7 Keys To Successful Business Partnerships

Written by: Vanita Lee-Tatum, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

When it comes to developing business partnerships, reciprocity is the name of the game!

I’ve had success developing effective business partnerships throughout my career, understanding that it takes an openness and a willingness to give while working together to achieve a common goal.

Today, I’m sharing a few basic rules that are a must for you to consider, to develop mutually beneficial partnerships. These principles are stepping stones to your professional success!

Read on and thank me later.

1. Establish realistic, specific, and actionable goals

First and foremost, goal setting is the key. Even before working on goal setting, find out the answer to the question, “why does my business need a partnership, and how does it impact my long-term vision?”

Discover all those mutual areas where you and your business partner/s can work together, grow and thrive. Many businesses lag when it comes to making decisions on defining mutual goals and success. Your common business objectives should be realistic, specific, and actionable.

2. Always lead with transparency

Making an impactful connection with your business partners is as important as building a good customer relationship. That’s where transparency comes into the picture. A strong level of communication and willingness to be open about literally everything is what transparency is all about. Experts say it’s far better to over-communicate than to under-communicate because equal information access helps both parties understand each other well.

3. Add value by sharing your knowledge and expertise

Mutually beneficial partnerships happen when everyone adds value to the collaboration by sharing knowledge and expertise. Knowledge sharing is caring, and this helps you to take your business to the next level. For example, you want to introduce a new strategy in your business, and if your partner company has experimented with that already, they can share the insights that could add significant value to your company. To promote the culture of sharing knowledge and expertise, businesses can develop various strategies like incentivizing knowledge-sharing activities, etc.

4. Be willing to learn

Learning never stops! The importance of widening our knowledge base has been increasing rapidly, especially in the current uncertain times. There are rooms to learn new things daily, from people and circumstances. Your willingness to accept learning from anything that comes your way could be a significant value addition to your business and business partnerships.

5. Adopt and share best practices

For a company, it’s always beneficial to discover and adopt the best practices of their partner organizations. It fills the knowledge gap and also nurtures a learning culture. Seeking a win-win situation within a partnership while sharing best practices could maximize your business value.

6. Develop trust and accountability

When a business demonstrates a high level of trust and accountability, it not only creates an enormous impact within the company but also builds a robust partnership ecosystem. Fostering a culture of trust, especially in business partnerships, doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and a lot of attention. Effective business partnerships are built through thick and thin.

7. Promote and support one another

Last but not least, a mutually beneficial partnership promotes and supports one another. Teaming up with a business means inviting a partner’s strengths and networks into yours. So, partnership promotion should be one of your business’s core strategies. How do you promote and support business partners? Social media shoutouts are the absolute BEST!

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Read more from Vanita!

Vanita Lee-Tatum, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Vanita Lee-Tatum is a world-class business developer and strategy consultant, specializing in helping organizations and individuals grow their business potential. Drawing on her own experience as an entrepreneur and her financial skills honed as VP of Banking, Vanita inspires and ignites business owners to create financial growth by teaching them the business development skills needed to flourish. Dedicated to making an impact by sharing her knowledge and expertise to encourage business owners and entrepreneurs of all types, Vanita is a positive force of nature who clients and partners enjoy collaborating with.