The Rewards of Joint Ventures with the Big Players

The Rewards of Joint Ventures with the Big Players
A joint venture is a form of partnership where businesses
come together and share knowledge, market, and profits.
Joint ventures come in all shapes and sizes. The good news
for small business is that large companies see value in
partnering with smaller companies due to a small company's
ability to maneuver quickly in the marketplace, while
providing specialized expertise and unique market insight.
A small company can be a valuable joint venture partner to
a large corporation; so don't be afraid to think big when
you think joint venture.

Significantly benefiting from a joint venture

Your business can benefit from a joint venture in several
ways. First, a joint venture with a larger corporation can
shorten your learning curve when it comes to developing new
products and gathering the necessary market intelligence
for strategic market expansion. A small business can also
glean information regarding the implementation processes
and procedures that will improve productivity. Learning
from companies who have already been around the block a
time or two can save significant time and money for the
small firm who is ready to grow and willing to listen to
the expertise a larger company may bring to the table.

Next, a joint venture can be a source of additional
resources and capital for you. Not only does partnering
with a larger more established company enhance your
credibility, but it can also open doors to resources and
funding that were previously unavailable.

One small company, who successfully partnered with industry
giants, was Mello Smello. An unknown husband and wife team
partnered their unknown company with 3M and Disney to
create scratch and sniff stickers of Disney characters.
The end result was a multi-million dollar business. Why?
Not only were there additional monetary resources, there
were additional sales resources and distribution channels
that would have taken years to develop if the husband and
wife team would have chosen to go it on their own. By
forming a joint venture, Mello Smello catapulted to the top.

Tapping into joint venture resources

One of the resources that should not be overlooked as a
benefit of a joint venture is the additional marketing that
is available. Whether you're a small business partnering
with a large business or a small business partnering with
another small business, chances are you will have the
opportunity to promote your product or service to a
database of customers that were previously untapped. All
business is essentially broken down to the cost of
obtaining a paying customer. By tapping into your venture
partner's database, you dramatically shorten the customer
solicitation cycle, which can translate to a huge savings
in advertising and marketing.

Joint ventures don't all have to be multi-million dollar
deals. A benefit to joint ventures between small businesses
with similar or exactly the same products and services can
be simply to help to free up much needed resources. For
instance, say there's a tradeshow taking place in which you
would like to participate, but the exhibit fee is a bit too
much for you to handle. By forming a joint venture with
another small business in a related field, or the same
field, you both save money and expand your potential market.

Look to create a joint venture that offers benefits to both
parties, and you are sure to reap the rewards.

----------------------------------------------------
Christian Fea is a Collaboration Marketing Strategist. He
empowers business owners to discover how to implement
Integration, Alliance, and Joint Ventures marketing tactics
to solve their specific business challenges. He
demonstrates how you can create your own Collaboration
Marketing Strategy to increase your new sales, conversation
rates, and repeat business. He can be reached at:
http://www.christianfea.com