| SEVEN
KEYS TO DEVELOPING STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Whether
you operate or are employed by a small or medium sized business,
forming strategic alliances can help you get the edge in todays
competitive marketplace.
So
where do we start. How to we take out business from small to medium
sized and with whom or to which marketplaces? Some of you may
think its all too hard, but that is not necessarily the case.
To develop strategic alliances, it pays to consider the following
seven keys:
SELECT
YOUR PARTNERS CAREFULLY
Make
sure you attract like minded people with similiar values and ethics.
Today there are still many "cowboys" in the marketplace. People
who ride into town, with lots of fanfare making lots of noise
and hollow promises. And yes they do attract business and even
take a few prisoners. Customers who are snapped up, taken on a
whirlwind ride and left a few stations down the track - bewildered
and disenchanted, and usually out of pocket.
This
approach does work for some, depending on their product. However,
if you are looking for a long term relationship with your clients,
don't network with the cowboys, or you are sure to have a stormy
ride.
You
may consider looking at your peers and competitors and identifying
who does think like you, run their businesses along the same ethical
lines and basically have a good business name. If you are going
to tackle the global market, your possible business partner may
already have contacts in this region, but lack the product knowledge
- this is where you may fill that need and vice versa.
BE
CLEAR ON YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME:
- be
as specific as possible. Identify exactly:
- how
big you want your connection to grow
- the
turnover you anticipate
- the
number of hours you can commit to the project
- any
other commitments that may affect your financial situation
- any
fears you may have about the business relationship
- identify
exactly how many widgits you want to product and by when and
by whom
- how
much you can afford to invest and lose, should your partnership
fail.
NEVER
ASSUME ANYTHING
Many
business partnerships fail because of poor communication - partners
assumed major items. Because of the assumption, many things were
never discussed. Some partners think everything that needs to
be discussed is covered once the $$ are finalised but this is
far from reality.
Clarify
everything, don't be afraid to state the obvious. What is obvious
to you , may be totally unknown by your partner. Put everything
in writing as soon as possible after your meetings. Take notes
during the meeting or have the meeting and minutes recorded for
you. If there is action to be taken, agree on who does what and
document this also. Get commitment from all partners involved.
SET
SPECIFIC TIME LINES AS WELL AS TRIAL TIME FRAMES.
Many
people agree in principal to something and then find that due
to prior commitments or unexpected events, they cannot honour
their agreement. By setting trial time frames, you can get an
idea of your partners management style, attention to detail and
their actual investment in the project. Remember to always include
a time frame when things need to be completed by - you may call
it stage one.
Based
on the results of stage one, you then proceed to stage two. Avoid
the temptation to take the project beyond stage one, until you
have seen and realised your partners true commitment. If they
miss the first deadline, how will they ever achieve future deadliness.
ALLOW
FOR EXIT CLAUSES
Better
to lose a partner in the early stages, than lose your good name
in the marketplace. Sometimes the different styles of management
and leadership create disharmony. Something that seemed like a
small annoyance may become a huge irritation down the track. e.g.
you may form a partnership with someone who always runs at least
forty minutes late for every meeting.
You
on the other hand are always ten minutes early. You may initially
laugh this habit away, however, after a few months of being kept
waiting, you may not see the humour anymore. You may like to place
a "trial time frame" e.g. lets review this in 30 days and see
how we are travelling. If things are not working out by then,
we can dissolve the partnership without any hard feelings. This
one point will ensure clean breaks if required.
AIM
TO ALWAYS WORK WIN-WIN
Brainstorm
possible best and worst case scenarios regarding this strategic
alliance. What is the worst thing that can happen and can you
cope with that outcome? If you can, then you have absolutely nothing
to lose.
If
you can't cope with that outcome, you may like to review the situation
or review the guidelines. If the alliance is based on a win-lose
basis - it rarely works. One partner becomes annoyed, reluctant
and eventually gets tired of constantly being the underdog. On
the other hand though, if your partner can introduce you to a
marketplace that you would never have got into without them, then
maybe it is worth experiencing a win-lose situation as long as
there is a specific time frame for this to happen.
REMEMBER
TO CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES
In
life, some people are so busy doing, doing, doing, that they forgot
to stop and smell the roses. When there are budgetary restraints,
we often think that we can't afford to celebrate as lavishly as
we would like, so we won't do anything at all.
To
maintain your and your partners motivation, its important to record
the milestones in your alliance. Your first order or contract,
your first payment in excess of $x - milestones that you will
soon overtake. However, at the start you wonder if you will ever
achieve them. Acknowledge these wins regularly. If you don't give
yourself recognition, why would you expect others to give it to
you?
IF
YOU NEVER ASK THE QUESTION, THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS NO!!
Imagine
out of all the people you know personally, have read about in
books, magazines or seen in the media, which two people would
be the perfect people to form a strategic alliance with. You may
have to dig a little to find their contact details (if they are
strangers) - however make the effort.
Do
your homework, prepare your business plan, do a SWOT analysis
highlighting the positives and the negatives of a joint alliance.
Prepare all the information that you consider your potential partner
would need to know before they could comfortably make a decision
about forming an alliance with you. Make the phone call, send
a fax, email, whatever is approach - make contact with these two
people. Ask for six minutes of their time? And talk fast - let
your passion and enthusiasm sell your idea.
Whats
the worst thing that can happen - rejection. You can live with
that, they are not rejecting you. Today they are rejecting your
product, service or a specific opportunity. Tomorrow, they may
change their mind, or better still, they may introduce you to
a person they consider to be your ideal strategic alliance partner.
And they may be right. We can find excuses every day to stay in
our comfort zone and not approach others, who can help us to grow
our businesses and our careers. Yet if we have courage, face our
fears and make our dreams, goals and targets greater than our
fears - we can have whatever we want in life.
Dream
big dreams. . . . |
