Tag: partnership

Business

Easy in is easy out and no commitment means just that

I simply don’t understand why a business would sign partnership agreements with a new reseller on the understanding that if they deliver nothing you will “tear up the agreement”. What a waste of everybody’s time and effort.

If you don’t think it’s going to work as a partnership then, you’re probably right. Like all relationships a business partnership takes time and effort and commitment from both sides and usually a degree of planning and expectation setting doesn’t go amiss.

A few areas to look at in detail before you even think about signing a partnership.

Suitability of product/solution or offer
Why you’re taking this route
Margin chain – is there enough in the margin pot to feed all tiers?
Your resources to support this activity
Training/knowledge transfer
Sales
Marketing
Support
Operations/logistics
Finance
Affordability and impact on pricing and margins available
Potential for sales conflict with your current operations and sales teams
And most importantly how you will resolve them

Line up for success and remember that less is more. Fewer of the right partners is infinity preferable and scaling can follow

Business

How does trust impact openness and collaboration?

Friend or foe

I am naturally open and have a leaning towards trust as a default, until of course I’m bitten or receive some other signal that I’m being used.

I have been reading a lot of books and other content about this broader topic, but not as a central theme. The themes were much more about ideas and sharing and how magical things can happen. The topic of trust and its impact doesn’t seem to figure highly, but I do wonder whether this can limit collaboration if there’s an unsaid trust question somewhere in the “group”

Is the elephant in the room?


Can ideas truly flow unencumbered, if there are (unsaid) issues within a group, whereby the trust question is not addressed?

Will all group members really bring their collaboration and sharing “A” game I wonder?

Does it matter if some are open in spite of this?

Personally, I’d postulate that it’s not optimal if you’re not all equally invested and some are holding back.
So is the answer that all parties sign some kind of NDA? Does this work in practice, or is an NDA now so default in business discussions, that they’re all too easily signed and filed without real attention and commitment?

All these questions bubble to the surface often for me, as the topic has huge significance to the work that I undertake. So all of this relies on a high degree of trust.

Making progress (and quickly) is rather tricky without it