Joint Ventures - How to Collaborate Effectively and Profitably

As entrepreneurs, most of us are doing businesses on our own. Many of us however long for the support of a partner. Women especially need and want to collaborate with others (however men really benefit as well).

I believe there is so much more that can be done when we work and bring our strengths together. The question is - how do you create a partnership that works for both of you, as well as the communities you're serving?

Last year I interviewed Gina Bell, a friend of mine and the founder of GinaBellInc.com, for some tips on how to collaborate effectively and profitably. I want to share with you a few gems from that call.

So what is a joint venture?

A joint venture is an agreement or alliance between two or more people. Most of time these partnerships make sense when you share a target market. For example, Gina and I discovered that we share a target market of entrepreneurial women. The key is that the joint venture must benefit everybody involved.

Here are a few different ways to collaborate:

• Share intellectual property
• Combine methods to create a product or service
• Share assets
• Share the expense hiring a virtual assistant
• Have an agreement to share knowledge
• Share profits

How do you get started?

Every once in awhile a joint venture partner will just fall in your lap. But, that's not the norm. More often it requires a little more effort if you're looking to find the "right" partner.

My first suggestion is to get out there and connect. It's extremely critical to become more visible. You need to grow your network among like-minded people. You want to connect with people who are moving in a similar direction, share a similar goal and common interests.

I'm really happy to say that I have witnessed quite a few joint venture partnerships that have blossomed.   These partnerships work because not only do they have a lot in common, but they're working towards similar goals.

The next step is building your credibility and trust. You can build credibility by following up with your promises. You build trust by having the intention of giving and serving others. Your intention is, "How can I help you?" rather than "What can get from you?"

Building trust and credibility takes time and doesn't happen overnight. I love how Gina put it in our interview, "If you're trying to go straight to profitability, it's like proposing marriage on the first date. It just doesn't work."

Next, your joint ventures need to be win-win-win, which means they're good for you, your partners, AND your clients and prospects. Often the missing piece is knowing how it's going to benefit the customers and new clients you want to serve. However, if you're clear on the benefits for everyone involved, the odds are very high that you're going to have a profitable outcome.

Finally, don't be afraid to lead and motivate your partners. People are busy. So don't be afraid to pick up the phone and make some reminders. This can be the difference between a joint venture being spectacular and failing. Don't be afraid to give your joint venture partners a gentle nudge.

Bottom line? The key to being successful in a joint venture partnership is having faith, being of service to others, being of value to others in your network and finding ways for everybody to win.