• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Apr 13, 2021
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

Tax Bandits banner
Home / Sales and Marketing / Relationships / A Real Partnership is Win-Win
A Real Partnership is Win-Win

A Real Partnership is Win-Win

5763 Views

Dec 19, 2012 By Chris Barnes

We all need partners. It’s a simple fact. When we have a great partner—or two, or three, or more!—we can achieve a lot more than we ever could each on our own. But too many people have misconceptions about the relationship building it takes.

There are people who see business as a zero-sum game. There can be only one winner, they think. If one person wins, then someone else has to lose. And that’s how they look at relationships and partnerships: who is “winning” the relationship or partnership? Who is getting the better deal?

That’s a very cynical way of looking at business—and life. And it misses out on some of the most valuable parts of life as an entrepreneur.

Relationships are essential to business. A key element of many successful businesses is the amount of time spent talking to other people and building relationships. You have to go in willing to learn, without an agenda. The more people you engage with, the more people you really talk with and listen to, the more you learn. And you have to go in without an agenda because that’s the only way to ensure that you’re not just confirming your bias.

And as you build those relationships, it also gives you more platforms and avenues to expand your own business—while at the same time helping out your partner to expand his business, too.

The amazing thing is building a partnership that works for every person involved. If a partnership is great for one partner but does nothing for the other, then why would that partnership last? The only way to create a lasting relationship is to make it a win-win. The win-win goes back to the relationship-building stage. If you’re really listening, really engaging with people, you’ll learn what they need. You’re looking for ways they can help you, but you’re also looking for ways that you can help them.

Filed Under: Relationships Tagged With: Keys to Business Success, Partnerships, Real Partnership Win Win Keys to Business Success Partnerships Relationships Value, Relationships, Value

Chris Barnes

Chris Barnes

Chris Barnes is the Director of Business Development at Tarkenton Companies, with a sales and marketing background in a wide range of industries, from sports information to insurance marketing. A jack-of-all-trades, Chris has experience in many aspects of daily and strategic operations for small business.

Related Posts

  • deal-value-or-buyer-valueAre You Confident Enough In Your Value Not To Discount?
  • 5 Keys To Negotiating Your Fair Share Of Any Startup
  • My dad said: “Never take on a business partner.”

Primary Sidebar

Random

Tekion: The First Retail Operating Platform (DMS)

Apr 13, 2021 By Lynn Ruthe

Offices Are Changing. Here Are the Newest Trends

Apr 13, 2021 By Devin Caldwell

Watch Out for These 7 Red Flags of a Small Business Loan Scam

Apr 13, 2021 By Lending Tree

Contactless Check-in and Repairing Healthcare Payments

Apr 13, 2021 By Brian Wallace

Startup 101: The Importance of Tax Planning

Apr 12, 2021 By Andrew Deen

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy