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Partners, especially strategic partners, those who are personally committed to the long term success of your business, are not just going to walk through the door. They have to be found and courted. They have to know that you care about their success just as much as you care about your own. Finding potential partners is actually easy; because they are everywhere you go.
The first place you start is within your own business. Your employees, especially when your business is still young, have to be more than just employees, they have be your advocate. As a business owner, the more invested you are in your employees, the more invested they will be in you. Communicate and listen. Many of them may have great ideas to help you grow. Take time to get know them on a personal level and even socially when appropriate. Employees will work for you because you pay them. Friends will help you help out without an expectation of compensation.
To move to the next level of forming a partnership with other members of the business community, you will need to leave behind expectations and assumptions of who would make a good partner. It will also require that you look for opportunities to network and socialize with other business owners in a neutral environment. Chambers of Commerce, local service clubs, local charitable boards is organizations where influential members of the community go to network.
In a networking environment, drop all expectations. Be ready to talk about your business, but be ready to listen and talk about whatever too. Others that you connect with will be less willing to engage you in the long term if they perceive that you are simply looking for a return on your time investment. Develop relationships with others just because. Carry on conversations because you are interested in what you are talking about. With patience, opportunities to partner will present themselves, so long as you check the expectation that you will somehow benefit from the association.
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