Joint venturing has its challenges, but it also has its upsides.
Joint ventures are the definitive proof that “One-Plus-One Equals Three”. We all bring our own unique gifts and talents to a joint venture. By sharing the responsibilities found in business, with those who are better at certain tasks than we are, we are better able to focus upon the tasks in which we excel, thereby increasing our business strength as a team.
With a shared, fixed goal ahead of both partners, the abilities we separately pour into any venture are empowered considerably. Essentially, this leveraging of different skill-sets reinforces and emboldens a joint venture in every area of business. The symbiosis of two individual skill-sets provide a counterbalance – meaning that a partner who was, perhaps, weaker in some areas of business, is now able to count the other’s strength as their own.
It is therefore vital to partner with those who possess opposing skill-sets, in order to maximise our business potential. The crucial caveat to this is that all partners must share the same vision and values. There is little sense in partnering with someone who is only in it for the short-term.
Find a partner with whom your values and vision align, and leverage the strengths you individually possess in order to achieve success. The thing to consider is that if partners have the same vision but the same skill-set, they will get in each other’s way. If they have a different vision but opposing skill-sets, partners will steer individually to separate destinies.
The value of a partner with an opposing skill-set cannot be overstated. For example, if one partner is skilled at management and financial aspects, while another is skilled at growth, creativity and customer facing, then all the ingredients required for growth and operation are at hand. But one cannot exist without the other, at least not for long.
The partner blessed with management and finance skills can operate a company, but can do little to scale or grow. The partner adept at growth and customer facing can grow the business, but cannot successfully manage it.
When you have a partner, you have someone with which to share those victorious moments that would otherwise be ignored if we were working alone, They also provide a shoulder when we need one, and act as a source of advice when challenges arise. With shared interests between partners, the act of supporting one another, of raising the other up when they begin to fall, becomes a means of great consolation. This supportive element of partnership is perhaps the most valuable, and its worth can never be underestimated.
Aside from anything else, joint venturing with the right partner allows you to exponentially increase the amount you can achieve. You’re doing what you love, and they’re doing what they love, and you’re both able to get everything done much quicker, and in a flow state. This success only compounds, meaning that in many cases, you are both operating at a 10x level.
Many in business see the ideal situation as one where we get to do more of what we love and less of what we don’t. In reality, if you are operating alone, we are forced to do both what we love, and equal amounts of what we don’t. If you don’t do both then your business will break. However, the addition of a great partner, who shares your vision and values, and whose talents lie in the tasks and duties about which you are not passionate, allows for the ideal situation to be realised.
For many, this paradox seems unthinkable. We ask ourselves why anyone would love performing tasks we don’t enjoy. And yet, your prospective partner is also asking themselves this question. They key is in finding each other.
