Joint Ventures: Linking Needs and Assets for Fun and Profit
Joint Ventures: Linking Needs and Assets for Fun and Profit
By Ronda Del Boccio
NABBW’s Entrepreneurial Authoring Expert
What if there was a way for you to increase your business profits and improve your customer care without adding personnel, equipment or expenses? There is, in the form of joint ventures (JVs).
No matter what kind of business you run, what products you sell or services you offer, you can serve both your customers and your bank account better by organizing joint ventures, or JVs. All you need is a sincere desire to serve your customers even better than you already do plus an eye for increasing leverage.
A JV happens when two or more businesses create a deal that is mutually beneficial to both companies and to all customers they serve, creating a win-win-win scenario. While it may sound like “pie in the sky,” it is an extremely productive way to raise your bottom line.
You want to think of it as a matching game of linking assets and needs. I am not speaking about your financial assets here but of your systems, services or products.
Start by asking yourself these questions:
- What product, service or system do I have that other businesses would benefit from having or using?
- What systems, services or products do I need that would better serve my clients/customers without any extra work on my part?
Let me give you a real-life example so you can understand.
One entrepreneur I know has a system for improving website traffic in a mostly automated way. That\’s an asset. Naturally, he is selling this monthly service to people on his own. Now he wants to lengthen his reach.
He asks himself “What type of business needs my traffic service,” and he might come up with answers like these:
- Bloggers
- Network marketers
- Internet entrepreneurs
- Offline businesses with an online presence
His needs include:
- Customers to use his monthly service
- Affiliates (or distributors) who will act as a sales force to sell his service to their customers
- Businesses that will integrate his system into their own
For him to arrange a true joint venture, he is looking for more than simply customers who will use his system and more than affiliates or “reps” who will sell his membership service to their clientele. He is looking for a win-win-win match. He is looking for someone who will integrate his system into their business.
Let\’s say he meets someone who has an online education program that teaches people to start and run an internet-based business. Here is what he will do to determine whether there is a good “fit” for a joint venture. (This is what YOU will do for your own business)
Research Phase
First, he has to do some sleuthing to find the right partner.
1. He researches the company and business owner to make sure there is currently enough traffic to make it worth his while. He can determine this by looking at their website rankings on Alexa.com and Quantcast.com. If this person only has a few students, there is no profit in it for him. However, if the school is already thriving, the potential for growth is huge.
2. He gets to know the other business owner. For one thing, he wants to ensure that the way she runs her business is in philosophical alignment with the way he operates his.
3. The two business owners get better acquainted and discuss the “fit.” They are looking for ways to “amp up” the power of the collaboration.
Organization Phase
Assuming all goes well, the two owners create an agreement between them and move forward. The arrangement looks like this:
1. All students of the online university get the traffic service free for three months.
2. They get a special “inner circle” price thereafter.
3. They don\’t get it on the day they enroll but rather after they already have their website and blog established and after they have gained an understanding of how to drive traffic.
Implementation Phase
1. Our traffic guy sets up a special webpage for students and a special portal into his service.
2. Our dean incorporates the traffic system into her programs and makes sure that all current students who meet the minimum requirement get access to the program as well as all upcoming students.
Where\’s the Win-Win-Win?
For the traffic system
Maybe you are wondering how giving away three free months of service to a whole bunch of people serves our traffic guy. Imagine this: Without any advertising, he gains a few hundred brand new customers a month. They use it free for 3 months, and because this is such a perfect match, they are going to continue to buy the service.
Most if not all of these people will also become his affiliates and offer his service to their clientele, so he gains a prime “sales force” consisting of people who are already happy customers.
So if our school generates 500 new students per month, he gains 6,000 new customers annually plus maybe 3,000 more who are current advanced students, with no effort other than making a few phone calls and a modified webpage or two. Even though some will not retain the service, most will.
For the students
They are so excited to have the perfect tool to generate traffic, and since they know what they are doing by the time they get their free trial, they are using the program daily right from the start. And since they\’re hooked on his service and using it every day for their business, they are going to be long-term customers as well as affiliates.
Also, those for whom it is appropriate have a source of income because they can become affiliates who earn a commission for introducing the traffic system to their own customers.
For the online school
I mentioned that a joint venture must be a win-win-win, meaning that both partners AND the customer win. You\’ve already seen how our traffic guy and the university students win, but how does the school owner win?
The owner of the education program also wins in a big way, because she is able to provide something every student needs, at no cost to her and at no cost to them, for a whole three months. This also means she has a highly valuable bonus added to her program. Say the traffic system costs $97 per month. They save $297 the first quarter. She is setting them up for success by offering such a useful tool for them.
That\’s how everybody wins.
As you can see, playing a game of matching needs to assets is extremely profitable! So why not start organizing joint ventures for your own business?
Imagine organizing prosperous deals for your business! Click the link to get your free audio “How to harness The Power of Joint Ventures for Your Business.” Ronda Del Boccio is an author mentor and Certified Joint Venture Facilitator. She works with entrepreneurs, authors and small business owners worldwide.
