Experiencing a global pandemic has shown what types of strategies lead to a more resilient business. While quick pivots and crisis management measures can go a long way in your startup’s survival, there are other ways to strengthen your business that you can consider for the next year.
Strategic Partnerships allow for a mutually beneficial arrangement that will be a great asset for your business. From sharing research to providing more value to your target audience, a partnership could be what your business needs to reach your 2021 goals.
While there are many advantages that stem from business partnerships, let’s explore three of the key benefits.
Broaden Your Market
Every business meets a specific target audience’s need. Whether you’re an AI company that serves researchers or a B2C retail company that fits a niche interest, your business has a market. Establishing a strategic business partnership can help you to expand that market in a unique way. Your partner’s target audience might not seem like a perfect expansion on your own at first glance, but that might be just the reason why it is so effective.
When beginning to target a new market, building trust is important. Your partnership will allow both you and your partner business to gain a foothold in each others’ audiences without implying a large up-front investment from either side. That head start could be what makes the difference in regards to you pulling ahead of your competitors.
Pool Resources
Another benefit of strategic partnerships is the ability to pool resources. From market research to knowledge on trustworthy and effective vendors, distribution channels and connections, your partnership will provide both with an advantage. Between the two of you, more ground can be covered in distinguishing effective strategies from ineffective strategies. In addition, project collaborations where each party contributes different assets lead to more efficient and successful ventures overall. Joint training sessions are another method of cutting costs and maximizing value within a partnership.
When pooling resources, it’s important to preserve transparency with your partner. Be honest about your organization’s strengths and how you think they can best support your partner and trust that they will do the same. This foundation will ensure that the partnership remains valuable to both parties and can continue to find new ways to improve.
Business Longevity
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for many businesses to thrive. In Canada, 14% of small businesses were forced to close in the last year. While a partnership doesn’t guarantee that your business can survive in times of crisis, it can be the differentiating factor.
Having a partner that can contribute experience and help in finding solutions for your specific challenges will not only help you survive but will also make strides towards your business thriving.
The pandemic has put a lot of startups in a business-survival mindset. While that is an effective strategy for the short-term, it’s also important to remember to prioritize growth and longevity. A stable partnership will also provide more opportunities for flexibility and adaptability in order for your businesses to continue to operate in the future.
Here are some examples of strategic business partnerships to take inspiration from.
Key Takeaway
Looking at the coming year, there are many new strategies you can implement in order to ensure your business is as successful as it could be. When planning out your goals for the year, consider integrating a business partnership into the strategy.
A strategic business partnership is an asset to your business. From exposing your company to new audiences to sharing resources to ensuring business survival, if you can establish a mutually beneficial, stable partnership, your business will gain a large competitive advantage.
Do you have experience in business collaborations? Share any tips you have with us in the comments!
Robert
29 April 2021 at 2:50 amA strategic partnership means access to new customers, and embedded in this is an opportunity for free advertisement. When you pair with another business, you’ll be able to reach their clients as well. This is an incredibly effective marketing strategy, stretching your reach into double the clientele.
Marina Teramond
4 August 2021 at 5:36 amHello Candy!
This article do be highlighting very important and effective strategies. Speaking from my own experience, having a reliable partner can be a game changer! You’ll be able to not only broad your client pool, but also gain a more stable position in the marketplace. I also liked how the actors gave all the tips in a very brief way, so it’d be clear even to one’s who are new to this field.
• Post Author •
9 August 2021 at 9:28 amHi Marina, thank you so much for your comment!
We believe that focusing on finding and establishing the correct partnerships for your business is one of the best strategies entrepreneurs can take to establish themselves.
Jack Reynolds
2 November 2021 at 6:04 amRule 1. Don’t partner with anyone unless you’ve known them for years. Go it alone, work like hell and bring in people as you need them. You’ll save yourself a load of trouble having to work with someone you hardly know and have no idea how committed they are..
• Post Author •
2 November 2021 at 9:16 amThank you for your input!
Navigating partnership opportunities can certainly lead to challenges, but we still believe that there are many benefits for your business in finding the right partners. Ensuring proper documentation and clear expectations will help subvert certain pitfalls, but trusting your gut is also a valid component of your decision-making process.
What are the main things you look for when considering partnerships for your business?
Yana@PaydayloansM
2 December 2021 at 3:36 amLook for partners in your or related field.
You must work with the same market segment. Even though you occupy the same niche, you don’t need to compete, you need to complement each other, working together to improve the customer experience.
Therefore, it is best to first study your potential partner as best you can.
Teresa May (MEW)
1 August 2022 at 1:46 amA strategic partnership is a close working connection created between two companies that is of joint benefit; some of them occurred quite naturally over a period of time and some are knowingly created. Your selection of strategic partner depends on the kind of business you are in and the support you require. You want it to be jointly beneficial. A strategic partner might comprise of a solicitor, accountant or someone from HR. You might also create a partnership with a contractor, some of whom will be part of the increasing and decreasing procedure in business, but sometimes you will need to hold these partnerships for the long term. In several ways, some of these contractors are as essential as an employee, and you can develop an actually great ongoing relationship with the correct ones.