When you’ve got your own business, it is good to learn about joint ventures and how to make them happen. You might even be an expert with them and start up a brokerage. Most JVs come together from the efforts of two businesses, though. You can help speed up the process by looking critically at your own business. After that, you should open up your awareness and seek out candidates for a JV.
Finding Potential JV Partners
A good partnership will be with someone whose product or service complements yours but doesn’t compete against what you’re already doing. It’s like milk and cookies: they go well together but they aren’t in competition. That is how you must think about finding potential JV partners.
All business discussions should be short and not use up anyone else’s time. This same logic applies during the times that you are inquiring about joint venture partnerships. In addition, do not make the other business mad by using marketing hype. If you contact the other business, state your purpose for contacting, preferably do this in writing. You should not write too long of a letter. However, you should make a good presentation. You can do this at a later time, if need be. Always explain how a joint venture is advantageous for them.
Compelling Offer
You can increase your odds of landing a joint venture deal if there is something compelling about your offer. Some businesses, however, are harder to connect with than others. The thing to be aware of is that you are only one of many people who want to do business with them. A big company gets emails and phones calls on a daily basis from people wanting to do business deals with them. What this means is that you must have something truly valuable for them if you want them to take your offer seriously. You need both a great offer and a polished way of presenting it if you want to make any inroads. If you’re not sure you have what it takes to land a mega JV, why not get your feet wet and try some smaller ones first?
If you’ve got business contacts that are able to be developed into potential joint ventures, you should make sure to keep in touch–and this is why. You are able to call and speak with them, and that can lead to an alliance in the form of a JV. It’s important to talk with them about these industries and to see whether or not the both of you are going to be interested in all of the same things. This helps keep it from feeling like a joint venture in the beginning. When you can offer them something that is valuable to you both, it’s time to turn your talks more serious. If you get an idea, keep it quiet and start to develop it by yourself. If the idea proves merit worthy, you can discuss it with the other person. Joint ventures happen every day. You probably see them on a regular basis. Each business has something to offer. They are linked by what they do together. What is occurring is a cross-pollination of promotion for each business. Even an individual doing IM can participate with JVs. It works for most people across the board.