Increase Small Business Profits with Joint Ventures

by: Ronda Del Boccio

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Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 Time: 9:06 PM - 0 comments

Any business owner wants to increase your bottom line, cut expenses and make the most of the resources you have. Relationships are your most valuable resource, and the small business advice in this article will teach you how to organize "better together" propositions that serve your customers well with minimal effort on your part.

Have you ever bought those popular sandwich cookies that have their own song? Part of the song is about dunking those oh-so-chocolaty sandwich cookies in milk. Better together. Yogurt with fruit, hotdogs with mustard, and bagels with cream cheese - lots of things are better together. Now you are about to discover how to think that way for your business.

This is the most simple and profitable small business advice I could possibly give: set up joint ventures.

No matter what kind of business you run, what products you sell or services you offer, you can serve both your customers and your bank account better by organizing joint ventures, or JVs. All you need is a sincere desire to serve your customers even better than you already do plus an eye for increasing leverage.

An accountant and a tax preparer are a natural fit. Someone who hires an accountant also needs to do taxes, and she is more likely to hire someone. So offering a special offer, such as a discount coupon or service upgrade deal is valuable. Likewise, the tax preparer sees a lot of people who certainly SHOULD have someone do their accounting. Thus, he arranges to offer a discount or special offer from the accountant for all his clients.

That's a win-win-win proposition. It's like creating money out of thin air, because there is minimal effort, negligible cost, and long-term benefit for the business owners PLUS value added for the customer. Here's how it works.

Both businesses increase their bottom line and gain new customers because of the arrangement. And I cannot forget to mention that all of this happens with NO advertising costs. They each may print off coupons or letters, but the cost of copies is far less than the cost of TV, radio or newspaper advertising.

And the customers win because when they purchase either service, they receive a little extra gift that gives them something they need. Not every customer will do business with both the accountant and the tax preparer, but some will.

Working deals like this can easily add whole new streams of income without adding extra duties, expenses or employees..

*** How to look for JV opportunities ***

Here are several questions you can ask yourself. Please do take the time to answer them, because this is how you open your mind to the endless possibilities JVs can bring you.

* What else do my customers want or need?

Do my customers use additional services alongside mine?

* Do they typically purchase from nearby merchants or stores?

* What else can I add to go along with what I already offer that won't take up my own time and energy?

You might notice customers coming into your business carrying shopping bags from a particular shop. Seeing this often means there is a pattern. You could go talk to the owner of that business and create a mutually beneficial deal.

If you do business online, what other products are a natural fit with what you offer? Who offers those other products or services? Since I have a system for how to write a book that prospers your business, I organize JVs with publishers and book launch companies.

Once you know what else your customers would like, you seek out a reliable source with whom to organize a mutually beneficial deal. So start using the "better together" formula to create your own profitable joint ventures.