Lately I’ve been pondering the potential of small business partnerships and what causes them to get hung up.
Imagine a social media startup partnering with a traditional marketing firm.
Imagine four small, independently-owed women’s specialty stores pooling their resources to send emails to an opt-in customer base.
Yeah, I know it sounds crazy.
The problem is that cross-company collaboration is most often kabashed by logistics concerns. By logisics concerns, I mean money.
Sure there are issues like intellectual property to hash out, but the bottom line is always green. Most of the time there is some overlap in the scope of services with anyone we’re thinking about partnering with. And that similarity makes us think “competitor” rather than “collaborator.”
I don’t mean to make light of collaboration concerns, but it seems that too often we think about only what we stand to lose and ignore what we stand to gain.
But really, in order for two companies to work well with each other, there has to be middle ground. Whether you’re selling hybrid marketing/PR/new media or dresses and handbags, services offered must fit together tongue-and-groove to provide a unified experience for mutual clients.
The advantage to collaboration is that you can exponentially extend the reach of your company’s message through referrals and strategic partnerships.
Of course, I’m not saying that it’s easy to negotiate who-does-what or who-gets-paid-what.
I am saying that we shouldn’t skip partnerships with companies simply because our services are similar. I’m even saying that in some cases, competitors can help each other boost profits.
Let me know what you think.
-Andrew
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