Four Business Partnering Ideas for Colossal Expansion

John is a highly creative person who loves to do one thing – write. And he makes a really great living at it. But when it comes to running a business and dealing with the operations John would pretty much prefer to get a root canal in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Dan is a brilliant marketing strategist who grossed 7 figures for years doing what he does best – selling from stage and writing award winning sales copy. But it was a lot of work on his own. In the last seven years his 7 figure solo-business exploded into a massive multi-million dollar empire.

Michele is extraordinarily creative and has a huge vision of how to grow her agency into a mid-seven figure empire. Figuring out how to get everything done has just bogged her down. But lately she’s found a way to handle all the details without losing her creativity.

So what do these people have in common?

Partnerships.

A partnership is a way to balance your strengths with someone else’s in order to get more done – without losing your mind! Entrepreneurs as a whole tend to thrive in their creativity but don’t enjoy managing their business. That’s where a partner can come in handy.

There are some real tricks to having a partnership that works. I’ve seen many situations blow up because the keys to having a profitable partnership aren’t in place.

I’ll cover four ideas for partnerships in this article and get to the keys for a profitable, thriving partnership in the next one.

1. Marriage partner.

Don’t balk yet…it’s a new trend. Especially with women who have found their passion and a lucrative business that needs managing so they can focus on their creativity. Typically once the business gets to a certain level of revenue; it can be far more profitable for both spouses to work together than to outsource the operations to someone else. Two examples of marriage partners working together successfully are Adam & Bo Urbanski and Fabienne & Derek Frederickson.

2. Other family member.

Sometimes a powerful partnership comes from another family member such as a parent, sibling or extended family member. When the partnership is based on “balanced strengths” a family member can be a perfect partnership. The Sloan Brothers of StartupNation Radio are brothers who found a great niche in business startups.

3. Friend or Associate.

Whether you partner on a project or in the entire business, collaborating with a friend can bring massive growth potential to the table. John Carlton partnered with long-time friend Stan Dahl. Dan Kennedy partnered with former client Bill Glazer. Both of those partnerships allowed the creative force in the business to focus while the “day to day” is handled by someone who excels.

4. Investor

Another route is to align with someone who can fund the business growth and bring their years of expertise to your business while you continue to focus on yours. This person typically buys into the business and the potential revenue growth. Two examples (which I can’t reveal names for privacy reasons) are a well known internet marketer who had a partner buy in once they got to $2 million in revenue and a world-renown personal growth expert who funded their initial growth with an investor.

A couple of things to keep in mind as you explore taking on a partner.

What is the purpose for the partnership?
More free time for you? Better collaborative energy? Are you just exhausted and need help? Do you need more growth capital? Do they have expertise in business growth that you don’t? Being clear on this point will help you identify the right person.

How will you split up your responsibilities?
Ah, we are getting into the keys for a profitable partnership here…but you really want to start thinking about this so you both don’t end up having the same strengths.