Top

A Simple But Sound Strategy for a Successful JV

June 30, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

You had a great idea for a joint venture and have successfully pitched the idea to your potential JV partner. He’s on board and you’re both ready to go! What do you do next?

It is the business strategy of many business owners to simply go with the flow and react to business, rather than be proactive with a plan. Once a business is up and running, it seems there’s more to deal with than just growing the business, like irate customers, lost shipments, and a landlord who wants to increase the lease. Reactions must be given to these types of business problems, but it’s no excuse not to work on a strategic plan to move the business forward.

Rather than set up a JV and become reactionary to it, here is a simple 6-step business strategy that all business owners should follow and can easily be integrated into your JV.

1. Target Market – Who is your target market? You will know what service your joint venture is going to perform or product it will sell, but you must state your target market and know whom you are selling to.

2. State the Goals – Here is where you must know where you are going before you start the journey.  Your JV business goal or goals are the target in which you want to hit at the end of the journey. Goals can be short-term or long-term, and should include both. For instance, before your ultimate goal of reaching $100K in sales, you must get your marketing, production and distribution aligned. Those would be short to medium goals that need to be stated.

3. Determine a Budget – Once you have a target market and goals, then it’s time to start thinking of a budget. No action can take place if you don’t yet know how to pay for it.  Figure if both you and your JV will contribute $XX dollars to the budget, or if you will raise the money other ways. Ultimately you need a figure on how much you will spend on expenses such as marketing, production, promotion, etc.

4. Formulate and Implement an Action Plan – Here is where you and your JV partner form the smaller, step-by-step actions to reach the goals. Determine who will take what tasks and go to work.

5. Test the Results – At some point, you need to see how your plan is working. Pick a time, say 1 month or 3 months, in which you and your JV partner will look at the data and analyze how your plan is working. What works great? What action didn’t produce the expected results?

6. Form a New/Updated Plan – From the results of your original action plan, you will now know what works, what doesn’t, and what could work better. Re-form a new plan and implement it.

Now you have a simple JV business strategy that can work for you. The key is to always be progressive and have a strategy for improvement in order to reach the goals you set.  Good luck!

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Deal Making, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, entrepreneurship, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28

June 28, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Filed Under: Twitter
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Stay Mentally Positive In Your Joint Venture

June 26, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

It’s easy for the mind to lean toward cynicism and negativity. The dark side of attitude is the path of least resistance. If things don’t work the way we want, we get frustrated, angry, and we want to strike out, lay blame and sometimes even give up. All these can have devastating effects on a joint venture and your relationship with your JV partner.

Where does negativity stem from? There are many rocks that can be thrown at our psych that triggers negativity. Here are a few:

  • News – Every day there is another story about the economy, and usually the news is not good. Unemployment is up. Stock market is way down – again. The economy won’t recover for a long haul. All these factors could cause us to give up and stop trying hard to be successful.
  • Anger – The emotional response of anger comes easily. And let’s face it – there are many people who have anger issues. When we are angry, we say things we don’t mean and do things we did not intend. Uncontrolled anger festers as negativity.
  • Powerlessness – We’ve been told all our lives that we can do anything we set our mind to do. However, achieving lower results, too many obstacles, and yes, also failure, can make us feel powerless and out of control of our own jobs and destinies.

Alternative Positive Strategies

What can you do to keep mentally challenged, remain focused, and stay positive? A positive mental attitude requires continual effort, lest the dark side creep in. Here is what you need to think about each and every day:

Passion – It’s easy enough to say it, but you must be passionate about what you do. If you form a JV, be sure it is something that you will work at passionately and feel passionate about. Passion could come from wanting success in your own business, or a new creative idea for a joint venture. Without passion, you may find you put less effort into it.

Challenge – Form a JV that challenges you and your JV partner. A challenge makes reaching the goal that much more exciting and fulfilling.

Think of Others – Don’t just work for yourself. When others depend upon your work, there is more incentive for you to succeed and meet their needs. Whether you form a JV for non-profit community and social benefit, or just trying to feed your family and send your daughter to college, let others motivate your success.

Balance – Work is great. And it should be fulfilling. But don’t forget to balance your work life with your family, friends, and other obligations. Avoid the temptation to allow work and your JV to take over the majority of your life.

In a world where negativity is all around us, we must consciously remain focused on the positive in our lives. Negativity can be overwhelming. But when we take control of our mental status and focus, success follows. Stay positive!

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Commitment, Deal Making, Economy, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, Jv Partner, Psychology of Joint Venturing, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Gain the Trust of a Potential JV Partner with Your Credibility

June 24, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Have you tried unsuccessfully to gain a joint venture partner? Perhaps you have given presentations and proposals to other business owners who genuinely were not interested in a JV. Or perhaps you didn’t highlight your own credibility enough. Sometimes a great business idea for a JV is not enough to convince another entrepreneur or business owner to join up. You must earn their trust as a credible potential partner and rainmaker.

Savvy business owners and entrepreneurs are choosy about with whom they spend their time and build alliances. Association with other successful business owners may give them additional credibility and status. Therefore, it’s not just business success, but also the reputation at stake as well.

Subsequently, with this type of business owner with whom you want to partner on a joint venture, you must earn his trust as a credible business owner yourself. Success breeds success, as they say.  If you are after a savvy business owner who is careful with his associations, here are some things you might use to gain his trust:

Client Testimonials

Use your own customer testimonials. Don’t just tout your own success; let your customers do it for you. Your customers and clients can really help your company shine. Whether you provide the best customer service, or produce and sell the best widget, customer testimonials will be the driving force that tells other customers, and your potential JV partner, that you do quality work. Get as many testimonials as you can. A few are good, but 10 shining testimonials are great.

Press Exposure

What have you done in your business that has been noticed by the press? Keep a clip file of any and all media about your business. Perhaps you were interviewed by the local major newspaper or gave a radio interview. And better yet, you got a stellar review about your business in a newspaper or magazine. Clip those articles and reviews and show them to your potential JV partner. Again, praise about your business ability from others gives you additional and heightened credibility.

Endorsements

Positive press is nice, but endorsements from other reputable businesses in your industry or field of business can give you a lot of credibility. People with high status and reputation that say good things about your work are a boost toward greater success. For instance, if you invented a small product and famous pitchman, Billy Mays, chose it to be in his next infomercial, you and your product just enjoyed a jolt of credibility from his endorsement.

A potential JV partner with a discerning eye and a sense for reputation may be one of the toughest pitches you’ll make for a business arrangement. But if you feel that their status, business acumen, and product are a good fit for a JV with you, then it’s worth the effort.  Be sure to appeal to their sense of reputation and status by highlighting your own.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Deal Making, Economy, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, Jv Partner, Psychology of Joint Venturing, entrepreneurship, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Using Positive Psychology for a Successful JV

June 23, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

The use of psychology in business has taken a stronger position than ever before. Where once workers were expected to produce and be happy simply because it was their job, business leaders are now employing positive psychological factors that help make jobs more fulfilling, more productive, and with a better sense of self-identity.

You can use the same techniques when forming a joint venture. Since you and your JV partner are willing to work together in hopes of financial success, why not make it fun and exciting along the way as well?

So what can you do with positive psychology to make a more successful JV? Anything that makes you and your JV partner’s job easier and more fulfilling is the key. Here are a few ways you can design your JV with positive psychology in mind:

Job Design – What will your job be within the JV structure? You and your JV partner will need to determine who will perform what tasks and how you will get them done.  Rather than simply deciding, “you do this, and I’ll do that,” include certain factors that will make the jobs more interesting and thus more productive.

For instance, rather than simply agreeing to perform the bookkeeping duties, agree that your tasks be challenging and have a certain amount of control. Your joint accounting functions may be to create dazzling reports, graphs, and analysis of the JV income, expenses, and outlook. Give yourself a challenging job with a high level of control, as well as high expectations, will provide more motivation to do the job well.

Get Creative – Nothing sparks higher productivity than allowing yourself to explore your creativity. Creativity may be simply designing your work hours to match your highest and best productivity levels, or designing a workspace that is engaging, friendly, and fun. Creativity can also be unleashed in designing products and services for your JV.  Let your creativity run and watch the success follow.

Teamwork – There is a synergy to teamwork where the final result is greater than the sum of all parts. Flying solo can be fraught with unexpected challenges, counter-productive, and the results can be less than desired. Working with one or more people has added advantages such as healthy competition, motivation, and can better equip to meet the goals set out in the JV.

Rewards – Don’t forget to reward you and your partner for a job well done. One of the best psychological techniques in business is positive reinforcement. When you and your JV accomplish a goal reward yourselves with a nice celebratory dinner, or an extended weekend, or perhaps even a big celebration in the form of a vacation or retreat.

There are several qualities and techniques that can set apart a JV with a psychological promotion. Explore the possibilities of how positive psychology can give your JV an advantage for success.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Deal Making, Economy, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, Jv Partner, Psychology of Joint Venturing, entrepreneurship, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-21

June 21, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Filed Under: Twitter
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

To Be Successful in a JV, You Must Learn To Share

June 18, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

From a very young age, we have learned to treasure and be possessive of our things.  Who among you didn’t bicker and fight with siblings over, “that’s mine?” As we mature, we begin to understand that it’s acceptable to share our things, as long as it’s at arm’s length and supervised. We still hang on tightly to our treasures, especially as things gets more expensive (iPods, MacBook Pro, new corvette), and we may find we still have a leftover “that’s mine!” attitude when decide to become an entrepreneur and go into business for ourselves.

Though it is a healthy business practice to be protective of your company secrets and valuable assets, when it comes time that you want to form a joint venture, you will need to be more generous. Even with a simple JV where you and your JV partner cross promote each other’s business; you have to be able to share your customers without the fear of losing them.

Particularly in a detailed, product-oriented JV, there are many arenas of sharing that both you and your JV partner must agree to. Below are some of the big ones.

Intellectual Property

Have a great idea? You think it’s going to take the world by storm and become the next “gotta have” item? But to make it work, you need the help and aid of a potential JV partner with the right marketing savvy and contact list. This may be a situation where your great idea will go nowhere and remain unexposed without the help and collaboration of others. Be willing to share the patented secrets so that your JV partner can help the best way he can. The result will be bigger sales and profit than you could accomplish on your own.

Manufacturing/Production Assets

Here’s another area where your intellectual property secrets may need to be revealed so that your JV partner who has all the proper fabrication machinery can properly manufacture and produce the item. Or perhaps it’s you who has the technology and need a JV with an idea and blueprints to get going on a big project.  Manufacturing machinery can be expensive. A JV can help avoid the full expense and help both parties profit big.

Client/Promotional Contacts

In most JVs, there seems to be a pairing of two types: outgoing and introverted. The introvert is the one who likes to focus on strategy and processes, while the “people person” faces the public with sales pitches and promotional information. If you’re either one of these, it will be likely you will need an extended contact list to help market and promote your JV product or service. Be willing to combine contacts and mailing lists, and also share new additions as well.

Forming a JV doesn’t mean you have to lose your autonomy as an entrepreneur. But you must be willing to work together and share information, assets, and resources to get the most success out of your partnership.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Deal Making, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, Jv Partner, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Be Prepared To Expand With a Successful JV

June 16, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Be careful of what you wish for, as you just might get it – with a joint venture! While working on your small business, you may find you want to grow, but are limited by the resources, money, contacts, or whatever business element that holds you at bay. Expanding small business takes strategy, time, and most importantly, money. But what if you had help with your expansion? What if you paired up with a joint venture partner who has the resources your business needs to get revved up and going at full speed?

Many business owners view JVs as a way to make a little income with little work. The truth is that JV partners get out what they put into it. With the right partner, your JV could take off like a turbo jet. But if you and your JV partner really want to expand into big business with your venture, here are a few ways you can do it:

Find the Niche

A successful, long-running business fills a needed niche. A niche, in architectural terms, is a receded empty space in a wall or corner. A good designer can “fill” the niche with the right art or other complementary object. Your job in business is to identify the “empty” space in an industry that you can fill with your product or service and is in demand by consumers. By specializing in a defined niche, you can take the lion’s share of the market.

Open New Locations

Your JV may be so popular and successful that you must expand by opening new locations. This may be simply opening chain stores within your local community or finding new retail stores across a region or country. This type of expansion usually requires a great deal of capital and additional HR staff to manage the locations and handle additional staffing.  Be sure your JV agreement is set up with a combined strategy for capital and JV staff management.

Acquire Additional Businesses

Rather than expanding one-by-one with new stores, you and your JV partner may choose the strategy of acquisition. By buying out an existing business, you can already have in place the locations, equipment, staff, etc., you need to hit the ground running. Again, acquisitions must be handled with a great deal of available capital or financing capability, and plenty of analysis with the use of ROI and feasibility reports.

Go Global

If you have discovered the right niche that is in big demand, you may want to take your JV and focus on global expansion. Prepare your JV widget for mass production and exporting, or tailor your service for international sales. With a successful global expansion strategy, you can really see your business expand and profits jump.

There is no harm in thinking big. When you form a JV, don’t just consider the short-term gain from a small venture. Look ahead at the possibilities of big expansion for both you and your JV partner by combining your efforts and resources on a national or international level.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Deal Making, Economy, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, entrepreneurship, internet marketing, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-14

June 14, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Filed Under: Twitter
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

3 Psychological Factors That Affect Your Joint Venture Success

June 11, 2009 by Christian · Comments Off 

Have you ever been afraid of success? Why is it that when presented with opportunities that can make your business grow or earn you more profit, most small business owners will reject it because it is too hard or takes too much effort? Your attitude toward making your business grow and become more successful plays a big part in how and if you succeed. That is why when presented with the option for a joint venture you should consider these three things that could make or break your success.

Carry a Positive Attitude

An attitude that says, “I hate that I have to go to work today!” will be your demise. Why are you in business if you dislike it so much? Only those entrepreneurs and small business owners that absolutely love their job will make it a success. Attitude carries over onto employees as well. If the owner is unhappy, the employees will be unhappy as well and produce less.

That is why your attitude needs to be in the right place. A positive attitude is what will make your business and any potential JV a success. Not your skill. Not luck. Not your extensive Rolodex. Give it ATTITUDE!

Deserve It

So many people carry around guilt or other psychological issues that weigh down their ability to create success.  Perhaps they had a rough childhood.  Or did not go to or finish college.  Perhaps a few failed marriages can get a business owner in a mindset that he’s not worthy.  With this kind of mindset, it is easy to see how someone may feel afraid of accomplishment or actually succeeding.

The fact is that everyone is worthy. And though none of us deserve success by default, as though the world owes us a living, it is up to us individually to accept our worthiness. Accept that were you to succeed in a joint venture – you deserve it! There is nothing morally, ethically, or even legally wrong with creating JV success. Go get it!

Release the Anchors

Sometimes we just need to let go. The issues we carry around with us can feel as heavy as the weight of the world. You may owe the IRS thousands of dollars in back taxes. Or perhaps your marriage is failing and the failure is creeping into your business. Or worse yet, you’re constantly get nagged by your spouse, parents, or friends about this ridiculous notion of running a business. Whatever anchors you carry with you must be left at the door when you go to work.

Anchors, like those on a ship, will keep you stagnate and planted in one place without forward momentum. You must learn to let go of the issues that prevent your momentum and ignore those who do not believe. Only you have the power to believe in yourself.
Success is never easy.  But a positive attitude is always free. With your freedom from anchors that drag you down and a deserving attitude, you are unobstructed to move forward and enjoy a successful JV partnership.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.

To discover more Joint Venture Marketing Strategies join his free Joint Venture Marketing Wealth Report.

Filed Under: Economy, Entrepreneur, Joint Venture, Joint Venture Marketing, Joint Venture Partners, Psychology of Joint Venturing, entrepreneurship, making money, strategic alliances
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Next Page »

Bottom