2/12/2007
Alliances and connections ~ Why no small business owner can make it all alone
| ♫♪♪ Companies … companies who need companies are the luckiest companies in the world … ♫♪♪ Okay, maybe that’s not the way the song goes, but it does help make a point: Businesses – especially smaller ones – can’t make it on their own. Okay, some of them do make it, but probably not to the level they could if they allied themselves with other business people. We’re talking about mutually beneficial business-to-business alliances… an arrangement in which two or more participants work together for the benefit of both groups. Nowadays we see real estate firms aligning themselves with mortgage companies, ad agencies teaming with market research firms and – in writing, our business – links with web developers, graphic designers and other communications professionals. The notion has even engendered a new buzzword, “Co-opetition,” to describe cooperative competition. While cartels are well-known examples of companies working together in order to limit competition, co-opetition focuses on cooperation between companies in competitive markets, for example Apple and Microsoft building closer ties on software development and the cooperation between Peugeot and Toyota on a new city car for Europe in 2005. History’s a great teacher. When discussing the role of business alliances, many people have studied and will bring up a general named Sun Tzu, who lived in northeastern China about 2,500 years ago. He’s considered an expert in military strategy – and now business strategy – because of his many victories on the battlefield. To this day, successful military leaders and business executives credit their success to application of Sun Tzu's principles, which included speed, knowing strengths and weaknesses, successful market capture and alliances. Why alliances? Easy…it just makes sense. Firms hook-up with each other mainly to give customers what they want and need in a one-stop shop that combines the best of two – or more – worlds. Alliances come in all shapes and sizes, but they share the belief that – as partners – both sides can reach goals that might otherwise lie beyond their individual reach. About Get It In Writing, Inc.: Whether it’s a website, articles, blog, newsletter, advertorial, e-zine or e-book, let our copywriting tell your audience about your company in the best possible way. See why our words mean business. Visit us online at: www.GetItInWriting.biz or call toll-free at 877-989-8555. Labels: collaboration, small business, working with others |
