I don’t know about you but I lived on an island for the first eight years of owning my management consulting business. Not an actual geographic island, but a metaphoric one.

I was a true solo-preneur with SOLO in bold-face and caps. Oh sure, I interacted with lots of people and had great relationships with most of my clients. Other than occasionally bouncing ideas off my husband, though, the only other person I relied on to support me in the ongoing “operating” of my business was my accountant. At best, he and I would have a twice-a-year conversation.

It was MY business after all! I had full responsibility for everything from buying paper clips to entering data to spreadsheets to calling in delinquent receivables. Ironically of course, operating from a place of such steadfast independence was not optimizing the strength of my business. This didn’t happen until I became trained as a leadership coach, hired a mentor coach and then “voted myself off the island” by deliberately focusing on collaboration.

So…what about you? Owning and running a solo business can be a seductive place that feels like risk-taking. However; if you are like me and sometimes act as if the only person you can really trust to “do it right” is you, then the riskier approach might actually be relying on others. At first collaborating was truly scary for me. It pushed me out of my working solo comfort zone. Yet, the benefits of taking this risk can be powerful!

Let’s consider some of the ways collaboration can support you and your business.

First off, you need to fess up! How many of you are trained in and at your best when performing activities like bookkeeping functions?? Sure it costs money to retain the services of a bookkeeper or virtual assistant but what is the cost of your time? What are you NOT doing on your business while you are attending to these functions? You may even be able to think of creative barter approaches to trade-off tasks that don’t make good use of your skills for ones that do.

Now, what about the actual development of your products and delivery of your services? Are there opportunities for collaboration for you here?

Over the years I have designed and conducted training for numerous clients. As I have shifted my business to focus more on coaching leaders and business teams, I became reluctant to spend as much time developing new training programs.

So, I linked up with a colleague that I’ve known since the beginning of my career, whom I trust and greatly respect. He was eager to do more collaborating and be introduced to a wider group of clients. Win: win! Some training initiatives he has designed and we have co-delivered, some we’ve co-designed and he has delivered. We go with whatever arrangement best suits the client and our respective interests and calendars.

I now have several of these collaborative relationships which enable me to maintain relationships with great clients while working with high caliber peers from whom I am continually learning.

Collaborative partners can also be found beyond your own backyard. I have one collaborative partner who is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. We see the distance as an opportunity to provide a blended U.S./Canadian perspective, rather than an issue.

Of course, it’s not always bliss. It may require some “experimentation” before you get the formula right. Think about…

• What is the complimentary skill that you are seeking?
• What is the personality type that best compliments your own?
• Where is the greatest “ease” for you in partnering relationships?

Successful collaboration with other colleagues necessitates spending time “designing your alliance” and getting very clear up-front about the terms of your arrangement. This is particularly the case if you offer similar products or services.

Some useful questions to ask yourself are:

1. Do you have respect for one another’s caliber of work and customer service?
2. Do you have faith in the reliability of the other person to “come through” in a pinch?
3. Do you trust that your intellectual capital or proprietary materials will be treated accordingly?
4. Do you hold an “abundance perspective”? That is, the belief that there is more than enough work for everyone and that as independent businesses you need not be “competing”.
5. Have you determined whose client it is and how future business with the same client will be handled?
6. Do you have a clear agreement as to how fees will be divided and expenses managed?

You should note that customers these days are not surprised to see Associates from more than one company in a collaborative team, but they typically expect that one company will be the point-person for account management, contracting and invoicing.

An approach to collaboration that I strongly encourage is developing alliances with businesses that are OUTSIDE of your area of expertise but serve the same clients. Put your proverbial heads together to come up with ways to serve your respective clients and the market itself in a more powerful way by developing a “bundled” product or service.

I wish you joy and success in getting off your island!
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Sue Edwards, PCC, CHRP has led a successful leadership coaching and consulting firm since 1996. She has also held HR leadership positions with Exxon, Campbell Soup and Bayer. In addition to her work with corporate leaders, she relishes coaching entrepreneurs in building powerful alliances to enable their businesses to thrive! www.development-by-design.com