Businesses are not monoliths. They cannot go at it alone, especially when they’re first starting out. Even if you’re a one-person team, you still need other businesses near you to help you out. Say you sell items. You’ll still need delivery companies, and you’ll still need suppliers, you’ll still need marketing tools – all of these are partnerships in their own way.
Finding the right partners in life is the key to success. It’s how you can get your product and brand out there faster, and to wider audiences. You can do it all smoothly, successfully, and on your terms with the right partners.
Forging those key alliances is key to helping you grow your business. It can be hard to figure out what brands, businesses, and even professionals to work with, however, so use this guide to boost your vetting process:
Creating Your Shortlist
The first step is to find suppliers or wholesalers that offer everything that you need. The fewer suppliers you work with overall, the more you can build strong, lasting relationships with them. Buying one product in bulk from hundreds of suppliers is not how you stand out as a customer but how you build an actual alliance with them.
Fewer suppliers, the greater buying power you have. That’s why you’ll want larger wholesalers that offer an extensive range of options. Say you’re a perfume retailer. By getting all your stock from directfragrances.online you can build up an effective relationship, unlock great deals, and establish a real communication foundation that will help both of your companies thrive.
Don’t Ignore Your Local Businesses
Wholesalers are a great starting point, since they are essential to getting the stock you need to run your business. That doesn’t mean you can or should ignore the local businesses near you. Even immediate competitors can be a useful addition to your network. Say there’s a deal you want wholesale that you can’t qualify for because you don’t want the minimum order. By making an alliance with another similar business in a different neighborhood, for example, you can collectively qualify for those wholesale deals. Since you’re in different communities, you won’t be poaching customers off each other. Instead, you can help each other grow and thrive.
Create Partnership Deals
Another way you can forge key alliances with other businesses near you is to pair up and advertise their services, or their products. Say you own a home décor store. If you have a list of contractors or interior designers you recommend to customers, you can become a huge resource for your customers and work out a deal with those other businesses to get a commission fee. If you offer services like plumbing, for example, you can recommend local bathroom and kitchen brands and, again, get a commission for your efforts.
Use Automation to Foster Stronger Connections
Late payments, slow communication, and all these other admin-related issues can kill a relationship before it has a chance to flourish. That’s why automation tools can be so useful. They can automatically set up payment reminders (for yourself and customers). It can help notify you when stock is low and make recommendations when to place the next order. It can automatically keep track of referrals and commission fees so that your local partners get paid on time and vice versa. When you uphold the end of your deal and minimize delays, you earn the respect and trust of those alliances, which is key for business success.