This post is an adaptation of a webinar that took place on July 8, 2020 co-hosted by The Ossining Chamber of Commerce, and WSI Vital Marketing. Our Local Goods was the guest speaker and LK Consultants was the moderator.
Leveraging Local Partnerships
As a local business owner, you’re probably already accustomed to partnering with other businesses in order to help leverage your offerings. With business models shifting to survive in a world that’s been forced to go digital, there may be additional ways you can partner that you haven’t utilized. Take a look at some of the ideas below and see if there are any new partnerships you can initiate. Have an idea that you don’t see? Add it to the comments section at the end of the post!
What are some practical reasons to partner with other businesses?
No one gets to the top alone… We have to lift each other up as part of a community, and as fellow business people sharing a small space in the market.
A Zambian proverb says it well: “If you want to run fast, run alone. If you want to run far, run together.”
We can uniquely understand and relate to other business owners in knowing what it takes to build, run, and sustain a business. We might even be able to strategically utilize partnership opportunities with competitors in our own market in order to work better together and get a greater reach for our products and services.
For example, as a Professional Organizer, I am part of NAPO (a network comprised of other Professional Organizers). By being in this community, I’m able to team up with people who are technically my direct competitors, but there are cases in which we can still make collaboration work.
For example:
When I’m unavailable to take on a new client, I have reliable partners to refer them to.
When a client has a specific need (ADD, ADHD, Residential Organizing, Moving, etc.) I can send them along to someone else I trust that covers that need or service, rather than telling them I can’t help and simply end the conversation.
When I need help, I reach out to the group which has a large collective of experience. I can see if anyone else has faced similar challenges or come up with creative solutions to problems I currently face.
With partnerships, you can form a connected and cohesive community. You’ll be able to gain more reach, exposure, and in the end – more revenue. So what can we do?
Chambers/Municipalities
Partner with local chambers of commerce and/or municipalities. This may not be applicable for all business types, but for a service that benefits the residents of their cities it is in their interest to include you on their website and lead their patrons to your services.
Some chambers may require businesses to become members in order to include you in chamber opportunities. This may be worthwhile, but if that’s not an option see what other partnership opportunities they might be up for. You never know if you don’t ask, and the worst they could say is a simple “no,” right? They might invite you to lead events, bring in content, be a venue host, be their go-to caterer, etc.
There may also be other local resources similar to “Our Local Goods” in your community where businesses can get listed for free. This is a local effort targeted at bridging what local businesses have to offer and what community members are currently looking for. These sites morph over time, so don’t be afraid to pitch new partnership ideas to the site owners as the functions shift.
Common Customer – Complementary Solutions
Offer as part of your umbrella
Do you offer a product or service that is naturally part of a buyer’s needs within specific category? This is when the customer might be looking for additional products or services that work well with your product, but isn’t part of your inventory. For example:
You sell high-end shoes but you don’t sell accompanying clothing, bags, or accessories.
You are a business consultant but not a marketing or branding professional.
You are a bookkeeper but not an accountant.
You cater dinners but not desserts.
You are a wedding photographer but not a videographer.
You are a real estate agent, but not a lawyer, banker, inspector, etc.
You are an electrician, but not a contractor to replace drywall or painter.
And so many more such combinations…
In each of these examples, there are chances for you to work with other vendors to include these items as part of your business. Offering it under your brand umbrella would mean that the customer does all of their interactions through you - you manage the pricing, communications, payments, etc., between all parties. From the customer’s side, it looks like your service but internally you know that it’s outsourced. (Be sure to come up with a comprehensive agreement with your contracted vendors.)
Utilize a Referral Partnership or Preferred Supplier
If you don’t want to offer the partner products under your own umbrella, you could always do a simple referral program - which can be commission or non-commission based. They can be formal or informal arrangements where anyone that comes to you that needs a service or product you don’t provide, you send them consistently to your referring partners. Client referrals are not only helpful to you and your partner, but also to the client who can trust your referral and save time and energy by not having to look for the vendors themselves.
Be sure to list these partners on your website, get your business listed on their site, mention your partners in social media (and vice versa), and in general, talk up people and brands that you love, trust, and work with regularly. Being positive only reflects positively on you, and those companies will want to do the same for you in return. Be careful to align yourself only with companies and brands you trust! Vet them well before becoming partners. If you refer someone and they have a negative experience, or if you promote a brand that your customers don’t align with, that reflects on you, too.
Create a Product or Service Together
Although this can be a little more complicated legally, it might be worth the effort to create a joint product, such as a book, eCourse, or even just joining forces to create a new business. I recommend doing your due-diligence to make sure this is the right solution for you before proceeding, but depending on what you’re hoping to produce this could be a good way to get complementary strengths on the same team. Be sure to connect with a lawyer who specializes in Intellectual Property and business agreements/corporate partnerships if you’re considering this route.
Make a Shout-out
Help out local businesses that you love, even if you don’t have a direct connection to their offerings. Of course there’s no guarantee that they’ll do the same for you, but I say it’s good karma all around. Lift others up, share the love, and it will return to you over time in unexpected ways.
Co-hosting (Events and Content)
Bring on co-hosts for your virtual or in-person events. This means you’ll get twice the exposure, since the co-host will also be advertising to their audience. Ideally you should pick to host with a brand/company that has a similar target market as you – otherwise you’ll get plenty of exposure in a market that is not interested in your product or service. Also, make sure you trust them and stand for their brand and what they believe in. As we listed above, remember that you’re aligning yourself with this company when you work together so make sure they are the right fit.
Do the same with content – bringing in guest bloggers, or guests for your podcast, social media, articles, emails, or other areas of digital content will help give you both get new exposure, while also increasing the value and depth of what you have to offer.
Do you have any other partnership ideas to share? Wish I had covered additional areas here?
Please list them in the comments below!
If you are interested in getting additional one-on-one help for your business development, sign up for a coaching inquiry with LK Consultants. We’ll discuss ideas specific to your business for better leveraging local partnerships