As I wrote in the previous article, doing independent investment doesn’t mean doing it alone. Today is not the time to work alone. With the current global developments, building partnerships is essential across all sectors. This approach is crucial for adapting to rapid changes and the complex, ever-evolving needs of society.
It must be acknowledged that the availability of resources is limited. Moreover, the development of knowledge, expertise, and specialization within individuals, groups, and organizations requires a lengthy process to keep pace with the changing needs of the world.
Referring to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, the word ” partnership ” is described as a collaboration, mutually beneficial relationships that are established based on concern, equality, and synergistic togetherness between among the government, society, and the business world in the development of social welfare.
Throughout my career before and during managing Angsamerah’s social business, I felt three main positive impacts from the right partnership; 1) multiplying results; 2) mobilizing limited resources; 3) responding to diverse client needs.
While partnerships are beneficial, my experience has shown that they can also be a breeding ground for conflict, as everyone tends to see themselves as a leader. Although no one enters a partnership intending to fail, this often happens. Therefore, in this article, I will share practical steps to create a successful partnership.
Forms of partnerships can vary widely, from informal to formal. They are also flexible and can be developed according to the needs and agreements of the parties involved, whether individuals, groups, or organizations. However, some forms of partnerships must comply with government regulations.
The following are examples of various types of partnerships, ranging from simple to complex: profit sharing, barter promotions, exchanges, collaboration of resources or expertise, exchange of followers or memberships, receiving or providing grants, joint funding or cost sharing for the development of health and other social programs, joint investment ventures, and co-ownership.
To achieve a partnership that has a positive impact, you need the right strategy rather than randomly forming many partnerships without proper consideration. This approach helps avoid potential losses and prolonged conflicts.
What is the right partnership strategy?
These are six essentials guidelines for building a successful partnership:
1. Have a growth mindset and positive attitude.
Successful partnerships begin with the meeting of individuals or representatives of groups and organizations. Often, we miss partnership opportunities or face partnership failures because we lack a growth mindset and positive behavior when starting and maintaining collaborative partnerships. However, a positive mindset and behavior can be learned and trained.
When meeting and forming partnerships, we naturally hope our partners possess a positive mindset and behavior. This makes interactions enjoyable and fosters mutually beneficial solutions. Even if a partnership does not occur, a pleasant impression remains, fostering optimism to find other opportunities in the future and expanding the network of all parties involved.
The following is a reminder to accustom us with a growth mindset and positive behavior in the partnership space:
- Embrace challenges or competition.
This kind of mindset will inspire us to keep trying to prove the uniqueness/specificity and development of the skills we have, without having to diminishing the success of others or undermining the business opportunities of our partners.
A growth mindset enables us to transform a challenge or competition into another mutual successful opportunity. If our partners share similarities business models or expertise. This should not be seen as a threat. Rather, it can be an opportunity to enhance our the efforts and create value for all involved.
- Be supportive
It is essential for all parties to support each other and maintain optimistic about the partnership that will be built or is already running. Optimism breeds hope and motivation, encouraging everyone to seek opportunities for collaboration. When we approach partnership with enthusiasm and a shared vision, we are more likely to achieve success together.
- Respect
It’s natural for each party to seek rewards, compensation or appreciation in partnership. However, it is important to also consider what rewards or recognition we can offer to our potential or current partners. Rather that focusing solely on our own gains, we should think about how we can acknowledge and promote our partners’ contributions and expertise. For example, openly recognizing their efforts or simply expressing gratitude by saying “thank you” can go a long way.
Treat all parties with equal respect, honor differences, and prioritize finding solutions over dwelling on problems.
- Set aside assumptions.
Approach the partnership with an open mind, setting aside any presumptions or assumptions. If there are doubts, concerns, or questions, it is better to address them directly and openly.
- Create sense of security.
Cultivate an environment where all parties feel secure. A partnership becomes a space for growth when everyone involved feels protected and confident that the environment is supportive and safe from failure. Everyone should understand any threat to the partnership’s security will hinder the progress. This shared understanding motivates all parties to work together to protect the partnership.
When insecurities arise, deal with them openly through discussion with your partners. The results should benefit everyone involved, allowing for the right changes to be made.
- Catalyst
all parties should strive to create flexible environment that stimulates creativity, fosters the generation of innovative ideas, and support others. This approach promotes harmony between partners and open s the door to new and better opportunities.
2. Know your business well.
While a positive mindset and behavior are essential, they alone do not guarantee a successful partnership. It is crucial that we and our team have a deep understanding of our business products and services. This means being clear about our goals and business targets are, knowing our strengths, identifying where we we need additional expertise, and acknowledging our weaknesses. With this understanding, we can create prioritized list of partnerships that align with our needs.
The benefits of this approach are:
- Targeted partnership opportunities: Help us create a map list of core potential partners that are important to contact. With this list we optimize our resources such as; manpower, time, and costs, and avoid unnecessary, extended discussions.
- Efficiency in partner selection: By focusing on potential partners who are well-aligned with our goals, we avoid the inefficiency of reaching out to many partners who are may only offer minimal benefits. It is also possible that some highly targeted partners may reject our partnership offer. In such cases, it is advisable to maintain a broad list of potential partners to ensure we have alternatives.
- Streamlined decision-making: Our team can work more efficiently by sorting and selecting partnership requests from external sources. They can determine whether these requests are relevant or worth passion on to management. This streamlined process reduces bureaucracy, ensuring a faster response time, which makes potential partners more satisfied.
3. Focus on partners benefits.
When proposing a partnership, it is crucial to think about the benefits we can offer to our potential partners. This approach leverages the possibility of potential partners accepting our offer. Before meeting with potential partners, it is important to research and understand their interests, past successes, and any unmet needs they may have. By tailoring our proposal to align with their goals, we can create a more compelling case for collaboration.
4. Actively seek out the right new partners.
Finding a new partner and getting them interested in collaboration can be challenging. Here are steps our partnership team can take:
- Create a systematic partner list: Prepare a list of potential partners that align with our needs, accompanied by a systematic agenda to ensure continuous progress in contacting them. This allow us to monitor the outreach efforts and adjust as needed.
- Develop a directed communication strategy: Implement a clear communication strategy to guide the partnership team on how, when, and how often to reach out to potential partners. A well-crafted communication strategy will raise awareness of partnership opportunities with our organization, making potential partners more interested in working with us. In some cases, they may even proactively reach out to us, leading to concreate collaborations.
- Filter and follow up on collaboration offers: Establish a mechanism to filter incoming collaboration offers. It is also crucial to follow up on any pending cooperation plans to ensure no opportunities are missed.
- Enhance communication skills: Ensure that partnership team has strong and clear communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal. Effective communication is key to building positive relationships with potential partners.
- Utilize supporting tools: Equip the team with tools that effectively introduce our organization, product, services, and partnership offers. These could include engaging presentation materials, simulations, or packages that visually demonstrate what we offer. Providing sample of products or services can also be a powerful tool in attracting partners.
- Ensure accessible organizational profiles: Make sure that our organizational profiles are readily available and accessible to potential partners. While we strive to maintain a paperless operation, in certain situations, it may be necessary to prepare hard copies of these materials to meet specific needs.
As a reminder: the promotion and marketing of business products and services to increase the number of clients or customers is different from efforts required to find the right partner. While there may be overlap in objectives, methods, and intensify ratios concerning priority levels and costs, the two processes serve distinct purposes and should be approached accordingly.
5. Create a written partnership agreement.
- Partnerships carry a high risk of conflict due to misunderstanding or forgetting details, especially when there are no written documents to reference. Each party may believe their perspective is correct, leading to disputes.
- When initiating a partnership, its important to prepare a list of the key elements for the agreement. This list can later be developed into a formal document with an appropriate and legal format.
- It is crucial to draft agreements that are concise, precise and clear. The contents must be unambiguous, with detail descriptions of the partnership’s products or services, the rights and obligations of each party, and the consequences of unfulfilled commitment.
- While reviewing or drafting a written agreement may seem complicated and time-consuming initially, it will ultimately reduce your workload in the future. Over time, you will accumulate a variety of agreement templates and models, minimizing the risk of misunderstandings and conflicts due to unmet commitments.
- Be sure to thoroughly review the agreement documents. Don’t rely on just one person for this task, ensure that other team members conduct double checks to catch any errors or oversights.
6. Maintain existing partners, especially key partners.
It is easy to overlook maintaining relationships with existing partners, especially key partners. Often, we only reach out when we need something. However, there should be a systematic approach to managing these relationships. Consider the following methods:
- Informal, personal communication: Encourage staff to staff interactions to build stronger personal connections between organizations.
- Organization to organization communication: Engage in regular communication between organizations, such as sending congratulations on special occasions, offering exclusive deals to partner employees, or mutually promoting each other’s products, services, or organizational profile beyond the terms of the partnership agreement.
- Regular updates: Implement a routine for sending activity updates or reports via email to keep partners informed and engaged.
Additionally, I will provide a set of key questions that you can serve as a filter when evaluating partnership offers. There questions will assist our team in deciding whether to continue discussions with potential partnerships. Depending on the outcome, you may choose to follow up via phone, or zoom, or in person. Consider involving the management team if necessary.
Often, the party proposing a partnership may not fully prepared or may lack complete information. To ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of our partnership team, we’ve design a system so that enables quick responses. This system ensures that partners know their invitations have been received and are being followed up on by a responsible officer. It is also allows our team to screen each partnership offer as early as possible. You can access the system here – https://blog.angsamerah.com/partnership-form/.
Here is a list of partnership bid screening questions to consider:
- Do we recognize the profile of the individual or contact offering the partnership?
- Does the person represent themselves or a group or organization?
- What are their roles and responsibilities?
- What do we know about the potential partners? Have we actively researched them?
- What forms of partnership do they propose?
- Are the proposed partnerships aligned with our organization’s missions and values? If the partnership does not align, it’s advisable not to proceed with discussion or face-to-face meetings. Don’t forget to inform the offeror about our decision.
- What are the direct and indirect benefits of the proposed partnerships?
- What effort, time, and cost will be involved in this partnership process?
- What is the duration of the partnership? It is temporary engagement or a long-term commitment?
I’m closing this article with my favorite quote from Hellen Keller:
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Have a good day, everyone!