Personally speaking, it’s a no brainer. For nearly two decades I’ve enjoyed being a solopreneur coach, mentor and trainer.
I’m known for networking like an Olympian and am known for making interesting introductions between others. However, it’s only during the last few years that I’ve personally embraced the power of Joint Venture (JVs) opportunities for myself, thanks in the main to taking up one of Gerard O’Donovan’s introductions. Consequently, I’ve felt renewed energy, motivation and enthusiasm for my practice and I no longer feel so isolated.
A JV has many benefits, not least they can potentially halve your workload, while at the same time, double your income. All of which sounds like a recipe for success and who wouldn’t want more of that!
My experiences of JVs have been by way of informal reciprocal arrangements. We either had complementary skills or something the other wanted. JVs arrangements can help each other move forward more quickly than when working alone.
Other benefits of JVs:
- Reinforces your position as an expert in your field
- Trust is mutually transferred between both partner’s database audience
- Sales conversion rates are higher because prospects are already qualified
- Databases are expanded quickly
- Projects can be launched with more speed and publicity
- JVs offer you the opportunity to earn income from other people’s businesses (passive income)
- Being informal, they’re easy to set up and once you’ve done once, it gets easier to a) initiate others, and b) get invited back to create more
- I highly recommend them; they’re low risk, so you’ve both got a lot to gain and very little to lose.
The downside of JVs:
- The only one I’ve experienced is a loss of total control. Some decisions are shared, and when there’s someone else to consider, you may find you have to be patient and use your influencing skills more, especially, if you feel particularly strongly about something.
How do you go about setting up a JV?
- Well, in the first instance, you simply need to identify someone you admire, respect and have an affinity with either directly or with their products. Don’t discount a JV with a competitor either, after all, I think it was Nick Williams who said ‘turn your competitors into collaborators’.
- When you’ve identified the people you’d like to work with, the next thing is to simply ask if they’re interested in a JV with you. I’m sure they’ll be as flattered as I was when I was approached. Word of warning: chose who you ‘get into bed’ with carefully to retain authenticity and protect your brand. You don’t want to find yourself promoting inferior quality and risk upsetting your database who already trust you.
- Make sure you create a win-win business proposal to put in front of them (the key is to pitch it from a ‘what’s in it for them’ point of view, rather than focusing on what you want) and be clear about what you want to get out of it too.
- Start slowly with a trial, assess the results as you go and let the relationship evolve naturally. As a result, you’ll no doubt find other JV opportunities present themselves, that’s what happened to me.
Having positive JV experiences means I’m now comfortable with the concept and confident I can contribute added value by doing business this way.
Affiliates
Additionally, when you have a portfolio of products, you can establish another type of JV, and build a database of affiliates. They will earn a commission from promoting/selling your product which is obviously another useful way of generating passive income for both of you, more about that in another blog.
It would be remiss of me not end with a note about my JV initiative with you so here goes – as a Nordic Walking Instructor, I’m looking for fellow practitioners, with a passion for walking, health and adventure to take stressed out, overweight execs out of the office. If you want to know more about my Walk as You Talk ideas, drop me a line at dawn@holistichealthcoach.
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