How Star Alliance helps Airlines get Ahead

The airline world is no stranger to corporate business alliances. These agreements mean that businesses cooperate substantially, and in addition, they make it less likely that one will push the other out of market share. In fact, in the airline world, these business alliances have become so popular that there are a few major known names.

One of the biggest is Star Alliance. Continue reading

Why Joint Ventures are Less Risky than Acquisitions

While acquisitions and joint ventures are both viable options for expanding businesses, they are both considerably different and depending on a company’s particular situation, one is after significantly more beneficial than the other. Joint ventures are commonly seen as less risky than acquisitions due to the information barriers during the acquisition process. In addition to being less risky, Continue reading

Power Partners Create a Foundation for Businesses

Keeping a business growing requires thinking about unconventional solutions. Sometimes when seeking a solution, it takes an angle from the other side to give a clearer light on the problem. Being power partners with another business is a great strategy to give businesses a new look at common problems.

Power partners are a great way to secure a consistent revenue flow to insure continued success. Continue reading

3 Steps to Find Alliance Partners For A Competitive Advantage

As a business owner, you have probably spent a lot of money in marketing campaigns to grow your brand and your business. Do you have the feeling that there is just something missing that is preventing you from getting the exposure you need and the competitive advantage you deserve? Have you ever considered seeking another business to form a partnership?

The key is to find another business that does things you cannot do to combine your strengths to create something very unique and valuable. Let’s look at some important 3 considerations in selecting business partners to give a competitive advantage over time:

Continue reading

Collaboration: It’s More Than Just Tools

Collaboration – What do you think of when you hear the word? If you’re like many, you think of internet sites and software programs that make it easier for team members to communicate – whether they’re sitting in cubicles right next to each other or at desks in different parts of the world. But that’s only part of the equation.

In his book The Culture of Collaboration, Evan Rosen points out that: ….. tools and technologies never create collaboration. Culture creates collaboration.  Continue reading

3 Benefits of Joint Ventures

Launch a business from scratch with Joint Ventures (JV). Countless new business owners are launching new businesses using JV alone, proving to be the active element as to why they experienced success in their business. A partnership between two companies with similar assets is simply leveraged by a “joint venture.” When working through JV ventures, it is important to partner with them and not compete with them.

For instance, you may own a vitamin website and then contact the owner of a wellness website. See if you can leverage marketing your vitamins to the customers of their wellness site. They will say either “yes” or “no.” If the answer is “yes,” then it’s worth every effort when you start to build up your back office easily and experience rapid traffic and sales.

Most recently, Ford and GM have created a Joint Venture to develop new transmissions with 9 speeds for front week drive cars. They are jointly developing a new product for both companies and it won’t be in cars until 2016. Continue reading

How Value Added Resellers (VAR) Make It Work

Becoming a Value Added Reseller (VAR) is a lucrative way to add value and specialization to your product while saving yourself the development costs of manufacturing and developing the add-ons yourself. We’d like to offer you some tips in making this selling program work for you.

The most important thing is to establish yourself Continue reading

Two Steps to Use Business Alliances to Expand Your Service Offerings

Whether you are in accounting, finances, sales, consulting or another service industry, to grow your small business takes creativity. Using strategic business alliances allows you to develop a mutually beneficial relationship to expand your service offerings and increase your brand awareness.

Seek Vendors with a Shared Target Market

It may seem counterproductive to build a relationship with a business that shares your target market. You are not sleeping with the enemy. Continue reading

Alliance Management Requires Performance Management

The purpose of a business alliance is to bring two or more companies together to achieve defined strategic goals. The benefit is to reduce risk, increase rewards, and leverage resources. But how do you know if you’re successful? Alliance management requires you to assess performance. 

Over ten years ago, McKinsey & Company reviewed the financial and strategic outcomes of hundreds of business alliances. Their assessment was that the overall success rate was slightly higher than 50 percent. Who knew? Not the executives, according to the study.

To make sure this doesn’t happen to your business alliances Continue reading

Business Alliances Provide Stability with Reduced Risk

A business alliance is a tool used by businesses to stabilize a market so that each company benefits. There are several types of business alliances with each specialized to effect certain conditions for different scenarios. A business should consider the needs before entering an alliance so that the correct type can be addressed for the best and most beneficial results.

The types of alliances include: Continue reading

Choosing the Best Alliance Management Professional Makes all the Difference in the World

Sometimes it’s tough to go it alone, especially if you’re a small business owner. Because of today’s fast-paced and constantly changing business environment, it’s critical to move quickly to take advantage of opportunities.

Consequently, many business owners are seeking alliance management professionals to help them achieve their business objectives rather than building or buying something new. Continue reading

Use The Power of Strategic Alliances To Grow Your Business

In today’s volatile economy, businesses large and small must take advantage of every opportunity to lessen risks and make their bottom line. One tool is strategic alliances. Many businesses, big and small, have entered into these beneficial partnerships to share resources and expand brand awareness without sacrificing additional capital.

Strategic alliances can be beneficial to all parties involved. Continue reading

Managing the Channels of distribution

Many manufactures do not sell directly to the end user. Between the manufacture and the user is usually a channel of distribution. They are essential to the success in any type of business. If you run a service business you need the supplies used that create the business, in which case you are a channel for the manufacturer or distribution of the supplies.

For instance, an HVAC company needs their air conditioners, heat units and service parts so the technicians can perform their job. The business maintains open channels for these items. Let’s face it, how would you react if the repair person fixing your air conditioner failed to have the proper parts with him or even at his shop?

Continue reading

Retool the Sales Process to Gain Sales Growth

Working in the field of sales is great. Every day brings something new. Since this constant change directly affects sales people and their organizations, by extension it affects the sales process.

Some organizations avoid the entire issue by letting people do what they want. They see this as their way to avoid the need to correct or make changes – sometimes known as the don’t-fix-what-ain’t-broke mentality. This might be fine for your top sales reps, but not everyone can be a superstar. Maybe, if you it isn’t broke, you should break it. Continue reading

Famous Strategic Alliances that Paid Off and Changed the World

Strategic alliances are an increasingly common sight in the modern business landscape. A study by Booze-Allen & Hamilton showed 20,000 new alliances formed between 1987 and 1992. One reason for this is the need for brand recognition in a crowded global market and because there have been many success stories of strategic alliances that have helped companies take off. Academics talk of the effectiveness of alliances in terms of game theory, these real life examples are a testament to the success of such a bold business move.

Starbucks and Barnes & Noble

The coffee house and the bookstore. Continue reading

Why Creating Strategic Alliances Helps your Business Grow

Reaching out to like-minded individuals is one aspect of creating new business and it the same effect that happens when reaching out to like-minded businesses or competitors of the same or different genre. Specifically speaking building Strategic Alliances is networking with companies and or vendors that deal within the same area of business. For instance, a local business needs to increase sales. One way they can accomplish this is to find another local business that caters to a similar demographic and build a working relationship that benefits both companies by increasing the audience of both through joint advertising. Continue reading

A Strategic Alliance is NOT a Joint Venture

In a 2010 Inc. post, “How to Build Business Alliances,” I was surprised to read the very first line:

The basic logic of the strategic alliance – a joint venture between two companies – is often irresistible: It’s difficult to break into new markets, and a partnership can bring instant access to new customers. 

What? A strategic alliance is not a joint venture. Yes, a joint venture is technically a strategic alliance. However, the reverse is not true.

Specifically, a joint venture occurs when two companies invest finances to create a third, jointly owned company. Continue reading

Collaboration: The Best Idea for 2013

Business tends to be competitive – like sports. Not that competition is wrong. However, in the words of Michael Jordan, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

One of the best trends that we see for 2013 is collaboration. You want to promote your business, brand, product, or service, determine whom you can make a power partner or where you can develop a strategic alliance.

In the 2008 report from IBM, Continue reading

Sales Strategies Heading into 2013

Sometimes it’s difficult not to think of those who work in sales as anything more than the slick late night used car sales people from days gone by. However, much has changed over the last 30 years, especially when it comes to sales strategies.

Heading into 2013 it’s critical for your sales team to understand what factors Continue reading