Joint Venture Business Partnerships: Why I Love Them and You Will Too

I think that one of the most challenging parts of being a business owner is the lack of a clear direct support system. Several years ago I had a great job at the University of Pennsylvania. It was prestigious and I had a wonderful department of bright, helpful colleagues.

When the time came that I knew I needed to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, I was nervous about going out on my own and being a solopreneur. I knew that I'd miss the social and professional interactions which I loved and felt made me better at what I did. This was particularly difficult for me because I’m an extrovert by nature and thrive on interacting with others.

Are you like me? Do you thrive on brainstorming and talking with others? Do you get your energy from being around people you enjoy and respect? Do you worry about being isolated in your life or business?

I always say to listen to worries because they can contain the solutions to our problems. If we use our fears to illuminate new possibilities, they can incredibly helpful. The best anxiety cure is to ask ourselves how we can use the anxiety to help us.

What I did was confront my fear of being alone in my work. I knew that the solution was to go out on my own anyway even though it was frightening.

But simply confronting our fears is not enough to truly manage anxiety and stress and be successful. The next step is to realize that we worry about things that are important to us (if we didn't care, we wouldn't worry, right?) and to take action.

Confronting the fear is step one, and step two is to see if there's more we can do with it. Let's say, for example, that you have the fear of public speaking. The first step is to do it and get practice. The next step is to think about why public speaking is important to you and take action on that. Maybe you want to share your message with more people, become a professional speaker, or emcee for fundraising events. Take your fear to the next level.

Okay, back to my story....A wonderful solution to the fear of being isolated is to set up joint ventures (JVs), so that is exactly what I set out to do.

Joint ventures work like informal business partnerships. You can collaborate with a colleague on a small or large project, write articles together, cross promote each others businesses, and help one another get more exposure.

Joint ventures have not only helped me reduce isolation, but they have stimulated and inspired me to do more in my business than I ever thought I could. I love how joint ventures set up a system of accountability, and divide up work so everyone can do the parts they enjoy most and are best at.

Most importantly, joint ventures have been extremely educational and fun for me. If you don't yet have joint ventures, mentorships, coaching relationships, or mastermind groups set up, I highly encourage you to do so.

The first step is to figure out who would make an ideal joint venture partner. Learn about them. Subscribe to their newsletter, buy their products, and read their books. Be sure you have a genuine interest in and respect for what they do. I now get approached for joint ventures fairly often and I’m much more receptive to someone who’s very familiar with my body of work. Otherwise I feel that they aren’t interested in working with me but in getting exposure to my list or some such and that doesn’t motivate me to work with them.

Next, determine how you have complimentary skills or situations. For example, one of you may be great at coming up with story ideas and the other is great at writing, so a series of articles or ebooks could be a great project. You or your partner may create a product and the other one markets it. If you have a set of skills that is applicable to multiple groups, you have great JV possibilities. For example, my expertise is in the psychology of marketing for business growth so I’ve partnered with interior designers, coaches and therapists, and doctors to apply my concepts to their specific fields.

Then you’re ready to set up your agreement. It is critical that you are completely clear on roles, rules, and responsibilities from the beginning. Managing expectations is critical. You must do what you say you’re going to do.

As you go through the process, stay in communication with your JV partner and show results so that they don’t need to wonder what you’re up to. Make the process enjoyable and hold one another accountable.

Enjoy your JVs and the support and bottom line profits they bring you!