Developing a joint venture marketing partnership can be a great way to raise the exposure of your business and increase your sales, and these partnerships are becoming an increasingly popular way to do business. However, when you do engage in a joint venture marketing partnership, it is important to realize that the focus of your vision must naturally shift. The business for your specific and individual company will remain largely the same, but you will have to incorporate a partnership view and partnership execution into your mode of operations.



The Perspective of a JV Partnership

If you are used to being a solo business and calling all the shots yourself, it may be difficult to make such an adjustment. Your business and your company will still be yours, but the marketing aspect of your business will undergo a change. Although this is most likely to be a positive change, it is still a change that may be difficult to assimilate, and it is worthwhile taking stock of your situation and coming up with a concrete plan of what specifically your goals are for a joint venture marketing partnership, and what you hope or expect to get out of such an arrangement.

At the beginning stages, it is crucial to keep in mind that your marketing focus, or at least part of your marketing focus, will be shifting from a single idea to a joint idea - a "mine" perspective to an "our" perspective. Given this shift, it is important to make sure that your partners and others in your group share your vision, and are committed to working together. If you don't share the same vision as your joint venture marketing partners, you may have a very difficult road ahead of you.

In order to assess whether you have the same objectives as your potential partners, there are a few questions to consider that can help get you started and point you in the right direction for a potentially successful joint venture marketing partnership.

Important Questions for Collective Goal Assessment

The following questions will help you pinpoint your goals for pursuing a joint venture marketing partnership and deciding upon the best partners for your project.

- Do we share a common vision and goals for our enterprise?

- Will this be a win-win situation for all parties involved?

- How many partners are needed to successfully implement this strategy?

- Are the people needed for success involved in this process?

Contemplating and discussing these questions with your marketing team will put you on the right road for an ultimately successful partnership. If you operate a small business and don't have a marketing team, go through these questions with your operations manager, creative director or at least one other person in your company whose experience and opinions you trust. It is important to come to a collective agreement within your own company regarding how to proceed with your joint venture marketing plan, before going ahead with the plan. If members of your own team are on the same page, it will help to execute a smoother and more successful joint venture marketing partnership.