When you first start out in business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you have to do absolutely everything concerning your small business alone. This is understandable. When you create your own business, you’re in complete control and you work for months on end on your project to get things off the ground and up and running. Handing over any aspect of your work to another individual or a third party can make you feel like you lose control over a small part of what you’ve worked tirelessly to create. But as you start receiving more and more orders or contracts (and consequently more and more responsibility), you’ll soon grow to realise that you’re not a robot. If you try to go it alone, you’ll end up burning yourself out. What’s more? Your business will suffer for it. Many hands make light work and this is why you need to seriously consider some form of collaboration! Here are a few different types to consider.
Finding a Business Partner
Perhaps one of the most fruitful forms of collaboration in a business is working alongside a business partner. This effectively halves the overall amount of work that you have to carry out on a daily basis. Sure, you may have to split takings, but two heads are better than one and your company should establish and progress itself faster and more successfully when there are two people dedicating their time, effort and financial investment into it.
Direct Collaboration with Other Businesses
There are various ways that you can engage with mutually beneficial collaborations with other companies. Working with a business other than your own means that you can combine your knowledge, experience, and ideas to help one another move forward. Take a look at the Maestro Advantage scheme developed between Cerner and Lumaris! This is a brilliant example of how two companies can combine their relative areas of expertise to produce something that is beneficial all round.
Taking on Staff
Staff provide a more constant form of collaboration. It’s collaboration under your own roof. Together, they will work to keep your business in operation and to move your venture forward. Now, becoming an employer may initially be a little intimidating. After all, it’s a more permanent form of responsibility than outsourcing individual projects to third parties. However, as long as you provide workers with contracted hours, a positive working environment, good wages, and perks such as staff discounts, healthcare plans, and sufficient annual leave, everything should go swimmingly.
As the old saying goes, many hands make light work. This rings particularly true in the realm of professional business. Not only does collaboration help you to benefit from the ideas, resources, and experience of other professionals in the field (or even from further afield), but it can also foster an extremely positive and profitable working environment under your own roof too. So, consider incorporating these simple forms of collaboration into your own small company today!
No comments yet.