Could a Strategic Alliance With the Right Business Partner Accelerate the Growth of Your Business?

If you are an entrepreneur or you work at a start-up or small business, you have likely spent many hours contemplating how to grow the business to the next level.  If you are honest, it is probably the one thing that is almost always on your mind, even in your so-called leisure time, assuming you have any.   And, if you are like most, you probably have looked to other people to provide those answers, whether as mentors, advisors, service providers, friends, colleagues, or as key employees or consultants.  However, have you ever really given thought to whether relationships with other companies could take your business to the next level?  Strategic alliances with business partners having more experience in your industry, a wider footprint, and more established relationships could make the difference between maintaining growth at the same level and growing at a much more advanced pace.  Obviously, such relationships should be based on a good contractual foundation and not just merely on a handshake, and the partners should be selected very carefully to ensure that the strategic alliance will not prove down the road to instead be a strategic mistake.  The following Forbes article profiles how one small business went about finding such a partner and building such a relationship to grow the company:

Strategic Alliances: An Essential Tool for New Venture Growth