Aboriginal Buying Group

Small business owners are in a constant improvement mode. One must improve business to make more profit, reduce expenses, and beat the competition - or face the fate of over half of all small business startups: failure and locked doors. One way business owners step up their improvement strategy is by forming a joint venture.

A JV is a powerful partnership whereby the strengths, knowledge, experience, and resources of two businesses combine forces for a specific business purpose. If you are interested in forming a JV, or have already formed a JV, what is your reason for success? Here are a few most popular considerations for forming a JV:

Generate Profit

Of course, one of the main goals of any business is to make a profit. A JV is no exception. The combined forces of the JV partners work together to make more sales through strategic marketing of products or services, and they reap bigger profits than they would have made on their own. 

Increased profits could translate from other strategies of a JV, such as reduced expenses. When JV partners both chip in for expenses such as marketing or research, their share of the workload is reduced, thus generating more profit potential.

Find New Market Channels

A JV strategy may not necessarily turn a profit.  Some business owners may be looking to find bigger and better market channels. A strategic JV might be one where business owners simply share mailing lists, carry a free advertisement for the other business, or even share distributor information. 

New market and distribution channels can help the single business owner expand his own business and find profit down the road. Don’t ignore the business growth potential of acquiring more customers through a JV partnership.

Develop New Technology

A JV may exist to perform research and development of a new product or service. Two smart business owners who have proprietary technology could combine resources to form a better product for consumers. A giant example is Sony Ericsson, a JV formed by Japan electronics leader, Sony, and Swedish telecommunications expert, Ericsson. They joined forces to share technology and marketing resources. They are one of the top global leaders in innovative mobile phone manufacturing.

Diversify the Business

A JV could simply be a means of diversifying products or services for a business owner. For instance, a printing company may join forces with an independent graphic designer to offer not just printing services, but design consultations as well on business logos, brochures, catalogs, etc. Never overlook the power of offering more for your customers. 

A small business needs keen strategies to get past the statistics. One-third of new small businesses will close within two years. Just over half will fail in four years. It’s not enough to simply hang a shingle and cling to the hope of, “if I open, they will come”. Keep your business strategies brewing. And consider a JV to help not just for profit sake, but also for your own ultimate business success.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

When was the last time you made a bad decision? Perhaps it was just this morning when you decided to skip breakfast. Your decision to skip the most important meal of the day was a personal one, which only affected you. However, what if your decision had an impact on your joint venture or your JV partner? If you didn’t fuel up properly and your body and mind did not function at its highest level, could you be on a path to making more bad decisions that affect the success of your JV? It’s possible. That’s why simply becoming a member of a JV can help you make better decisions and improve your well-being.

Responsibility of Human Cooperation

Psychological studies have shown that when individuals act only for themselves, they tend to make decisions based almost solely on emotion. A key factor in a successful JV is cooperation, which requires each partner to focus not only on his own needs and wants, but his partner’s as well. When someone else may be affected by a decision, we as humans tend to act more rationally, rather than seek to maximize our own benefits.

What this says is that your involvement with a JV can help you make better decisions when someone else’s well-being is also at stake. The power of cooperation is the leverage needed to get group members to contribute their highest efforts for the collective benefit of the group.

Improvement of Information Processing Capabilities

As mentioned, when you make decisions that may have an impact on others, you will tend to be more rational. We as humans are emotional creatures. And emotions can sometimes lead to irrational behavior, especially when it comes to competing with others for resources. 

However, if you pool resources and share in a common goal with a joint venture partner, you will tend to take in more information and process the information more thoroughly on a non-competitive level. In essence, your shared culture develops a better processing system for mutual benefit. 

Better Behavior Makes a Better Person

Cooperation for mutual advantage is evidenced in basic society. We have developed societal regulators who help make the laws that benefit society as a whole and have enforcers who make sure that no one benefits at another’s expense. This is the entire basis for the term “civilization”. We have become better people and improved society by not remaining barbaric or savage in nature. 

The same goes for you as an individual. You can improve your personal emotional and cognitive maturity with the decisions you make for the benefit of your JV. Your financial situation can improve with the pooling of resources and cooperation you get with your JV partner. In addition, you will feel more compassion and enter a more rational psychological state when you know that your decisions are benefiting both you and someone else. So go ahead, have that bagel and make better decisions today.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

For many entrepreneurs who wish to dive into the joint venture arena, getting the first partner is the hardest part. But once you have found a suitable and enthusiastic partner and performed all the proper paperwork, how do you take your newly formed JV and advertise it to the masses?

A great JV idea is like an acorn: it is unfilled potential until it is planted, watered, and finally grows into a new and majestic oak tree. The next step in getting the word out about your JV is to plant that seed and give it some water. 

Here are some ideas that can get your JV information to new customers and clients:

Blogs - Form a blog with your JV partner. You can start a blog for free. You and your JV partner can trade writing short blog posts that promote your JV business. Also, get a following from other blogs to get traffic to yours. You might also ask about writing guest blog posts for other blogs to help promote your JV.

Articles - There are many websites that want your articles. Some will even pay you.  Write informative articles related to your industry and JV to publish throughout the web. 

eZines - Many websites specialize in subscription ezines. In addition, many online businesses create their own ezine for their customer database. Talk with one of these about writing a helpful article for their ezine and get your business noticed by their customers. 

Website - Don’t forget about the possibility of a separate website for your new JV. It can simply be a well designed website that is search engine optimized (SEO) and provides information to potential customers. Or you may go full speed with Flash animation and an online shopping cart to sell more business.

Press Release - A well-written press release to local or regional media can help get the word out about your new JV. Especially if either you or your JV partner has a prominent role in the region to begin with, a joint venture can pique a reporter’s interest to write a more detailed interview.

Email - The nice aspect about forming a JV is that you already have two established businesses with marketing lists.  Join up your databases and send out a promotional email to your joint customers about your new JV. Offer special deals to get them to try your new JV product or service.

Advertise - Don’t forget the traditional route of promotion - advertising. Create ads for print, radio, TV, and even online advertising such as pay per click or pay per call. Research the best venues for your target market and spend the money to promote your new JV. Remember, you are splitting the costs, making advertising more affordable to both parties. 

Your newly formed JV doesn’t have to sit stagnant while you try and build a new customer base. Take the initiative and get the word out about your new JV business.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

You have found a list of suitable potential joint venture partners and have approached a few with a proposal. One of them is excited about the proposition and is ready to move forward with the details. How do you proceed with the negotiation phase?

When you are ready to begin negotiations with your prospective JV partner, here are a few basic guidelines that can help make the most of your negotiation sessions and ensure that you reach a mutually successful agreement.

Know Your JV Partner’s Business

Nothing sounds more amateur than entering a negotiation with no knowledge of your potential partner’s business. Even if your potential partner is in the same business as you, there are still many factors that you need to know that affect his business. Research possible and unique problems and challenges with profits, resources, and marketing. 

Research can be performed on the Internet. Read your potential JV partner’s website. Browse and read industry publications. Discover any message boards that mention your JV partner’s business.

And don’t forget to do “live” research as well. You could perform a “secret shopper” style of research to get knowledge about how customer service is performed. Purchase a product or service and test its boundaries. The more you know about your potential partner’s business, the better equipped you will be to handle negotiations.

Know Your Potential JV Partner

Find out as much as you can about the person you will be dealing with. Is he a delegator? Does he prefer to be “hands on” and involved in every little decision? Do as much research about your potential partner before you meet. You may ask previous customers or even an administrative assistant about how he responds to certain situations. 

However, mostly you will learn much by face-to-face contact and posing questions to your potential JV partner. Find out what he values. What are his dreams? Fears? And what does he REALLY want? Design questions that will help you get to know your potential partner and discover the answers to these questions. It will go a long way in crafting a truly unique and personal JV agreement between the two of you. 

Be Prepared to Educate About JVs

Your potential JV partner may not be savvy to the benefits of a JV arrangement. Be ready to have as much information that your potential partner requires to feel comfortable with the decision to from a JV.  Use articles, video, and other resources that can help convey the benefits of a successful JV.
Choose a Relaxed Atmosphere

A good negotiation will happen when both parties are relaxed and ready to communicate. That may be a restaurant, or meeting space, or even at a home. But make sure the environment is comfortable with no distractions while you negotiate.

A successful JV negotiation is when both you and your JV partner are happy with the arrangement. Neither of you should feel like you have a lesser part of the deal. However, if you want to help facilitate a good negotiation, follow these guidelines and you’ll be on your way to a happy and fulfilling JV with your partner.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.