Those of you with young children may be familiar with The Wonderpets: a television trio of unlikely heroes in the shape of elementary school classroom pets – a guinea pig, turtle and a duckling. Each episode sees the friends rescue baby animals as they demonstrate the powerful benefits of teamwork, to the catchy and joyous refrain of “What’s gonna work? Teamwork!”
We were reminded recently of the benefits of teamwork, not just within organisations, but between organisations when we heard the motivational speaker, Eilidh Milnes talk about collaboration at a recent Cheshire Winning Women networking event. Eilidh explored how collaboration between small businesses can increase productivity, giving access to greater resources, recognition and rewards. We wanted to share our thoughts on how collaboration has worked for us and how it could benefit your business.
Join Forces
As a small company, we have certainly found that our offering has become greater through working closely with other local businesses. We continually “join forces” with others, utilising the expertise of freelance writers, developers, graphic designers and many more. Through supporting, collaborating and networking with others, we have strengthened our branding and increased our skill set. If you are always on the look-out for opportunities to help fellow small businesses out, you’ll almost certainly get back what you give out.
Build Communities
We are constantly reminding our clients that their social media campaign should represent an honest platform for an authentic, two-way conversation between their brand and their customers. After all, it’s all about building a community. Our ethos mirrors this: we love working with others to provide the best solution possible to our clients, and have found that developing a professional network or “community” has been key to our success. Our plans for future growth also have a strong emphasis on collaboration.
Increase Creativity
We all have different skills, knowledge and personal attributes. By working on projects with other organisations and individuals, these different aspects are pulled together and more ideas can be generated. As more ideas are generated, more creative solutions are generated, leading to better results.
Strengthen Your Service
Whist the economic outlook remains uncertain and small businesses in particular are facing tough times, you might be tempted to “go it alone”, holding tight to each and every opportunity that comes your way lest your competitors should get a whiff. If this is how you currently approach your business, our advice would be to take a step back and think about how you
could strengthen and improve the service you offer through sharing marketing opportunities. Ask yourself this: Who can you work with to help others flourish, thereby allowing your business to flourish?
Work Together
As we approach the end of another great year for Branching Out during which we have enjoyed working with blue-chip clients as well as sole traders, we’re looking forward to continued communication and collaboration with other businesses to support our long-term strategy for success. In the words of the Wonderpets:
“We’re not too big
And we’re not too tough
But when we work together
We’ve got the right stuff!”
With small businesses that embrace the collaborative spirit finding themselves in a better position to compete with their larger counterparts, it’s time to see fellow small businesses as partners and not competitors. So how will you harness the power of collaboration to move your business forward?
