What would be a good way to find a business collaborator/partner?

daigo75

Registered User
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Hi all,
I'm running a small business and it's going fairly well, and I'm now looking for someone who could help promoting my products and take care of replying to the pre-sale questions I receive. I can't yet hire a full-time employee, because the turnover is not high enough (although it's still very good compared to the running costs and the time the business takes), therefore I would be looking for a collaborator who would be willing to share the revenue.

What I would be looking for is a suggestion on where I should be looking for someone, and if there is anything I should be aware of before starting a collaboration. Thanks in advance for all the answers.
 
Have you tried talking to your local enterprise office? Whilst they may not be able to help you directly, they could put you in touch with a mentor who may be able to advise you as to the best course of action. Depending on the business sector you are in, you may also be able to get some grant assistance for an employee and that might be a better course of action then going into a partnership agreement.
 
Are you sure you need another person? What about a website with Frequently Asked Questions? Or a YouTube channel with a couple of video case studies? There may be other ways to have the pre-sales questions answered, though you have to be careful about holding prospective customers at arm's length.
 
@RainyDay Answering pre-sales questions would be a marginal task. I'm looking for someone who can take care of the whole marketing aspect, which is outside my competences.
 
@RainyDay Answering pre-sales questions would be a marginal task. I'm looking for someone who can take care of the whole marketing aspect, which is outside my competences.
Fair enough, I was just responding to what you suggesting. I'm not clear what exactly you mean by marketing. Maybe if you give more detail on the specifics of the work to be done, you might get better suggestions.
 
The objective, as I wrote in the original post, would be to help promoting products and services and increase the customer base. I don't know yet how that should be done, that's why I'm looking for someone who can draft an action plan and follow it.
 
There are groups on Meetup.com for entrepreneurs and also to find people to join with you, particularly in Dublin.
 
Is it just marketing that you require or are you looking for someone to define a strategy or growth plans for the business and actually participate as a financially committed partner?

A small marketing agency will be able to work up a marketing plan and execute for a fee.
 
@TTI Good idea, I will look into that.

@Purple I sell both B2B and B2C. I sell software, my customers could be anybody from Canada to Australia (literally).

@mrblues I'm just looking for someone who can help with the promotion, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a partner. There is no financial commitment required, I can cover all the costs myself and generate a profit. A marketing agency could be a good idea, I wonder why I didn't think about that.
 
I sell both B2B and B2C. I sell software, my customers could be anybody from Canada to Australia (literally).

Ok, so you are looking at a web/social presence as it is the only media that will have the reach you need and then working with someone/agency to push it out to the correct target customers - you could end up spending alot on SEO if the target group isn't well defined though so make sure whoever your working with understands them well.

Anything that can be done with your current customer base on an advocacy or referral basis?
 
@mrblues Customers are already "spreading the word", because they are very happy about the products and services. However, I would rather stay away from affiliate programs, unless there is no alternative.
 
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