Strategic Alliance with other Businesses, why it’s so important.
It doesn’t matter if your business is small or large, having a strategic alliance with other companies is important for your business to thrive.
Strategic alliances are 2 or more business coming together with a shared goal.
It can be:
- to give each other referrals
- As a vendor to another company
- As a client to another company
- Working together to achieve a deal
- Sharing resources to offset your cost
Let’s give an example:
If you are a realtor, you work regularly with different mortgage companies, inspectors, real estate lawyers, contractors and other realtors to make a real estate deal happen.
As a realtor, you want to surround yourself with people you can depend on to get each real estate settlement complete as seamless as possible. As a lender, contractor, inspector, real estate lawyer, etc., you want to build trust and an alliance with realtors. Maybe offer some sort of referral program.
With any type of business that you are doing, it doesn’t matter if it’s large or small, it’s important to create that alliance with people you can trust, sharing a common goal to have your business ventures SOAR!
How do you find them?
There are so many virtual and in person networking groups out there. Make the time to cultivate business relationships.
Here are just a few places to network and build your strategic alliances:
- One Million Cups
- Your local Chamber of Commerce
- Look for groups on Meetup
- Look for groups and networking events on Eventbrite
- Talk to friends and colleagues
- Groups on Facebook, LinkedIn
- Alumni and Affinity Organizations
- Local Organizations
- Alignable
Business owners should remember the following when considering and entering strategic alliances:
- Know and be able to clearly express the competitive advantages, goals and objectives for your own business. Doing so will help you to communicate the advantages and benefits you can bring to the other company or companies in the prospective alliance.
- Evaluation capabilities and reputation of prospective business partners to help determine if the alliance is a complementary fit.
- It’s beneficial to have written agreements and operating practices with joint goals, clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each alliance participant, a communication plan, and periodic re-evaluation of the arrangement.
- In forming joint ventures, consult with attorneys and accountants who have experience with joint venture agreements.
- Have a clear exit strategy for terminating the alliance when it does not work out, has met its objective, or has simply run its course.
Don’t try to go it alone! Today’s economic realities make alliances more necessary than ever before as a means of survival and growth for small businesses.
Business alliance are a great way to attract more customers.
Getting a referral from another professional for your business is a super powerful way to gain clients and customers.
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