Most businesses have some problem they need to solve at any given point in time. These days, getting stellar growth may be a challenge, and the cost of acquiring a new customer seems to go only one way.

Up. Ouch! 

For others, it may be that the business you set up a few years back is no longer performing as expected, and a change is needed. But you also know it could take years to turn it around successfully through reengineering.

Or maybe you’re considering a new market entry, but last time you did, it ended up in a “crash and burn”. The business failed miserably as it proved harder than expected to exploit the target market, established fluid go-to-market channels, and in the end, you wonder; 

“Did we really understand the consumer behavior in that market?” 

You are not alone. A lot of companies have been down that road. 

The good news is that there might be a more successful approach, one that increases the likelihood of success, brings about revenue growth faster, while reducing operational risk.

Partnerships. 

So you need to find a company that can bring you that extra rocket fuel, or that piece of the puzzle you lack in your product/service portfolio, or someone with a profound understanding of the market and readily available channels to the end customer. 

I categorize these into three types of partnerships:

• Growth partnerships

• Market expansion partnerships 

• Transformational partnerships 

A growth partnership is when you forge an alliance with a company that has a readily available, large customer base, in-depth knowledge of their customers’ needs, and ready-made channels to reach them. 

Market expansion partnerships help you when you want to enter a new market and you need a local partner with the same type of characteristics as for growth partnerships above.

Finally, a transformational partnership is the fast track version of re-engineering your business by changing your market approach with the help of a partner. Maybe by sourcing a new service offering, or using your offering to a new market segment in a new market channel. 

Of course you don’t get to any of these partnerships empty handed. You have to bring value to your partner - something you own or something you know. More about this in a later blog post. 

Do you have one or more partnerships in place? Please share your experience here if you have partnership experience.