Business is not just about competition it is also about co-operation and partnerships. It would help if you collaborated with different stak…
In this connected world, you can forge a strategic alliance with a company that’s located continents away from you. The world is a much closer place today, thanks to the Internet and the Digital Revolution. Right strategic alliances can aid you in gaining access to capital, knowledge, or brand value that can propel your business forward.
Strategic Partnerships aid you in your journey as an entrepreneur, and they can provide a high degree of leverage, thrusting your company forward onto the path of progress.
Lessons to forge great Strategic Partnerships
Clarity of Objectives
Before starting your quest to finding the perfect strategic partner, you need to establish clear goals of what you expect from this partnership. While deciding the objectives, understand that for the relationship to be healthy, it has to be a win-win situation for both partners. Hence while determining your goals and expectations, always keep in mind the expectations of your strategic partner as well. You and your strategic partner must have complementary goals, which shall aid you in achieving your personal goals faster.
Many times people enter into strategic partnerships because they feel that they have a shortfall in a specific area. This feeling of lack never transgresses into a mutually beneficial strategic partnership as one partner is always feeling bogged down. Ultimately such strategic partnerships go down the road of failure more often than not.
To avoid the occurrence of such circumstances, you must be clear on your why?
Being honest about why you are interested in this partnership will help you in increasing the chances of your success. Be sure about what you bring to the table and what your partner does. You must have clear answers to the questions, “What do I want to gain from this partnership?” and “What do I plan to give to this partnership?” If you do not have clear answers to these questions, then treat this as a big red flag.
Understanding the Objective of your Partner
Once your Motto behind the strategic partnership is clear, you should focus on understanding the objective of your strategic partner. People tend to focus more on what they want to gain instead of equally focusing on what the other guy plans in a strategic partnership.
Have a straightforward conversation with your strategic partner, about what he/she wants to gain from this partnership. It will go a long way in laying the foundations of a robust collaboration.
Try to gauge whether you have the right chemistry and if this relationship will be beneficial to both of you. Trust your instinct if you feel something is not correct, and then it is best to be cautious. It is better to postpone the decision until you feel that the partnership will click, instead of going ahead with doubts lingering in your mind.
Research
Before entering the negotiation room, always makes a list of your USP’S. Doing this exercise will also clear doubts, if any, in your mind about whether you should enter into this partnership or you should handle the process in-house. It is a better approach to research about your partner company’s strengths and shortcomings before taking things ahead. You will require a high level of confidence in your partner, always seek evidence of results, and try to work with a business that has a proven track record.
Also Read: How Mobile Apps have become a powerful weapon for business leaders?
Transparency
Being honest about your weaknesses and gaps will help in establishing trust, which is the most crucial determinant of success in a strategic partnership. Once you open up about your weak points, you can then expect your partners to open-up about theirs.
Frequent and open communication is the pillars on which your strategic partnership stands. Once you have found a great strategic partner, keep communicating regularly to keep the confidence level high on both sides.
Having robust communication channels will ensure that you will be able to deal with any unexpected issues swiftly.
Remember, ‘Honesty is still the Best Policy’ in business.
Have a Shared Vision
Check whether the level of excitement is equal on both sides. Your partnership should be broad and open enough to accommodate the vision of both the partners. Having a shared vision will help you in having enough clarity about the roles and expectations of both the partners.
It will speed up the progress of your partnership, as you will have a clear goal to achieve.
