If you are going it alone as a small sustainable business owner now may be the time to consider partnering up with others in a similar situation. Sure, you could be making ends meet, but as Web Smith noted in his recent piece for Entrepreneur — it’s hard to be the kid on the playground with no friends.
Not only can establishing partnerships in the community make you feel a little less alone in the business world, it can help your business make meaningful connections via an established partner.
Like anything, you still need to be mindful of creating relationships that make sense and are the right fit for your mission. If you are running a consulting firm that aims to help offices reduce their paper footprint, partnering with a paper company probably doesn’t make sense. However if you are trying to create a foothold in the area of environmentally-friendly household management perhaps you could connect with local cleaning companies and work with them to create a cleaning plan that utilizes natural and organic products. They could offer their clients this service at a slightly higher rate than a cleaning that uses standard products and provide you with a consulting fee as well as offer their customers the chance to connect with you directly to “green” their home stash of products.
But no matter what angle you are pursuing, Smith offers up some wise tips about establishing professional partnerships:
1. Be clear and straightforward about your business
While your desire to expand your business may make you want to put on blinders and join forces with every potential partnership that comes your way — don’t. Make sure that you have a clear idea of what your purpose is and maintain that focus. If you try to be a brand that means something to everyone, your vision will be diluted and your company may not make sense to the consumer. That is not going to benefit you in the long run.
2. Ask questions
Make sure you have as much information as you can before making decisions about a new partnership. Sure, you’ll never know everything and something that seems great may still be a bad fit down the line. But it’s vital that you know what your potential partner’s values and vision are — if they don’t align with yours, you probably don’t want to have your company associated with them.
3. Be honest
You are likely to have limitations — everyone does — but by understanding your limitations you are more likely to identify strong partners that can help you fill in these gaps. Don’t hide from those gaps in your experience, use them to find support.
4. Know when to say farewell
As an entrepreneur you are already a pro at taking risks, but if a partnership isn’t working as you imagined it’s time to say bye-bye.
While establishing your small business may feel isolating, remember to step outside your comfort zone and start making those connections. As long as you maintain a clear commitment to your company’s vision, your brand is likely to benefit from creating business partnerships.