The Synergistic Power of Joint Ventures to Grow Your Business

So you’ve registered your business name, printed some business cards, and announced your business at a network or two. You may even have your first clients or customers, and are beginning to establish some regular clientele and repeat business.

So, what next? How do you take your new business from fledgling to full flight?

One very powerful way is via joint ventures or strategic alliances.

The beauty of joint ventures is they allow you to leverage what your knowledge and products and services, through the power of unity.  Joint ventures are synergistic in nature, which means the partnership has far more value than the sum of its individual parts. This synergy means that you can reap far greater rewards together, than you could possibly do so alone.

At first glance it appears that joint ventures benefit the partners involved, and that’s true. You can pool your resources, split associated costs, and benefit from sharing one another’s database and network connections.

But I want to emphasise that the value of a really good joint venture goes far beyond that. Ultimately it is your customers or clients that will benefit most.

So, what makes a good sustainable joint venture?

•  Your partners will share a similar target market without being direct competitors (crossovers are quite acceptable with referral partners).
• You will ideally share similar values and beliefs, this will help your joint venture to survive over the long term, and avoid testy problems down the track!
• Consider a blended skill set, so that roles and tasks can be shared among you
• A shared commitment is essential… Begin with success in mind for the venture as a group, then do all you can to get a great result. Everyone has a part to play.
• Ultimately the customer must win. This is very important. If you want new clients to engage in your joint venture and associated offerings, and that it is irresistible to your customers!

Watch this video to see how a joint venture can be really successful for all (it’s a bit funny too!)[youtube]http://youtu.be/FVAyzIAAZ8E[/youtube]

Here are some simple but effective joint venture examples:

1.   Tempting and tasty

Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices teamed up with the 4 Ingredients brand to create a unique recipe book using simple ingredients and tasty condiments. This product was also leveraged through the power of the COLES supermarket brand. Gourmet Garden and 4 Ingredients were able to expand their customer base into new markets, Coles was able to own exclusivity of the promotion, and the customer was the biggest winner of all, with an easy to use cook book that would allow them to create luscious recipes simply and easily, without the need for overly processed products.

2.   Building Better Brands

In 2012 I joined forces with Jeanne Treloar of Sassy Branding to create something that was far greater than what we could do on our own. We originally met at a business network, and developed a relationship that lead to this collaboration. As a result, we created Business Branding Masterclasses and packages, that will help any fledgling business to move from an idea or a hobby, into a fully visible entity!

Between us, we can offer graphic design, website and marketing packages as well as essential how to training, which is far greater than each of could provide alone, providing a crucial series of stepping stone for any new business to hit the ground running!

Now that’s powerful!

Can you see how you can use joint ventures to expand your business into new domains, without burning yourself out??

So, where do you begin?

•  Get clarity on your target audience first. This is essential before proceeding
• Make a short list of potential partners who share that audience, and appear to have similar values to you
• Create a simple proposal outlining your idea with a “what’s in it for me” message for your potential partner.
• Contact each partner, letting them know you have an idea where you can pool resources for mutual benefit.

Once you have initiated the discussion, your ideas will grow from there. Remember. The joint venture MUST be irresistible to your potential clients to work. The more you understand your clients, and what they want, the easier it will be to create something that will expand and grow your business.

All the best for your joint (ad)ventures!