Strategic business alliances can help you build your business more quickly, generating business momentum and creating more rapid business results
As it sounds, a strategic alliance (or joint venture) is a business agreement made between business owners with the focus on generating mutually helpful business outcomes. An example of this kind of partnership would be when two business owners partner up to create an event, and each brings their own skills to the project, resulting in an event that was better, bigger, and more profitable than either could have created alone.
Strategic alliances can sometimes occur as cross-promotional arrangements, such as when you visit your local bakery, and they are promoting the florist shop next door.
Most entrepreneurs would greatly benefit if they had a regular habit of creating and maintaining multiple strategic alliances. Here are three strategies to help you create better strategic business alliances:
1) Commit to doing this. Make a plan to reach out to one new potential business alliance each day. If you can’t meet one new person each day, commit to meeting one per week, or even one per month. The key is that you are actively meeting other business owners in your area, and are learning about their businesses, and telling them about yours. You can make this process easier by creating a list of 100 people you’d like to connect with in the next few months, and systematically going down your list day by day or week by week. Try to make connections with people who would be in a position to refer ideal clients to you, and who are in non-competitive businesses to yours.
2) Focus on what you can give them first. We are often able to give really good ideas and advice to other people, and this can be a good way to make initial contact. Find out what they need, and do your best to assist them, either with direct ideas, or by making connections to others. If you give out help and referrals, you will, very often, get them back. Focus on how you can become a center of influence or connector in your community. Be the person that everyone needs to know.
3) Realize that everyone is intrigued and inspired by big thinking. Try to create large platforms or large projects where you and your newfound alliances can work together. One way you might do this is by creating an expert panel around a particular topic, and inviting your new business alliances to be on your panel. Each partner will agree to promote this panel to their respective customer lists, and each partner should try and gather media coverage for this panel also.
Most business owners would be glad to be associated with a project like this. If you come up with the idea, and move it forward, more business owners will want to connect with you and seek you out, because you will be seen as a big thinker; someone who makes things happen.
It can be tempting to avoid meeting new people (especially if you’re shy or introverted), but the fact is that meeting people face to face is one of the fastest ways to create referrals for your business.