Partnerships and networking

In all walks of life, including business and human relations, we need partners. Partners bring stability and skillsets we do not possess.

It is this very nature – that everyone is different – that makes partnerships so strong.

My wife has given me a child.
Something I am not built for and could never do.

I supply her support, money and skills she does not have.
Without me, she could not raise our child the way she wants and without her, I would never have been able to have the child nor accomplish many of the things I have in my life.

In business it is the same.
I have worked in the SMB space as a wholesaler, solution provider, reseller and value-added reseller. This has seen me through 20 years of my chosen path in IT.

In this time I have always worked for someone else until very recently when I started my own company.

The biggest failings I have seen in my other employment were IT firms which thought they could do everything.
They brought all the skills in house.

If they did not have the skills required, they still gave it a go.
This meant one particular “traditional solutions providing” company was trying to install security systems, lay cabling, install phone PABX systems and design software applications.

They did not stick to their core business.
Certainly you can diversify.
If you have the interest, the skill and have a gap in both income and available time in your business, it could be healthy to have other pursuits.

Inviting though it might seem, be careful and do not overcommit.

In SMB business I have found the most vital ingredient to be partnerships and networking.

If I am a solutions provider who works with server, workstations and the installation, maintenance and configuration of the same, if I know how to install an application, say MYOB, should I also spend time setting it up? If I am busy with my own core business and this is an add-on service and I know of another IT firm which specialises in this type of installation which does not also sell hardware, why not partner?

Convergence is blurring the line.
Cisco’s latest offering is Unified Comms.
Microsoft’s latest Exchange 2007 and its Unified Comms software is also encroaching on the solution providers space.

Learning this type of solution is inevitable.
If you then have to install PSTN lines, ISDN and the like, if you have to start learning the voltages that cause dial tone to work and what the carrier code is called, I recommend you find a partner.

There are a number of advantages to working with partners.
Partners can help a large task seem smaller.
Partners might have the correct insurances to work at heights, all their staff might have the right licences and occupational health training.

They might have all the correct dealer accounts in place with their vendors and also will likely have paid for their staff to be correctly trained and kept fresh with information and training within their industry.

As they would likely be specialists, they are responsible for their work and appropriate insurances.
They will have the time to attend seminars, try out the trial software or tools.
They might have their own help desk and ideas. They might have purchase discounts and other partnerships to bring to your table.

If you partner, do you suddenly lose an income stream? Not if you do it right. It just means your type of business will become busier and you can concentrate on what you do best.

Your partners in return will expect you to have all the right training and skills.
This is where the networking comes in. Those partners expect a two-way relationship.

Partners will pass you leads and will prefer to deal
with you.

Networking has taken a turn in recent times.
IT has always had a tendency to modify anything it comes into contact with.

My networking days included attending lunches with my peers and talking through ideas.
It included going to industry events, attending user groups or simply being in electronic online newsgroups.

Today, it includes Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, ZaaBiz and many more. Networking has moved into the electronic age with less “physical presence” communication and more in the way of typing and sending photos via the Internet.

This is just an evolution, especially with fuel costs skyrocketing. “Chats” are now held online and partnerships are formed.

There are some distinct advantages to networking at a conference and shaking someone’s hand.

For one they remember you and you can take them aside and have a one- on-one discussion. I am a huge fan of this type of networking.

I have spoken at many conferences including events aimed purely at the education, not-for-profit and SMB market.

I have made many friends from these and been given an immeasurable amount of business.

You need a foundation and support through partnerships and people in your networks.

You need the freedom to choose the battles you want to win and those that you can hand on, as someone can do it better.

The better the partner you are to others, the better they are in return.