Partnerships Make Good Business Sense. Now More than Ever.

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3 Minutes Read

Partnering is a solid business strategy.

Airlines partner with maintenance and operations providers. Banks partner with technology and back-office vendors. Small and large organisations partner with recruitment agencies, law firms, bookkeepers and accountancies. Apple partners with Foxconn. Viber and CurrencyCloud partner with software engineering firms. Start-ups and MNCs partner and collaborate with Spark for product development. 

Partnerships make good business sense, and the right collaboration improves organisational efficiencies and saves time. However, those are just two of the many benefits of a successful partnership. Here are some of the other benefits you might expect:

Fresh Perspectives

Every company has unique attributes that set it apart from the competition. Many claim that those unique attributes are what's responsible for the success of a business.

The problem is, is when a team or individual is working on a project, very little will change in terms of design & functionality. Each project outcome's quality can decline as time passes because of complacency and being too "comfortable". I wrote last month about the value of co-development. You need a little spice and buzz to stay creative.

A key aspect of product design in today's world is innovation. To innovate, a business needs to have some of the best and most creative, minds working on a project. A great way to achieve this is by collaborating and partnering with outside experts. Through diverse thinking, skills, and experience, these experts can add incredible value to areas of your project that you may not have considered. 

Rapid Scaling Abilities

Whether you plan for rapid growth or not, it can often hit unexpectedly. Unfortunately, it's doubtful that enough preparation can be done to cope with the rapid scaling demand for many businesses. So what choice do you have to keep up?

Using examples from the past 12 months, there has been considerable demand on platforms like Deliveroo and LetsGetChecked:

  • Are the resources available to scale the existing product or services?
  • Are the resources, equipment, and technologies needed to create new products or add features/ functions available?
  • Is the time available to dedicate to other products while maintaining the existing products and services?

The answer is likely no to these questions. It would take weeks or months to build your team and as long for supplies and upskilling. It's also important to consider that a surge of activity could just be temporary. That's where having a partner that aligns with your business can be a lifesaver.

When you work with a partner, you can use them to handle the demand from day one. You don't have to worry about hiring temporarily and investing in new equipment and technologies. This allows you time to monitor the surge and plan for growth without causing harm to your business.

Time Efficiency

When it comes to a new product, it's expected that project deadlines are extended because of time, staff, and resources. Most businesses already have existing daily tasks and functions to manage. Even if time is set aside for new product development, unforeseen issues can arise, and your team members may have to be allocated to different tasks causing a knock-on delay to the project. 

Collaborating with a partner for your product development is a huge benefit in meeting deadlines. When you find the right collaboration that focuses only on product development, you know they will dedicate the time necessary with no disruptions to complete the project on time. And work closely with you to ensure each project stage runs according to your plan.

The Real Benefit

Every business wants to expand, increase sales, and ultimately increase revenue. However, in the early stages, it's evident that budgets are low and teams are small. There is rarely a budget to cover everything for a successful project regarding product development.

Of course, product development can be done in-house, but it can actually have more of a negative impact on your business than if you were to work with a company that aligns with your vision, understands what you need to achieve, and meets your needs. You might have to reallocate your team members, pay overtime, or upskill on new technologies; morale will be reduced, expenses will rise nearly instantly, productivity will drop, and ultimately profit will decline. That's not a great situation.

A partnership with an outside team for product development is the complete opposite. Your business ends up paying less than it would do it in-house, and everything continues to run as usual with complete dedication to everyday operations. You focus on running your business, and your partner builds your product. This is so important if you want to maintain a positive reputation internally and externally while providing fantastic customer services and experiences (another essential factor of growth)!

Consider an External Partnership - There are many more benefits to collaborating with an external partner for product development. The ones in this post are just the start. If you're serious about growth and taking your business to the next level, you should talk with us and consider the benefits of a successful and meaningful collaboration with Spark.