David made a good point about partnering with other professions (and consultants) in his comment on my blog about business advice. Which got me thinking about the debate we had a while ago about specialists versus generalists. One of the issues to bear in mind is that if you appear to be the sort of person who 'does everything' then other professionals may be wary of working with you in case you try to take over the whole job.
If you can articulate clearly the things you do best it becomes easier for both clients and potential partners to see where you fit in their business.
Partnering is a very effective way to get business, people regularly post joint bid requests on Skillfair and report that this is a good way to win bigger contracts than they would normally go for. So why not think about what kind of business or profession is likely to know people you could help?
Some of the more obvious examples include;
IT providers working with accountants
graphic designers, marketeers and web designers working together
Lawyers passing work to HR professionals and vice versa
Engineers helping out patent & IPR specialists
As a starting point, try thinking about your last few clients, what problem they were trying to solve and who else they might have gone to for help if they hadn't found you.
1 comment:
As a Training Provider & Consultancy we have found few opportunities for Partnering with similar Organisations. When it has happened there has always been a 'lead' and people we have worked with have taken on an 'Associate' role rather than 'Partner'. The most effective way of developing / maintaining our Business (19 years) has been through managing the relationship with key staff within client Organisations. Developing the relationship where we can be seen as trusted outsiders with an objective eye but who 'understand' the client Organisation and have empathy with their 'Culture'. There's more that could be said - but trying to keep it brief!
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