Growing your small business might feel difficult. Knowing when to take on a staff member, how the finances will hold up, ensuring customer care won’t fall off and trusting the team to continue to work together, can be difficult.

One way a small company can grow is to find a ‘partner’ company to offer a complimentary service to your offering. Together you will have a wide / larger offering and use the synergies between the companies to save costs.

Networking to find ‘partners’ can take time.

The key is to find a business owner where the company has the same values, ethics and treats their customers as you do.

Whatever your USP is or whatever you regard most high, you must be on the same page or this won’t work.

You ONLY have your REPUTATION. Do not risk it if unsure about a person you have met or until you have checked out the quality of their service or product offering. ‘Act in haste and repent at leisure’, as they say.

If you introduce anyone to your clients or recommend them, your reputation is automatically on the line. If the introduction works well, you can look awesome and continue to grow your relationship with your client. However, if your client is unimpressed or feels let down by the other supplier company, it will definitely reflect badly on you and negatively affect a relationship you may have worked many years to maintain.

In summary, I believe collaborations can work really well. Don’t jump into anything head on without reflecting on your values and get to know your potential business partner. Find out what you can early.

As always, if you’d like to contact me – Wendy@williamsmerrigan.ie