You have determined that the development of business alliances is a good idea and they would benefit your bottom line, but you are not sure where to begin. We have some great news – you are in the right place.
In the world of running a business, it can be easy to be bogged down in your day-to-day operations and forget to take a step back to evaluate your overall success.
The “30,000 foot view” is crucial for long-term planning and vision. Strategic alliances are a key element to achieving the goals you have set. If you take a good look at businesses that do well and produce, you will find similar threads running through their structure.
One question to ask is “who is my customer and how are they making decisions?” Identify those who influence your clientele and pay attention to their language, their culture, and the common themes in their community. Once you understand the community, participate.
Another avenue is to determine the services or products that compliment or enhance the product you are selling. Once you find the businesses that are supplying those complimentary goods, approach the possibility of collaborating or sharing customer information.
Finally, consider the possibilities for your own product or service. If a third party can resell your goods, this avenue is one to research. While it will require more time invested than some other alliance, options the long-term payoff can be significant.
Many young companies, or startups are using the Lean Startup Model (if you don’t know about this, Google the term, plus Google “Lean Canvas”). This popular movement was started by Eric Ries. The idea is to present your whole business plan on a single “Canvas.” On your canvas, you will have a section for partners. You can expand your relationship with your partners by creating a unique canvas just for the partnership. This puts all goals and objectives up front for everyone to see. Try it.
Invest in your future successes and allow us the opportunity to expand on how we can help bring these ideas to fruition for your business. Maybe we can work with you to create a partnership canvas. Contact us.