need to give more than you receive. However, over time, you may find that you gain more leverage as you become better known. 

You also need to decide how you will communicate with your partner and measure performance or value-added. The relationship needs to be mutually beneficial. If it’s not, then there is an incentive for one partner to leave. 

You should also draw up documents explaining what will happen if disputes or issues arise. You should have a clear path forward. 

Execute And Promote Your Partnership

Once you have everything in place, it’s time to execute and promote the partnership. This last step could include:-

• Building a webinar
• Hosting an event
• Offering various discounts and incentives to each other’s customers
• Promoting each others’ products and services

Usually, there will be a junior and a senior partner but that’s okay. You can find ways to make these relationships mutually beneficial, even if you’re the one who seems to be getting the better deal. 

Evaluate Performance

The last step to growing your business with partnerships is to evaluate performance. Track things like traffic, leads, and sales directly attributable to the relationship. Make sure you regularly thank your partner for their role in generating results.