I'm sure you all know that collaborating will help you take your business to new heights. Today, I am going to answer the four major questions that come to your mind when I talk about collaborations.
What does Collaboration mean?
Why should I collaborate with other entrepreneurs?
How can I find someone to Collaborate with?
Who is my PERFECT Collaboration Partner?
I will also shed light on a few basics to keep in mind when collaborating to make this venture - be it for just one product or for a new business - run smoothly!!! Are you ready?
WHAT exactly does collaboration mean?
The dictionary meaning of Collaboration is "The action of working with someone to produce something". When we look at it from an entrepreneurs point of view, I find it to be incomplete.
Collaboration can be better defined as a purposeful relationship in which all parties strategically choose to cooperate in order to achieve shared or overlapping objectives.
It is a purposeful relationship : You have decided to come together with a goal of creating a product or a service. It is not like being friends. Friendships are born naturally. Here, you take a deliberate decision to work with someone with an end goal in sight - success.
Next, all parties : Everyone involved has to do their share of work honestly and to their optimum capacity to get the maximum benefit.
Then, strategically choose to : You have made a conscious decision to work with someone. You might have different views about other aspects of life, or even about the best way to do the task that you have to do together. But here, you will have to work together in spite of the differences. Working together is a strategic decision - one made with the benefit in mind - that you have chosen.
Lastly, shared or overlapping : The collaboration does not benefit just one person. The benefits are always either shared - separate defined benefits for all involved persons or overlapping - some benefits are distinct while some are common.
WHY should you collaborate with other entrepreneurs?
There are a lot of benefits from collaboration.
1. You will get a whole new audience. When the person you are collaborating with is from your own field, there are loads of people who are unaware of your work. Your work reaches a whole new set of people and that in turn will benefit you much longer after the collaboration.
2. Collaboration gives you an opportunity of thinking with more than one brain! You can approach every problem with more solutions - coming from different viewpoints! It will help you learn a lot!
3. You cannot do everything yourself. And sometimes, you cannot afford to hire someone to do the things that you need to do to create a product that is better than the one you can create alone. In that case, collaboration comes to your rescue - you do not have to spend the money to create a better product. You do need to have those skills right now to create a better product.
4. You improve the value of your end product! Collaboration brings out the best in all of those involved and in the end, the customer is benefited from it because the product that comes out is the best that there can be! That reflects positively on your business! And keeps you getting more!
How can I find someone to Collaborate with?
Before you start looking for someone to collaborate with, ask yourself these questions :
What are you values and your principles?
What are your strengths?
What is you passion?
What is your personal vision and mission?
Answering these questions will give you a clear idea of what you expect from your collaboration so do not skip these. If you start a collaboration with no clear idea as to what you expect from it, it is sure to go nowhere but downhill!
After answering the above questions, you have a better understanding of your own vision and goals. Now it is easier to express your expectations and make sure that who-ever you are collaborating with shares your values and goals. If you value customer satisfaction over money, you will always make sure your customer questions are answered correctly rather than focusing on how much profit is the sale going to make for you. If you collaborate with someone who is supposed to answer the customer queries, but does not value them over making money - you are going to have trouble!
Once you are collaborators, you cannot just withdraw! If there are irrevocable differences, yes, by all means, end the collaboration. But if things can be resolved, try your best to do that. Having an agreement with your collaborators is a good idea.
Remember that you have to keep mutual respect intact even in troubled times. Be aware of the strengths of your collaborator and the reason you went into this collaboration at all times. That will help you keep focus on the positive side and help you tide over misunderstandings and minor tiffs.
This is the key element of collaboration. You need to trust each other. If you have any doubts about your collaborator's ability to conduct her assigned tasks, you have been hasty. Talk to her about any doubts before you commence the collaboration; preferably before both of you sign the Collaboration Agreement. Don’t panic if she does not handle the situation like you normally would. Each person's approach is unique. Trust her and give her time.
Always remember when you collaborate you both are equal- irrespective of the way you split your profits (if it is a money making venture). You have collaborated because you fulfill each other's requirements and hence, both are equally crucial to the venture. If you feel one of you is superior to the other, it looks more like outsourcing or employment and you need to look at your agreement again.
Make clear distribution of roles and responsibilities. Understand each of your strengths and assign tasks accordingly. If one of you is good with words, make sure that the responsibility of writing product descriptions is given to her. Include these in your Collaboration Agreement.
Set up a schedule where you will be regularly updating each other with the status of your work. Decide the mode, frequency and duration of interaction - Eg. Weekly Skype Calls. Or daily Slack meetings. Again, include these in your Collaboration Agreement.
When it comes to foreseeing a venture, there are a thousand scenarios that can happen. You cannot be prepared for all of them. So be flexible. Also be prepared for some amount of ambiguity. Not all things can be clearly stated. Be prepared to discuss the ambiguous matter when the time arises to find an amicable solution.
Make sure that your communication is clear (100% understandable with no possibility for any misunderstandings), timely (no delays) and precise (all points are covered without much buffers). Make sure the person's understanding of your statement is eactlyli ke you want it to be. If you need to meet in person instead of the daily text message - do it! Make sure your point reaches across - loud & clear.
Make sure you are prepared to resolve any conflicts that arise because - trust me - they will. You are two different people. And there will be issues, even after signing a Collaboration Agreement, that will need to be resolve. Having a pre-decided arbitrator is a good idea. That way, you will have a neutral person help you resolve the crisis. But for that you need to agree - even before crisis arises - that the decision of the arbitrator will be final.
Who is my PERFECT Collaboration Partner?
More often than not, collaborators are actually competition. I am a better quilter than a bag maker, and my friend Kausalya is a better bag maker! We both make quilts as well as make bags. But we have collaborated to make a series of quilted bags. That is because we look at each other as collaborators rather than competition. I quilted the material and sent it to her. I am not going to helicopter manage the project now that the material is with her. I have complete trust in her capacity. I will only see the bag once it is made! If she has any questions or ideas that are radically different than what we envisioned, I trust her to run them by me before execution. And even if she doesn't, I trust her to have a solid reason for it!
One of the main reason our collaboration works well is because we both have similar values (not identical). This is one of the most important factors. Discuss this right at the onset. You can both answer the questions above in writing (paper or electronic) before you start and then exchange it so that you are aware of each others views.
I have prepared a worksheet for you and your collaborator to fill individually and then compare. This worksheet will have all the necessary information of your venture and you can glance at it anytime if you have any doubts. You can create a collaboration agreement based on your answers that will help you with the success of your collaboration.
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