Design a Profitable Collaboration

You should design a profitable project

Smart professionals who want access to other people’s resources can get a lot of benefit from designing a mutually beneficial project.

All it requires is about one hour of focused thinking. Designing your project takes everything into consideration before you actually plan the project. I know that may create some cognitive dissonance so let me explain.

The number one reason your collaboration will fail is not having a project to jointly work on with your partner.

The number two reason it will fail is if the relationship is not nurtured.

And the number three reason it will fail is if it is not profitable.

Yes your partners want to earn a profit in their business too. If you can provide a way for them to make money with you it’s a slam dunk: they will not only agree to partner with you, they will give you their best and possibly even more.

It's like growing your own vegetables from seed. If you don’t provide the right conditions the plant will at best not produce anything to harvest. And at worst will never even germinate. Like with a plant you need to understand how to nurture the relationship – you need to understand what your partner wants and what they can expect to achieve by partnering with you. Same goes for the potential clients the project will serve.

By designing your project – not just planning it – you determine in advance all the growing conditions your partner and potential clients require. Then and only then can you plan a project that will reap the biggest harvest for all.

Last session I showed you the Project Design Template.  I designed this as a sort of checklist of all the key elements that need to be considered upfront so you will generate profit with certainty.

The number one key to building relationships with your collaboration partners is simple – show them how they will profit from taking part. If you can only tell them what will possibly happen, it’s a dream. If you can show them on paper, it’s much closer to reality. If you include them in the design, your relationship will deepen. They will get a sense that you really care about their success.

Download your template, and get to work designing your project:

• For your partner first
• For your potential clients second

If you leave the design to chance, chances are it will fail. Your partners will not get the certainty that you have thought this idea through for mutual gain. And then you will be back to finding new collaboration partners. This zaps your energy and productivity, always having to start over.

If you design with clear results, the result will be success for everyone. And then your collaboration partners will not only increase their output for the success of the project, they will eagerly say “yes” to the next project and the next and the next. And each time you will reap a bigger harvest than previous.

"You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want," says Zig Ziglar. Make this your mantra, and design your project with the clear intent of helping others get what they want.

Jennifer Beale helps leaders build strategic partnerships for business growth. Her clients call her "the Queen of Connecting," "formidably connected," and an "ace" at matching people. Jennifer cuts through the networking confusion so you build the right connections fast. An award winning networker and event producer, her connection strategies have helped hundreds of business professionals earn hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you want to get more referrals and build strategic partnerships, Jennifer leads workshops, trainings, and interactive keynotes. Her ideas have been featured in major media including the National Post and on Global TV. If you're looking to get bigger results in a shorter amount of time through strategic partnerships, connect with Jennifer at https://www.JenniferBeale.com