Successful businesses rarely went through their path to success alone. Most — if not all — grew by knowing how to form a partnership with other companies to expand their capabilities and become more competitive. Amazon, Shopify, and Apple did it, so should you!This article will show you how to find the perfect partner, the cost of partnerships, and how partnerships in Ecommerce increase your profit. Let's start.
How to Find the Perfect Business Partner
There are thousands of businesses out there, but only a few of them can provide the support you need to grow. Knowing how to choose the right partner out of so many will help you cherry-pick the best. Here’s how you can find the perfect business partner:
1. Know What You Need Help With
One of the goals of forming a partnership is having someone do the things you can’t do, can’t focus on, or expertise beyond your reach.Say your online business has been having an overflow of customer inquiries and you don’t have the time and office space for a customer service team. Forming a partnership with an outsourcing company that can handle customer support will help ease that load from you.Knowing what you need can trim-down your list of potential business partners almost instantly. This can also set clear expectations about their role in the partnership since you already know what they will be doing.
2. Network Through People You Know
If you want something you can trust almost instantly, nothing beats asking people you already know.You don’t exactly have to connect with their business partners, or partner with your friend’s business. If you simply share your need for growth, they might recommend businesses you can partner with.Although seemingly ideal, try to steer clear of building partnerships with friends or family so that you don’t jeopardize your personal relationships. Otherwise, set an exit plan to prevent bitter endings in case the partnership doesn’t work out.
3. Measure Trust and Credibility
One way to see if they’re trustworthy and credible is to get to know their business. Do they have customer or client reviews? How long have they been in business? Can they give you what you need?Trust is the most vital part of a business partnership, so you have to ensure the credibility of your potential partner. If you’re having second thoughts or reservations about them, then you should probably trust your instincts. Better safe than sorry.
4. Weigh How Much You Give and Take
The key to finding the perfect business partner is to see if you’re both bringing something valuable on the table.If you want a partnership with a business that does product photo editing, their value is in their skills for editing. Meanwhile, you compensate them well for their skills as 83% of your customers rely on photos for their online purchasing decisions.Need help with product photo editing? We can help! Contact us.Now, while most of the give-and-take will involve value for money, it could also be the level of effort and passion you both put into the partnership. Working with someone with the same drive and commitment to grow can ensure that you both end up with the same success.
Cost of Online Business Partnerships
The cost of business partnerships will depend on your potential partner and the type of partnership you want to dive into. Although, you can expect online partnerships to be cheaper compared to other business partnerships because you don’t have to deal with taxes, legal fees, and other state-specific fees when forming a partnership.Since we’re talking about Ecommerce, we’ll show you the costs involved in building a business partnership online.
1. Cost Per Amount/Level of Work
You will encounter this type of cost if you partner with an outsourcing company or a person for only a specific project. The cost will vary depending on the amount of work and/or level of difficulty of the project.For example, the cost of product description writing will depend on how many products you need descriptions for. Meanwhile, the cost of website development will be different from customer support services, since it requires a higher-level skillset.If you want to be more cost-effective, partner with an outsourcing company that has the expertise for most of the work that you need.Take KDCI for example. We can handle Customer Support, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Product Information Management, and Web Development. If you want to talk costs, we offer flexible pricing! We'd be happy to give you a quote for everything you need.Get a quote
2. Retainers
A retainer fee is the amount you pay upfront for the service that you need and the minimum number of hours or months they will work with you. This serves as your insurance that your expectations will be met within the period you’ve agreed on.Say, for example, you partner with KDCI for Shopify website development and maintenance for 40 hours a month. You can expect us to dedicate 40 hours every month for everything you need for that service.
3. Offshore or Remote Staffing
Offshore staffing is where an offshoring company handles the management of your remote staff, human resources, and operations on your behalf.Partnerships with offshoring companies can reduce your business operational costs by 60%. However, the fees for offshore staffing includes management fees and a one-time fee for the specific roles that you want for your remote staff.If you want to know more in-depth information about offshore staffing, check out our blog about the cost of outsourcing to the Philippines.
4. Commissions
Commissions depend on what type of partnership you want to build. If, for example, you want to partner with online influencers for your products, then they may ask for a commission for every product they manage to sell.Should you partner with a business that provides staff leasing of sales representatives, then you may have to pay for commissions if they go beyond your quota.Of course, the cost of commissions will depend on your agreement with your partner.
How Business Partnerships Increase Your Profit
The end goal of forming a partnership is to increase your profit and your partner’s. Here are some of the ways you can benefit from a partnership in terms of profit.
1. Access to Experts
One of the best things about partnerships is that it brings you closer to a larger pool of experts that you may not have access to if you hire within your city. Not to mention, having access to more experts can also fast-forward your growth as a business.
2. Cost-effective Solutions
Outsourcing and offshoring companies help you increase your profit by helping you cut expenses.Since their business is in a different country, you can take advantage of currency conversions. Plus, you don’t have to worry about taxes, building costs, and operational costs if you choose to expand your business by yourself.If you want to reduce your operational costs by 60%, we can help! Visit our Offshore Staffing Service page to find out more, or contact us.
3. Reduced Opportunity Costs
Opportunity costs are the business opportunities that you have to let go to focus on other aspects of your business. Having a partnership with an outsourcing company will give you the freedom and time to finally explore other opportunities or advancements for your business.
4. Competitive Edge
Partnerships with Amazon has provided a way for online and brick-and-mortar stores to have a competitive advantage in a demanding industry. The same goes for other partnerships.If you partner with an expert in a certain field or skill, you give your business a competitive edge because of their knowledge of the industry. With their help, you can generate more ways to increase your profit.Partner with Ecommerce experts
Form Business Partnerships with an Outsourcing Company
Overall, you have to make sure that you’re comfortable with having a business partner. Ask yourself if a partnership in Ecommerce will help you achieve the goals you can’t do alone.Once you decide that it is, in fact, what you need, then don’t hesitate to form business partnerships with an outsourcing company like KDCI.With our Ecommerce expertise, we can help you face your store’s challenges head-on so you can grow your business further. Visit our Ecommerce Outsourcing Services page to find out more.
