If you are looking to start a business collaboration, it can be difficult to understand where to begin. Collaboration between businesses can be game-changing as it can help build brand awareness, increase lead generation, cut costs, enrich your content, and bring in new skills. The hardest part about collaborations is how to develop them!
What are you trying to achieve?
The first step to starting a business collaboration is determining what you want out of it. Do you want a long-term partnership? A one-off collab? Is the collaboration an informal agreement or a formal strategic alliance with paperwork and contracts? It is key to determine the business objectives you would like to achieve as it will define the tasks you and your partner will take on.
Who do you want to collaborate with?
The next step is deciding who you want to collaborate with. Look towards businesses that you share values and goals with. You will not only enjoy working together, but your marketing efforts will also be more effective if you have the same target audience. Don’t be afraid to do some research on potential partners to see if you would complement each other.
Time to make contact.
There are a million ways to contact potential collaboration partners but here are just a few that you can implement right away.
1 – Connect via Social Media
Social media is a great way to connect with whomever you like. Follow your ideal collaboration partner on their socials and engage in a meaningful way. Once you have built a connection, consider sending them a message about yourself, what you like about their business, and the opportunities you can create by working together.
2 – Join Groups and Communities
You can connect with other business owners and industry leaders through professional organisations and online forum groups. Members of these groups and communities are interested in sharing tips, advice, strategies, goals, and more. Being a part of these groups will expose you to in-person and online networking events and gives you a space to connect with like-minded individuals.
3 – Join Flexible Workspace/Coworking Space
Flexible and coworking spaces are collaboration hubs as they have several entrepreneurs, SMEs, startups, and enterprises sharing the same space. Striking up a conversation with a business owner at a flexible workspace is made simple as you share the same facilities and amenities.
For example, Kelvin Pearson from the Men’s Legal Service and Terry de Luca from Counselling Solutions ACT found each other through working at Victory Offices. From sharing a cup of tea in the breakroom together, a business collaboration was born. They had similar interests in helping with family law matters and found that by working together they could benefit from one another’s expertise.
Moreover, the free networking events at flexible workspaces encourage members to get to know each other even further and to cultivate a community for business collaborations.
"There was a huge need in Canberra for a centre to assist in client evaluations and we were lucky to find Terry just down the hallway."
"I've had the opportunity to get insight on the evaluations and suitability needed within family law matters. It's great that our clients can come and do everything they need to in the one location."
Kelvin Pearson from the Men’s Legal Service and Terry de Luca from Counselling Solutions ACT found each other at Victory Offices in Canberra.
Business collaborations are one of the most cost-effective and valuable ways to grow your business. They take a lot of effort and attention to manage so it is important to choose your collaboration partner wisely and to identify your business objectives from the beginning. Once you have your business collaboration, remember to nurture the relationship, and ensure you are mutually benefitting from it.
WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE, HAVEN’T WE?
You’re trying to sleep but your mind’s whirring with thoughts.
You check the time every few minutes, and you keep hearing your partner’s breathing.
You’re worried that you’re not yet asleep, given how much you have to get done tomorrow.
And that anxiety further kills any chance you had of dropping off to sleep any time soon!
Want to never sleep badly ever again? Keen to quieten your anxiety levels so that you sleep and work a whole lot better?
In this lunchtime talk, you will learn how you can sleep better, feel calmer, and turbo-charge your productivity… without resorting to sleeping pills (and other short-term ‘remedies’ that don’t actually work).
Be sure to stay up to date with all of our upcoming events online.
We look forward to seeing you at one or more events from this exciting list!
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Hey LinkedIn!
It’s Men’s Health Week (14-20 June 2021).
A boy born in Australia has a life expectancy of 78.0 years while a baby girl could expect to live to 82.3 years old. Right from the start, boys suffer more illness, more accidents and die earlier than their female counterparts.
Men take their own lives at four times the rate of women (that’s five men a day, on average). Accidents, cancer and heart disease all account for the majority of male deaths.
Additionally, men are less frequent visitors to general practitioners, and the perception is that they don’t care about health or that health services are not well-prepared to interact with men effectively.
Here are some ways how men, women and families can create an environment that enables each to improve men’s health outcomes:
1) Be active in getting medical help if you don’t feel well, have a problem that won’t go away or notice unusual symptoms.
2) It’s OK to seek help – don’t try to do everything on your own or bury problems. Talk to your partner, friends and workmates.
3) Push hard to get the help you need to manage your life, work, family and financial needs.
4) Be proactive in helping the men and boys in your family to get the help they and you need. Use available hotlines, speak with professionals to get the best course of action and be persistent.
5) Don’t leave it too late to seek help.
Men’s Health Week celebrates the strengths of men, the contributions they make and the important role they play in society.
It is as much as week of celebration and engagement of men with a serving of health on the side! This is your reminder to check-in with the men in your family and at work.
