Create a Partnership

Kelly is a graphic designer who loves making beautiful images for her clients. But she wanted to create more streams of recurring income in her business so she could free up her schedule. She spent some time brainstorming with her business besties, Amber and me!

Now, I admit, graphics aren't my forte. But Amber and Kelly are both wonderful graphic designers. Plus Amber is a whiz at building websites. Together, the two women decided to create a small membership that offered done-for-you graphics each month. After a few months of heavy promotion, Kelly has been able to ease back on her client work. She feels energized by this new shift in her business and has begun looking for other people she could partner with.

And where do I fit in?  I'm one of their customers!

Starting a joint venture or partnership can be rewarding and fun. By dividing the workload in half, you’re less likely to find yourself stressed out and overwhelmed. If you’re considering trying out a partnership, here’s how to do it…

Reach Out

Don’t pick just anyone to partner with. Be intentional about who you choose. Partnering with a business owner who has a reputation for being nasty with customers or not paying her virtual assistants on time can damage your brand.

Choose someone you admire who has an excellent reputation in your community. If you don’t have anyone in mind right now, don’t rush it. It’s better to take your time and carefully consider who you’d like to work with.

Keep It Short Term

If this is your first partnership, it’s wise to treat it like a trial run. Rather than launching a huge online store with dozens of products, test out one eBook or short report. See how your community responds. 

Are you hearing good feedback from your customers? Do you enjoy working with this other business owner? Would you do the project again if you had the chance? Do you both have ideas for more projects you could tackle?

Determine What Success Looks Like

As you and your partner begin hammering out the details for your project, take the time to think through your goals. How will you know if this business venture has been successful? Will it be when you’ve made a certain amount of sales or have a set number of customers?

By getting clear on your goals, you’ll be able to tell if your project has succeeded or failed. Then even if a project misses the mark, you and your partner will have a better idea of what happened and why.

Divide the Work Load

As you begin talking about your project, it can be smart to think about what tasks each partner is responsible for. Ideally, you want to play to your strengths with this. 

If you’re great at writing content, then coming up with the sales page will probably be easy for you. If your partner is smart with technology, then she may prefer setting up the website to working on graphics.

If there are tasks that you and your partner don’t enjoy, consider bringing in a virtual assistant. Websites like Fiverr and Upwork make it easy to find a professional assistant at an affordable rate.

Partnering with another business owner can be a blast. You’ll grow your brand, discover more about what you enjoy, and maybe even make a new friend for life.