Strategic business partnerships allow small businesses the opportunity to grow their customer base and improve their business.
Small business owner Scott Schnurr, of Plainfield, Ill.-based DRF Total Property Solutions, a professional property solutions business, has seen the benefits of business partnerships firsthand. He’s been working with big-name companies like Sears, Home Depot and RainSoft Water Treatment Systems to better serve his current customers and to gain new customers.
“The main objective [of partnerships] is the true synergy of one plus one equals five instead of two,” says Schnurr.
But gaining new customers is only one of many reasons for forming partnerships. A partnership could mean your business will have access to new products, reach a new market, block a competitor (through an exclusive contract) or increase customer loyalty.
Some prefer to use partnerships to strengthen weak aspects of their business. Schnurr’s mentor, Rob Slee, founder of MidasNation, an aggressive business mentoring community, says small businesses should use strategic partners when those partners can better serve your customer. “What do you really know how to do in your business?” asks Slee. “Do those things extremely well and outsource everything else.”
Schnurr identifies his customers’ pain points and finds partners that can resolve them. Some of his customers were working on large projects that required several contractors. He partnered with contractors who had skills his customers needed—like painting or electrical work—so his plumbing customers, for example, could get all the services they need from one trusted name.
