“Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus.”
-Simon Mainwaring
A business collaboration is an excellent way of getting things done for your business, especially when you are looking to leverage on the audience and resources of other businesses to actualize your business dreams or idea.
Collaborations could throw in a lot of relief in solving a business challenge. They also present opportunities to build the network you need to massively grow your business.
In truth “one tree cannot make a forest”. However, just before you decide to go all in to enjoy the benefits of collaboration, there are certain questions you should not only ask yourself but also have well defined answers for.
-
WHAT VALUE YOUR INTENDING PARTNER WILL GET FROM
Collaborations are not “parasitic” schemes where one party spends and the other party grows.
Rather, they are more “symbiotic” in operation and are mutually beneficial to both parties at the long run.
So, while you look after your own interests, you also want to think of what benefits the other party would gain partnering with you.
Make sure the value you’re offering is one you’d like to receive if the roles were reversed. -
HOW WELL IT TIES TO YOUR GOAL
The pressure to “flow with the tide” when it comes to working with others could escalate. This might force you as a partner to agree decisions and ideas that could turn out to be detrimental to your own business goals.
What are your business goals? Does your intending partner have similar goals?
Knowing all of these will ensure that you both are in the same league.
3. HOW IT WILL WORK OUT ON A SMALL SCALE
A whole lot of excitements envelopes the thought of “available resources” when it comes to collaborating with the “big fishes”.
Yes, you want to get right to work and finally bring that idea to fruition, you want to start with that fantastic project that no one has done before, Nice!
before you go all out and invest your time and resources into an idea with your collaborators, you might want to try it out on a smaller scale and see how it performs.
Doing that will help you determine if its something you want to do in the long run.
4. HOW MUCH TIME YOU’RE WILLING TO INVEST
Collaborations can be time consuming, especially with a poorly selected strategy.
It becomes a serious risk when targets have been set and deadlines for delivery have been put in place and you cannot put in the extra number of hours required to pull it off.
This could lead to frustration and ultimately loss of money and investments on both ends at the long run.
So, determine beforehand, how much time you are willing to spend (planning and preparation), and how much of your regular business time you are willing to spare.
5. THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
This is the most important part of any form of business agreement. All parties are to be well and duly informed of the legal implications of their actions in business. This is to be done by a lawyer.
When collaborations fail, all parties tend to go emotional about loss and hence things could go awry between both parties. That is why it is very important that both parties come to a legal agreement binding all parties involved and the course of action that should be taken as pertaining to the existing business law of the country at that particular time.
After considering these factors, you’re well on your way to planning a collaboration that will hugely boost your business.
The Bellafricana community is a platform where you can foster collaborations which can help drive great results for your business. Click on this link to sign up to our membership platform
References
https://www.fastcompany.com/90472869/why-tim-ferriss-focus-on-daily-habits-is-not-the-real-secret-to-success
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/strategy/factors-consider-partnering-business/
