Launching a new business in the African market or anywhere in the world is a great move but building it requires more than your internal business team. The key you need to more growth is business collaboration. According to a high growth study conducted in 2022, business partnership ranks among the top ten techniques every business needs to grow in this age and time.
Interestingly, the technique of business partnership didn’t just begin in the 20th century; it has been a significant pillar used by ancient reputable businesses to scale up hundreds of years ago.
The idea is simple; every firm needs something another firm already has, and the best way to get it is to partner with the firm and grow mutually. This is more like trade by barter, but it has been proven effective today.
The major drawback in all these juicy benefits of partnering with other businesses is collaborating with the wrong fit for your company. To succeed in business growth through partnership, you must get the right partners and build strategically.
This article will delve into choosing the right partners and how best you can work with your business partners to achieve explosive results. Ready? Let’s get to it!
Choosing the right partner
The ideal business partner will do one or all of the following for your business;
- Promotion
Every business needs to be promoted one way or another, and it can be achieved through strategic partnerships. If you are just launching your business, you need a partner with a larger audience that can promote your product to more users. If your business needs to promote a specific product, you can partner with podcast, TV or radio stations to help with the promotion while you also contribute to the mutual relationship.
- Distribution
You can also build a partnership with businesses to help distribute your product. This is a step further from promotion, as the distributors will ensure your product gets into the hands of their available audience. In this partnership agreement, your firm brings the sale while the distributor ensures the product gets to the end users. We at Bookings Africa use the power of influencing to get our products to the right audience. Partnering with us as the “marketer” will be seamless because we would do the heavy lifting with influencing while you focus on making the products solid and saleable.
- Visibility/social appearance
This 21st-century partnership is the most common form of collaboration, as you wouldn’t need to be directly connected to the partners before you can build your business in the process. What this means is that you affect the community, and it automatically brings the audience you need and helps you sell your product. It could be through sponsorship of events, giving to an organization or other similar projects. In 2021, Bookings Africa partnered with Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSEFT), the University of Lagos and MTN to give back to the community by providing digital literacy. This partnership was aimed to help over 500 small Lagos businesses with smartphones that also act as POS machines. This type of partnership is also very effective.
How to collaborate effectively with potential business partners
Having discovered what kind of partnership you need for your business; the next milestone is to connect with the partners as soon as possible.
- State The Goals of Both Partners
It is essential for every partnership to begin with a clear understanding of partners’ goals. If you need to share your brand manual to understand how to promote your business, then do so. Ultimately, both companies must know how they fit in and what they can do to help in fueling mutual growth.
- Share Resources
If you want to grow faster, you need to understand your partners, and what they need to run effectively, then share the assistance needed. Even if there is already an understanding of the role of the partnered companies, it is also vital to ease off each other’s stress by sharing information.
- Strengthen the partnership
At every opportunity, show your partner that your company is a great asset. Let them observe the successes that have been achieved since the partnership began. In the same way you focus on your business growth, you should invest in doing the same for your partners.
Business collaborations are proven ways every business needs to build its growth. Whether you are a small business or just launching out, follow these tips to make your company grow faster and reach the desired goals. Happy collaboration!