Forming key relationships or partnering with other businesses could be the most important thing you do to ensure your success, however, the wrong decision could be a recipe for disaster. To successfully develop worthwhile strategic alliances, consider the following nine keys points:
Select partners carefully
Make sure you attract like minded people with similar values and ethics. Today there are still many 'cowboys' in the marketplace. People who ride into town, with lots of fanfare, making lots of noise and hollow promises. However, if you are looking for a long term relationship with your clients, don't network with the cowboys or you are sure to have a stormy ride. Look at your peers and competitors and identifying those who think like you, run their businesses along the same ethical lines and basically have a good business name.
Be clear on outcomes
• Be as specific as possible. Identify exactly
• how big you want your connection to grow
• The turnover you anticipate
• the number of hours you can commit to the project
• any other commitments that may affect your financial situation
• any fears you may have about the business relationship
• identify exactly how many widgets you want to produce, when and by whom
• how much you can afford to invest and lose, should your partnership fail.
Never assume anything
Many business partnerships fail because of poor communication. Some partners think everything that needs to be discussed is covered once the dollars are finalised but this is far from reality. Clarify everything. Put everything in writing as soon as possible after your meetings. Take notes during the meeting or have the meeting and minutes recorded for you.
Set specific time lines
Many people agree in principal to something and then find that due to prior commitments or unexpected events, they cannot honour their agreement. By setting trial time frames, you can get an idea of your partner's management style, their attention to detail and their investment in the project.
Allow for exit clauses
Better to lose a partner in the early stages, than lose your good name in the marketplace. Sometimes the different styles of management and leadership create disharmony. Something that seemed like a small annoyance may become a huge irritation down the track. For example, you may form a partnership with someone who always runs at least forty minutes late for every meeting. You on the other hand are always ten minutes early,
You may initially laugh this habit away, however, after a few months of being kept waiting, you may not see the humour anymore. You may like to put in place a 'trial time frame' e.g. 'lets review this in 30 days and see how we are travelling. If things are not working out by then, we can dissolve the partnership without any hard feelings'.
This one point will ensure a clean break if one becomes required in the future.
Aim for the WIN-WIN
Brainstorm possible, best and worst case scenarios regarding this strategic alliance. What is the worst thing that can happen and can you cope with that outcome? If you can, then you have absolutely nothing to lose. If you can't cope with that outcome, you may like to review the situation or review the guidelines.
Celebrate your successes
In life, some people are so busy doing, doing, doing, that they forgot to stop and smell the roses. To maintain your and your partners motivation, it's important to record the milestones in your alliance: ie Your first order or contract, your first payment in excess of $X, etc. Acknowledge these wins regularly. If you don't give yourself recognition, why would you expect others to give it to you?
Do your homework
Prepare your business plan, do a SWOT analysis highlighting the positives and the negatives of a joint alliance. Prepare all the information that you consider your potential partner would need to know before they could comfortably make a decision about forming an alliance with you.
Don't be afraid to go for it
And finally, when you have selected your partner to be, make the phone call, send the fax, email, whatever the approach - make contact. Remember, if you never ask the question, the answer is always, no! Ask for six minutes of their time. Talk fast - let your passion and enthusiasm sell your idea. After all, what's the worst thing that can happen - rejection? You can live with that. Remember, they are not rejecting you, they are rejecting your product, service or a specific opportunity. Tomorrow, they may change their mind or better still, they may introduce you to a person they consider to be your ideal strategic alliance partner. If we have courage to face the challenge and make our dreams, goals and targets greater than our fears - we can have whatever we want in life.
Dream big dreams…
No comments:
Post a Comment