Tips to Partnering with Fellow Local Businesses

In the words of the renowned Steve Jobs, “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” This same principle can also apply to “one business.” The most successful businesses are those that partner with fellow local businesses to grow their market and credibility, not the businesses that function isolated from others. Unfortunately, many businesses are under the false impression that other businesses are solely their competitors, so they should keep their distance and maintain a hostile relationship. This damaging mindset is simply untrue. Partnering with fellow local businesses benefits not only your business but also fellow businesses and the community at large. 

Partnering with fellow local businesses is all about collaboration over competition. While competition leads to closed-mindedness and a sense of isolation from the community, collaboration yields beneficial professional ties with other businesses and a sense of integration within the community. We have reached out to business owners who are seasoned experts in collaborating with local businesses and have asked for their tips for business partnerships. 

Share Space with Fellow Businesses that Complement Yours 

Guna Kakulapati is the CEO of CureSkin, which provides expert and personalized treatment plans for skin, hair, body, and other personal care concerns. He thinks that sharing space with a fellow local business is a great way to maintain those professional ties and benefit both businesses, but only if certain criteria are met. 

Guna Kakulapati says, “A great way to partner with other businesses is to share physical space with them. Oftentimes, this means working out of the same storefront. Now, you can’t just throw any two businesses in a storefront together. One extreme is that the businesses are too similar in their products or services and thus are too competitive with each other to share space. The other extreme is that the businesses are way too different, and incoming customers will only have the need for one business’s products and not the other’s. For example, say one business is targeted at young millennial skateboarders and the other at elderly people who like to knit. That’s a pretty extreme example, but it goes to show that businesses have to be complementary in order to share space. When two businesses that have the same target market work out of the same storefront, customers coming in for one of the businesses will find that the other business benefits them, too.”

To summarize Guna Kakulapati’s advice, businesses sharing space must be different but complementary. This benefits the businesses by increasing each other’s followership, and it benefits the customers by introducing them to new businesses that fit with what they like in a business. 

Host Joint Giveaways on Social Media

Social media giveaways are Dan Potter’s favorite way to partner with other businesses. He works with CRAFTD London as their Head of Digital. 

“Never before have businesses been as accessible as they are now, and this is because of the power of social media. Social media allows businesses to be seen by people that would never have come into contact with them otherwise. A great way for a business to gain visibility through social media is to host an online giveaway with other businesses. This drives traffic to all businesses involved and is a great way to connect similar businesses with similar target audiences. The exposure that is gained through giveaways is well worth the cost of whatever product is being given away – no pun intended.” 

Hosting joint giveaways on social media can help your business reach a multitude of new potential customers. Reach out to some fellow businesses you think would be wise to partner with, and ask if they’d like to contribute to a joint giveaway. 

Host an Event Together

Co-hosting an event together is a great way to partner with fellow businesses. Max Schwartzapfel is the CMO at Fighting For You, and he specializes in personal injury law firms. He suggests co-hosting an event for any business that is looking to partner with other local businesses. 

“During my years in business, I have found that people absolutely love when their city’s local small businesses host an event. Maybe it’s a pop-up vendor market, or maybe it’s a podcast hosted by local business owners. Either way, co-hosting an event is a great way to team up with businesses that have a similar target demographic. Events really give businesses a sense of ‘realness’, for lack of a better word. The ability to team up with other local businesses to reach out to the community is a very attractive quality in a business.”  

On a similar note, Stephen Skeel, Co-Founder and Executive Producer of 7 Wonders Cinema also emphasizes the importance of co-hosting events in the community, but furthermore, he suggests opting for mutual branding. 

“Everyone loves when businesses throw events together. One thing I’ve found to be really helpful in co-hosting events is to brand the event in a way that includes all the businesses that are part of the event. Instead of including the separate business names, you could put the name of your city, such as, ‘The Denver Business Initiative’, and promote the event via the partner businesses under that name. This shows a sense of unity among the partner businesses, which is always a good quality for businesses to demonstrate within their local communities.” 

Overwhelmingly, the business owners we talked to suggested sharing space and co-hosting events and online giveaways with fellow businesses. The key is to do it with businesses that complement yours. This adds value to your business and the businesses you team up with. Amy D’Alessio, co-owner of J. Alden Clothiers, said, “If a client comes in and is looking for something that I don’t have, I will point them in the direction of another small business where they can find it. This reinforces the message that we are a community here to serve our clientele. This idea of community is what makes us different from the big box store.” Collaboration always wins over competition. When you partner with a local business for yourself, you’ll realize just how much potential you have to grow.