My last article talked about joint ventures and how they could benefit your organising business and your bottom line. I hope the ideas flowed freely for you. However, there are a few things you should know about joint ventures to protect yourself and your business, and to ensure success.
Here are 4 joint venture tips:
1. Stay true to your own values. The best joint ventures are when two parties work in harmony and feel fully aligned. The worst joint ventures are when you feel let down or “dirty” by your association. Ick!
- If sustainability is a core value of yours, perhaps helping a retailer to sell more products is not a good fit for you.
- If you value uninterrupted quality time with your loved ones, perhaps a joint venture involving extra weekend work is not for you.
- If you value punctuality but the other party is constantly keeping you waiting, maybe it’s not a right fit for you.
2. Always have clear communication. Nothing kills a good vibe more quickly than a misunderstanding.
- Be clear about what you will and won’t do, and what the other party will and won’t do.
- Be clear about timelines and expectations.
- Be clear about goals and objectives.
3. Have a written agreement. It doesn’t always have to be a formal contract. That will depend on the nature of the joint venture. After all, some joint ventures could be as simple as “I’ll link to you on my website if you link to mine”. But you do need to get it in writing, whatever “it” is.
4. As Dr. Stephen R. Covey said, begin with the end in mind. With any joint venture, no matter large or small, you should think about how it will end. You may not know when it will end. Let’s face it, if things are going well, you may want to continue indefinitely. But you should always plan for how it will end. Hopefully that will be by mutual agreement, with never a cross word said. Here are some “what ifs” to think about.
- What if one of you feels you are doing more work and not being rewarded adequately?
- What if the results of the joint venture are not what you expected?
- What if one of you decides to retire or change jobs?
- What if one of you wants to sell the venture or intellectual property?
- What if one of you dies? Tragic thought, but it’s worth planning for the worst-case scenario.
If you’ve tried a joint venture, I’d love to hear your joint venture tips. How did it go? Was it a good or bad experience? And what made it so?
