How do you find strategic partners to grow your business?

Partnership objectives, when it comes to strategic partnerships, should stem from the long-term company strategy. Strategic partners should bring in additional value and complement your portfolio or products, extend your client base, market presence, etc.

Work with product managers and developers to identify LTS gaps in product or distribution that you may not be aware of. This limits your own time spent on objective definition and research, allowing you to spend more time creating effective partnerships and plans.

If any business need to flourish, then there should be partnerships which are done strategically. To find such partnerships, here are some best practices from my experience. 1. Through SMART analysis, have a clear information of where do you stand, what do you want to achieve and by when, what are the resources that will help you achieve your goal. 2. Once you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you need to partner with entities will help you fill the gaps in weakness. 3. Any long term successful partnerships should be based on win-win policy to all the parties involved, either monetary benefits, brand building, barter deals or any other form. 4. Successful partnerships will save you lot to time and efforts by keeping you focused.

Identify your business goals and needs. Be very clear on what you want to achieve through a partnership - increased sales, access to new markets, cost savings, etc. This will help you identify partners that can fill those specific needs.

To find strategic partners, look for brands that do not compete with your brand but share a similar audience as that of your brand. At the end of the day, we want conversions, and that will only happen if we have similar audiences.

Research not only your market but other markets you'd like to penetrate and increase your market share. Take into account industry trends and emerging tehnologies. Shortlist and evaluate potential partners that would complement your offering and reputation, and those with whom you'll open doors you couldn't open alone.

Collaborating within your supply chain is an excellent starting point to find partners; companies you purchase from and sell to. Look for complementary raw materials, processes, and product offerings to strengthen your product development and value proposition in the marketplace.

Use industry reports and publications to find companies working in complementary spaces to yours. Look for news on partnerships, new product launches, executive hires - these can all signal opportunities.

Get introduced through a mutual connection if possible. A warm introduction goes a long way. Do your research beforehand - know their business, their leadership, their mission. Show you've done your homework. Craft a concise intro email clearly conveying the partnership opportunity and shared value. Follow up persistently yet politely via email or phone. Adjust your outreach based on their responses. Set up an informal meeting or call to discuss partnership possibilities. Come prepared with talking points.

You need to have clarity on what are your expecting out of this partnership, whether this matches with your vision and mission. 1. Gather the data involved with respect to all the variables; sales, revenue generated, operations, marketing, customer satisfaction, etc over certain period of time. 2. This can tell your journey in comparison with industry competitors and market you are in, how you started and how you are going. If you need to make certain changed in align to your goals then you can do For example, if you own a gym in a booming market with several competitors around, it's best to do analyze the market for potential partners to evaluate the pricing, fitness trends, value proposition as per the current market.

Set expectations early on structuring how each partner will share information, protect IP, and service the market. Recommend a preliminary, non-confidential discussion to explore the mutual value and contribution prior to going through the formality and expense of non-disclosures and contract review and execution.

Especially in a manufacturer distributor/convertor relationship, technical product training, sales and marketing support, and market pull-through promotion are important aspects of building a solid relationship and positive financial results. Metrics such as top line growth, customer acquisition and retention, and operating margins provide informative data for measuring partnership success.

Co-opetition? Competitors can be great partners too. Why would you partner with companies that cannot compete with you? Corp-up? There are startups out there with innovative ideas.