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Pursuing a joint venture is a great business strategy that could result in lasting profits and friendships. However, as much as we like to trust other people, especially those with whom we do business, you should always approach a potential JV partnership with a mindset of protecting yourself and your own business.

Why Protect Yourself?

Why should you want to protect yourself when entering a JV partnership? Through activities that may be intentional or accidental, you could face losses that could set your business back or even devastate it.

• Lost Income – Unscrupulous JV partners may be untrustworthy in revealing true profits resulting from the JV, or even outright steal your share of joint income.

• Lost Secrets – Your business secrets and proprietary methods and information may be susceptible if left in the wrong hands.

• Lost Employees – Your best employees may even be tempted to leave you and work for your JV partner.

• Lost Customers – Your established customer base may be swiped and convinced to switch their loyalties away from your business.

• Lost Reputation – In a worst-case JV partnership, you and your business may face malicious attacks or unfounded accusations.

Taking a look at this list should give you plenty of incentive to protect yourself and your business in every step you take. There are no guarantees that your business partners will always be upfront, forthright, or even ethical with you. 

What You Should Include in a JV Agreement

The number one thing to remember is to ALWAYS get an agreement in writing not only to protect you, but also to ensure there are no misunderstandings. Here are just a few important items you should include in a JV agreement:

• NDA – If you have any proprietary secrets or intellectual property you want protected, include a Non-Disclosure Agreement. An NDA will give you legal protection in the case where your business secrets are revealed or stolen.

• Indemnity – Another set of protections you may want to include in a JV agreement is indemnity. An indemnification inclusion will indemnify or hold harmless you or any of your business associates, managers, or even your family, from any liabilities, claims, or lawsuits resulting from the other party.

• Other Liability – Know how your JV will be liable for other business practices, such as customer returns or vendor accounts payable.

• Term of Agreement – Your JV agreement should include whether your JV is expected to run in perpetuity or if there is a specific timeframe for the venture. This portion could be written as a “let’s see how it goes” condition, with a limited initial term that would extend if both JV partners are satisfied with the venture.

• Money Handling – Set up in writing who will handle all the monetary transactions and how information will be fully disclosed and shared between JV partners. This includes all sales, chargebacks, refunds, accounts payable, and profit distribution.

A joint venture should be a pleasant and profitable experience for both parties.  But setting up some of these important protection clauses before your JV begins can save a lot of heartache and unpleasant business experiences.

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.

Building a successful joint venture requires strategy. However, there is a process, which you and your JV partner must follow in order to create a winning competitive strategy against current and potential competitors. Read on to find out how your JV can stand apart from the crowd with a winning competitive strategy.

1. The Business Plan

Your JV can go nowhere without a road map. That’s where a well-written and defined business plan comes into play. If your joint venture plans to compete within a defined market, you will need to have a blueprint that defines who you are, what you will offer, how you will deliver it, and why customers should choose you over a competitor. The business plan is not the end-all strategic document written in stone. However, as mentioned, it is a blueprint in which you and your JV partner can develop your step-by-step competitive strategy.

2. Innovation

In order to compete with other businesses, you will need to have an innovative solution added to your product or service. If two retail stores carry and sell the same hiking boot, why should customers buy from one or the other? The difference will be the innovation in the product or the marketing of the product. If you are the shoe storeowner selling a hiking boot, you may team up with a bookstore seller to form a joint venture. Agree to offer a free local hiking guide to customers who buy your hiking boot selection, and include a coupon for the customer to buy any book at the bookstore for a discount. Through this strategic and innovative marketing technique, you can differentiate from the competition.

3. Marketing

Unless your customers know your product or service exists, you won’t have any customer. Your marketing strategy is the lifeline between you and your market. Develop a message that strikes a proverbial chord with your customers. Tell them why they need your product.  Explain the benefits to them. And let them know how they can get hold of your product or service. 

Your message must reach the right audience. Be sure to define your target market and discover the most effective channels of marketing, such as PPC ads, SEO, and advertising on related blogs and websites that will reach that market.

4. Endeavor to Lead

Part of your competitive strategy could be a notion that you and your JV partner want to become a leader in your market, or extend a lead from competition by joining forces. With your business plan blueprint in hand and innovation and marketing strategy set forth, you can set your JV to become a leader in the market you pursue. Find other ways to stand apart from the competition, such as

• Develop new products and services
• Create new markets
• Exploit and fill a niche
• Provide added-value to your product
• Extend the best in customer service and attention
• Be flexible to adapt to a fluid and evolving market

Your JV can be a giant success if you and your JV partner develop a winning competitive strategy.  Don’t rush or be hasty with your strategy. Take the time to develop all the above elements to ensure that your competitive strategy has the right wheels and the road to follow.

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.

All around our economy, we find evidence of successful joint ventures. Look in the newspaper. Watch it on the news. Find it on billboards and advertisements. The most popular JVs have exerted a large influence on our society, our economy, as well as technological developments. 

In America, and in most advanced countries in the world where the government has great influence and regulation over mergers and acquisitions, companies find that joint ventures are a great way to join forces without the strict government oversight. Below are some of the examples of joint ventures and the results you see almost every day.

Sony and Ericsson’s Joint Venture

Japanese electronics giant, Sony, has been a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics, including audio, video, and communications, for decades. Along with their established manufacturing pervasiveness, Sony has had a global marketing dominance in all their products, including motion pictures and music recordings. With all their marketing expertise, they still needed an innovative technology expert to develop a marketing relationship. 

Enter the Swedish technology expert, Ericsson. Ericsson specialized in developing innovative telecommunications equipment for mobile networks. In 2001, Sony and Ericsson teamed up in a 50-50 joint venture now known worldwide as Sony Ericsson to develop and establish their innovative brand as the most attractive and dominant in the mobile handset industry. Their successful joint venture has resulted in the development, production, and marketing of some of the best handheld mobile phones available today.

Verizon and Vodafone’s JV Endeavors

And continuing with the mobile communications industry, who hasn’t seen the nice guy asking, “can you hear me now?” for Verizon Wireless? Verizon Communications was a leading deliverer of broadband and other wireless communications products. In 2000, they wanted to jump into the mobile wireless network provider industry and found a partner with European wireless behemoth, Vodafone. 

Vodafone was the world’s leading international mobile communications group, providing wireless service to hundreds of millions of customers. They were able to tap into the North American market with a strategic joint venture with Verizon Communications. By combining Verizon’s cellular, PCS, and paging assets with Vodafone’s wireless communications technology and marketing, they have now become the nation’s “most reliable” and largest wireless network.  

Joint Venture Between Mazda and Ford

Ford Motor Company had an available parts casting center located in Flat Rock, Michigan. Mazda saw an opportunity to purchase and rebuild the plant to begin producing a line of automobiles. After Mazda had success with their MX-6 models and producing Ford’s own Probe model, Ford teamed up with Mazda to form a joint venture company, AutoAlliance International in 1992. Since then, they have produced some of the leading automobile models, including the Ford Cougar line, Ford Mustang, and the Mazda 6.

These are just a few examples of the most visible and popular joint ventures in North America and the world. Though these joint ventures are large in scale jumping into international business and marketing, even small business owners can learn from them. Combining capital, technology, and marketing savvy are just a few of the ways business owners and entrepreneurs can create joint ventures. Using creativity and experience in business, there is virtually no limit in how two or more companies can combine to form a joint venture.

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.

Your joint venture is not just a way to make work easier for you and your JV partner.  You have joined forces to benefit your mutual customers. This ultimately translates into shared JV success. When you focus your JV efforts to satisfy customer needs, you must create a Customer Value Solution (CVS) that will first identify customer problems and needs, and secondly, develop effective and innovative solutions that meet those needs.

Defining the Market and Problem

What does your customer need? This is the question you and your JV partner must ask when you sit down to develop your CVS. First, you should identify the target market that your JV is focused on.

• Define your current market – You can define your market through the combination of both you and your JV partner’s separate markets. Are you hoping to serve your current customers? Will you and your JV partner combine contact lists to pursue a sales letter campaign? With a combination of current markets, you can offer both sets of customers a new and value-added product or service.  Be sure to tap into this existing market.

• Create a new market – Will your JV create new markets though the development of a new product or service? You may find that your combined forces will open new venues of market sectors that you have not tapped into before and even fill a needed niche market.

However you characterize the market for your JV, you will need to define and specify the problem or need of the customers within that market. Do your customers need a particular service to be performed quickly? Does your market demand your JV product for household needs? Technology needs? Lifestyle needs? Be sure you know how to address the needs of your customer before you create your CVS.

Develop a Solution

With your marked identified and the problem clearly defined, you must then develop an innovative solution that your market will want to buy. Your solution should encompass the strengths of both you and your JV partner. The market solution is the reason you joined forces in the first place, right? 

It is necessary that the product or service solution that you offer your market have these three elements:

1. Innovative Idea – The solution you present to your potential customers should be innovative. Have you developed a better mousetrap? Is your service something completely new? Whether your JV offers a product, service, or both, your solution should be interesting and innovative so that customers will be attracted to the idea.

2. Competitor Differentiation – Why should your market buy your product or service? Make sure you offer your customers a good reason to buy from you, such as faster service, better quality, lower price, etc.

3. Value Proposition – And what, ultimately, is the value to the customer? Present to them your CVS in such a way that they understand the value they receive when they make a purchase. Customers want to feel good about spending money, and knowing they received value is one of the best ways to make them feel good.

Your successful JV depends on your ability to meet the needs of a defined market. If you have formed a JV, take these steps to assure that your product or service has a Customer Value Solution.

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.

As with any relationship between spouses, friends, relatives, and even co-workers, your relationship with your JV partner requires that you continually develop and nurture it so that you both feel confident, supported, and satisfied with your endeavor. That means after you both agree on a JV partnership and put your strategy in motion, there are relationship obligations you must perform to keep your JV partnership healthy and happy.

1. Listen and Understand

Communication between you and your JV partner is a must. But that doesn’t mean that you bring your problems to the attention of your JV partner. It also means listening to their issues as well. You need to feed your JV partner psychologically by addressing their interests, wants, and needs. 

Listen carefully to what your partner has to say about the progress of your venture. Do they sound fed up? Are they excited and enthusiastic? Listening well can give you clues as to what you may need to do in order to keep your JV partnership thriving.

2. Empowerment

Empower your JV partner. That means trusting them to do what they say they can accomplish and trusting them to make good decisions. Don’t try to take the lead in every task that needs to be done for the benefit of the JV. Allow your partner room to soar and run with their talents.

3. ‘Tis Better to Give

Give as well as receive in your JV relationship. Partners who give emotionally, physically, financially, and socially are more likely to experience success. Give of your time to perform necessary tasks pertaining to the JV, such as bookkeeping, bundling and packaging products, or even making sales calls. Make sure your partner knows you are willing and able to share the load associated with your JV.

4. Inspiration and Motivation

Find out the strengths of your JV partner and encourage them. They may be a great salesperson, so encourage and inspire them to take the lead in acquiring leads and new customers. And don’t forget the rewards for a job well done. Motivate yourselves to reach a milestone by promising a celebration dinner at a fancy restaurant, for instance.

5. Appreciation

Don’t forget that people want to be recognized for the jobs they perform. A pat on the back can go a long way in showing your appreciation for the hard work your JV partner has put into the endeavor. Write a note of thanks for accepting and performing a particularly ugly task that neither of you wanted to do. Tell your partner you appreciate them for their customer service and care issues relating to the JV. Without ample appreciation, your JV partner may feel that you take them for granted, but nurturing the relationship will lead to benefits to both parties.

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 you think about a successful joint venture partnership, you probably know the already proven success strategies, such as shared customer contacts, bigger markets, and bundling products/services. But most entrepreneurs and small business owners miss some of the other obvious JV strategies that can lead to cost savings and more revenue.

1. Share Office Space

Sharing a space is a great way to save bundles of money on leasing expenses. Whether your business works in an office, retail store, or small industrial space, there are opportunities to mingle you and your JV partner’s business to gain synergy in your JV endeavors.

You and your JV partner could lease a single retail store if you both sell products that complement each other. For instance, you may have a bakery that specializes in cupcakes while your JV partner makes and sells artistic greeting cards and other gift items.  Sharing a single space can allow your customer to munch their cupcake treats while browsing the gift items.  If you don’t think that will work, just consider any Starbucks coffee shop and all the gift items they present their customers even before they reach the order counter.

2. Share Advertisement Space

Advertising can be a large portion of any business’s marketing budget. If you’ve ever purchased an ad in a newspaper, magazine, or even a theatre program, you know that little 2 X 2 inch space is a hefty investment. Why not design an ad with your JV partner that highlights both your services and products and even bundles items? By splitting the cost, you could even upgrade your ad to a bigger size and even add color to get more attention than two smaller, separate ad boxes.   

3. Co-Author Articles

Is there a trade publication that you and your JV partner could query? Try co-authoring an article to be published in a trade journal or other relevant magazine. Even if you don’t own businesses in the same industry you could write about a topic that highlights your JV efforts and how it affects your industry. Your article can gather much attention to your respective businesses or to your JV endeavors, and it spotlights you and your JV partner as an expert on the topic you authored. 

4. Create a New Co-Publication

Is there no trade journal for either of your businesses? Create one! You may have found a niche in your JV efforts that have a wide potential audience. Consider publishing a new trade journal, magazine, or online web journal.

5. Host Seminars

One popular way to gain customers is to host a class or seminar. Consider co-hosting a seminar where you both can discuss important topics in your field and make presentations about how you and your JV partner can benefit customers. 

A JV partnership can be more than strictly a way to bundle products and services. Use these ideas and think of other creative ways you and a JV partner can benefit from combining forces.

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.

A joint venture can be challenging, not just in the sense of business success, but of psychological success as well. Within your joint venture is a dynamic between you and your JV partner that requires careful maneuvering, much like a courting ritual. There are careful dance steps, communication gaps, and misunderstandings. And until you find your groove in how your JV arrangement will progress, you need to tread lightly in order to get a feel for how your partnership will work.

Many lucky first-time JV partners turn out to be a good match, like two peas in a pod.  They understand the issues at hand, are willing to discuss important topics, and know how to approach their JV partner to get things resolved. However, many JV partners have personality differences that end up like apples and oranges grown from different trees in different parts of the country. If yours falls into this latter category, make sure you have a communication strategy in hand so that you and your JV partner can find the best ways to succeed.

Start Easy

Your joint venture doesn’t have to be complicated. If you think a JV partnership could be a great long-term arrangement with another business, but aren’t sure about working with the owner, find a small initial project for the two of you to try. Even if it is something you could do yourself, such as designing a brochure or writing a sales letter, sharing the responsibility of an easy task can break the proverbial ice and get your JV relationship on the right track.

Arrange Regular Meetings

Since communication is the key to success between you and your JV partner, be sure to arrange regular meetings where you can discuss your plan or strategy and make decisions where necessary. This may be more frequent at the beginning of your JV partnership, such as two to three times a week depending how complicated your arrangement and strategy is. Then once your strategy is in full motion, don’t neglect to continue meeting possibly once or twice a month to stay on the same page.

Share All Possible Information

Don’t be stingy with information when you and your JV partner meet. Be sure to share all-important information about your JV partnership strategy and results, such as bookkeeping records, customer contact lists, and expense receipts. Feelings can be hurt, suspicions may arise, and the JV partnership could even dissolve if your partner discovered you held back information, or vice versa.

Be Flexible

A JV partnership requires a great deal of flexibility. You may end up taking tasks you don’t want or even discover that your JV goals will take longer to achieve due to your partner’s limited time and resources. But remaining flexible shows your JV partner that you are committed to long-term success and are willing to do what it takes to make the venture work.

Joint ventures depend upon good relationships. Take the steps necessary to be flexible and open with your JV partner so that your joint venture has the chance to become a 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.

During your ongoing business dealings, you may find that your markets change, your customers grow and diversify into other demographics, and even your products or services may modify into something new. This can also be the case for your joint venture partner’s business as well. If you find this happens and your JV cannot adapt with the changes, or your JV is on the road to termination for any reason, here are some things to think about that will make your JV dissolution easier and painless.

Buy Out

If you and your JV partner formed a separate joint venture company, you may want to discuss having you or your partner buy the other out. If the business strategy still works, but you or your JV partnership is calling it quits, then it makes sense to try and continue the business venture. If you wish to buy out the enterprise, you could try it on your own, since the business flow has already been established, or you could try to recruit another JV partner to keep the new business going.

Intellectual Property

Did you and your JV partner share intellectual or proprietary information? You will want to discuss how to unbundle your respective proprietary products or services and even sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to assure that important business secrets are not revealed on either side of the JV partnership. 

Confidential Information

During your JV partnership, you may have shared some confidential information about you personally and/or business. Talk with your JV partner during your closing discussions to assure that certain information concerning you, your business, or your business clients does not get exposed. And, of course, be willing to keep the secrets of your JV partner as well.

Future Income and Expenses

Even if you and your JV partner dissolve the venture today, there may still be some residual business that must be handled and agreed upon. Determine who is entitled to future residual income from the JV activities, and who is responsible for making payments to unpaid vendors. You will also need to decide who will handle the bookkeeping of the future income and expenses if the activities do go on. 

Even if you and your JV partner drew up an exceptional JV agreement and included an exit clause and strategy, there will most likely be some issues that need to be resolved. A good plan in the beginning can help your exit be more smooth and painless, but continue your dissolution with a positive attitude and business-like manner so that your closing negotiations will come to a friendly conclusion. Working to keep trust between you and your JV partner can go a long way to continuing good relations with others in your business community.

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 most business owners and entrepreneurs think about forming a joint venture, it is usually during positive economic times when business prospects are good. But what about forming a JV during a recession or when an economic downturn affects the region of your business?

Case Study: When the Times Get Tough, Capitalize on a JV

That’s just what Michael Henderson and Dave Harrison did. Bad economic times adversely affected their respective businesses when the building construction company they both depended on for a large percent of their livelihood went under and the business dried up. Rather than throw in the towel, they decided to team up and form a JV partnership.

Henderson was an experienced independent subcontractor electrician who went into business for himself in the 1980s. For almost two decades, he subcontracted electrical work for a successful home building company. While he completed electrical tasks on new homes, he worked alongside Harrison, another independent subcontractor specializing in plumbing. 

During a particular subdivision home development project, the homebuilder suddenly went out of business and began liquidating in the middle of all the construction. That left Henderson and Harrison out of work and without future prospects, as they both depended heavily on the home building company. 

Two Heads are Better Than One

However, rather than seeing the bleak picture and going out of business themselves, they took a positive outlook on the situation. They saw an opportunity to work on an upcoming large-scale construction project, but not individually. The projected called for both electrical and plumbing together. In order to bid on the project, they needed to pair up and register with the European Union and register to get a VAT, or value added tax, number. On a handshake, the two formed the joint venture, Henderson & Harrison, made a bid on the project, and won it. They have been working together ever since.

The two split the profits from their JV work 50-50. They did not work from a formalized written agreement, but just by a handshake. They say that a formal agreement is something they plan to draw up at some time because they do want to have a clear understanding of profit and asset division, and to determine the value of the assets, such as vehicles that have been acquired.

By matching talents and combining forces on bigger projects, they have both seen an increase in their income. Their business works because the dynamic of the two work in harmony. Henderson is the hands-on guy who supervises on-site projects with other subcontractors. With his technical plumbing knowledge, he is able to complete projects with exceptional quality. Harrison, by contrast, is the business partner who likes to meet people, make bids, and get the deals. They are both happy in their respective sides of the work they do through their joint venture.

The only thing they would do differently? They wish they could have started sooner. But only through a bad economic splash were they able to foresee a potential partnership, which has made them much more successful than going it alone.

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 an online business that you started from scratch. It has grown steadily over the last few years, and you make a small profit from your endeavors. However, it hasn’t grown as quickly as you first imagined, and the profit isn’t enough to pay your Internet bill each month, but not your rent and other essentials. Is there a way to expand and grow your Internet business with another online partner?

The answer is a resounding “YES”! There is much potential for partnering up with another online business owner to gain more traffic, find more efficient marketing platforms, and earn higher revenue. Most business owners are open to making more money, even through a partnership. If you can find a willing JV partner who wants to pair up and tackle more business. Here is how you could benefit:

Provide Enhanced Service to Your Current Customers

With a joint venture, you have the potential to offer your current customers and subscribers an added-value service. A JV partnership with another website owner who sells products or services that are complementary to yours can be a breath of fresh air that you could offer your customers. How? You make it appear that you have made an extra effort on their part by finding a “deal” on your JV partner’s products or services. Just make sure that the products or services from your new JV partner are good quality and will result in solid customer satisfaction. A deal on a ‘bad’ product can reflect poorly on your business, and you could potentially lose customers in the process.

Increase Your Subscriber List

When you pair up with an online partner, you can get access to his mailing or subscriber list. An endorsement from your JV partner can send hundreds, or even thousands, of new potential customers and subscribers. Offer them a great deal to sign up with your mailing or subscriber list, and you may find your customer contact double or more. This is a great way to increase your subscriber list with little or absolutely no cost. A larger, targeted customer contact list gives you the leverage to offer great deals that they can purchase and increase your income.

Gain More Credibility

When you chose and acquire the right online JV partner who already has high credibility and reputation, you can instantly increase your own credibility. For instance, a JV partnership with an online giant like Ebay or Amazon, where you offer special and quality deals for their customers, gives you access to millions of new customers. Your association with such an online presence gives you instant endorsement if you form the proper strategy. That means following through with your promises and offering quality products or services.

Take your online business to a new level. It is possible to go it alone and try to make a giant skyscraper out of a pile of rubble, but with the help of an online JV partner, you can realize great profits through an already existing structure.

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.