Tuesday, June 28, 2011

How to Convince Other Companies to Accept your Joint Venture Offer




Your company could be aiming to jumpstart or roll out an important project but you just could not easily do so because of the significant risks involved. Furthermore, your business may not have sufficient capital and technical expertise to carry on the endeavor. To be able to pursue your goals, you should form a joint venture with other companies, which should be willing to support and take part in your business initiative.





It may not be that easy to persuade other firms to get into an agreement to form a joint venture with your business. To be able to make the task less daunting and more successful, you have to follow the following tips and guidelines to make your joint offer to other businesses more interesting and more irresistible.





First, highlight the win-win situation your proposed project could bring about to partners. Make other companies understand about the practical and logical benefits that they could gain upon agreeing to get into the venture. You could also explain why you are determined to pursue it. Be honest to tell them that you aim to gain more revenues.





Do not produce very lengthy joint venture proposals. Remember the basic rule in business writing: Keep your message short, simple, and direct to the point. Managers and owners of other companies could also be too busy to spend many minutes browsing through your formal joint venture offer.





Create an impression that you are a peer instead of a sales person. It helps to write a joint venture offer in a personal but detailed style. Making the proposal appear more personalized would do wonders. Do not shock the other companies or try to impress them through your showcase of technical knowledge and expertise. They may not fully understand some of the jargons and technical terms you use. As much as possible, make the copies more comprehensive but easily understandable.





Highlight your proposal to do much of the efforts in the venture. Prospective joint venture partners surely would appreciate it if you would assure that they would be required to do less work. The less work the proposed project requires from them, the greater is the possibility that they would agree to become your joint venture partner.





Do not chase only the major players. You may be surprised at how capable less popular and smaller firms could be when it comes to managing and operating your proposed business project. It could be discriminating not to take seriously the minor and smaller businesses in the market. Smaller and minor players could provide you with more resources and expertise than the giants could do.





Tell them how your proposed joint venture could help their own customers and clients. All companies could not say no to projects that would make their loyal and important customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable. This way, you could also actually help them provide much better services to their clients. Such a strategy is important in building trust in your joint venture.


Friday, June 24, 2011

Reasons Why Companies Go For A Joint Venture




Contrary to public perception, a joint venture does not only involve two people. It can actually involve more than two people. The meaning is the same as that of partnership in business except that “joint venture” is much more formal and official. It is actually a legal lingo that refers to the company or entity that is formed by the partnership of two or more people in order to start a business.





But joint ventures are every much popular to people as they are to established companies. This is because joint ventures provide benefits that can cut down costs and help make the job easier. For instance, market penetration.





With a joint venture, they will sharing the risk with each other as well as the profits of the business. All the properties of the company or the entity created will be owned jointly and when the partnership ends or is dissolved, the properties will be divided equally unless otherwise stated of course in a legal agreement. A joint venture, however, can be long term or short term depending on the original agreement between the two parties. Often, there is no specified period of time, but rather a specified situation or goal.





Besides risk sharing, many people and even companies opt for a joint venture because of the benefits that they give to people. One of which is access and knowledge. One company for instance possesses a patent for a technology that another company needs to manufacture a product. Instead of paying for the patent, the two companies can agree to do a joint venture for a specific amount of time where they will manufacture the product and divide the profits equally while still keeping the idea and the patent to each company.





Another reason for companies to go into a joint venture is geographical limitations. For instance, if you have a company who wants to get into a country that has policies for foreigners owning their business, they can seek a partnership with a local company and provide that service. Some companies who have the language barrier to contend with for starting a business in a particular country can opt to partner with a local company instead to minimize the hardships of starting up the company.





Market access is another reason why some people opt for joint ventures. Rather than spend millions introducing a product to the masses, a company can have a joint venture with a company who already has the market share and the access and just have that product or service bundled up with the local company’s own product or service.





Joint ventures are also started when companies or people need the additional funding for raising capitals for the new business or for an expansion. Some lenders and banks also lend easier to companies that are in joint ventures because they feel that there is less risk involved with lending money to them.





Truly, joint ventures provide unending benefits to anyone but care must also be done when choosing a partner. The success of a joint venture after all depends on how compatible the partners are.


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Reasons Why You Should Go For A Joint Venture




Many start-up businesses right now have several people at their helm. Joint ventures are very popular among younger businesspeople and those who are putting up their very first business. And why so? Perhaps because a joint venture affords people with a host of benefits that are just too good to refuse. Here are some of them:





1. You need expertise



You can’t know anything. One of the best reasons for opting for a joint venture as opposed to doing it on your own is the need for another person’s expertise. For instance, if you want to start a T-shirt business but you do not know a thing about a T-shirt, the best way to start the business is to partner with someone who knows the business. You can learn from his or her expertise and start the business that you want. It beats having to enroll in some sort of T-shirt workshop.





2. You need the money



Some people opt for having many business partners because they do not have enough money to start the business. Remember that starting any kind of business takes a lot of money and if you are young and fresh out of school, you will not the have that amount of money sitting idly. Thus, you can partner with several other people so that you can pool your money together and raise enough money for the business.





You can even find partners who will finance the business while you do all the work. These are called the silent partners or the financiers of the operation.





3. You need a cushion



Going into business can be frightening and some people feel better if they have people who will cushion their fall. In fact, some do not even care if they lose a lot of money just as long as they lose it with other people. Failure, after all, appears better and is easier to accept when shared with a lot of people.





4. You need to have less risk



This goes back to the subject of money. Although some people have the money to risk, they do not want to risk everything. Thus, they look for partners who will share the risk with them. When there are many of you in a business, the amount of money that you need to initially invest will be smaller and more manageable.





5. You need people to do the work



When you are alone in the business, you will need to take care of it 24/7. This is not for people who are also holding full-time jobs and are just doing the business on the side. Having partners means that they can take over for you or you guys can come up with a schedule where each can take turns taking care of the business.





6. You need more input



Thinking of marketing gimmicks for your business or selling tactics on your own can be hard for the brain to do. Thus, you need more people to do the thinking for you.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Understanding a Joint Venture




These days, it is becoming very common for different businesses to form joint ventures. As market regulations get more stringent and resources of companies across all industries tend to dwindle, forming a joint venture with other firms become more of a likely option for businesses. The increasing competition further makes the challenges of the times more pressing.





There are many misconceptions about joint ventures. You might be surprised to know that you might not completely know the concept. What is a joint venture? How is it different from a merger and from a partnership? Is it a good option for salvaging or redeeming your business from the difficult challenges brought about by prevailing market conditions? Correct and adequate knowledge about joint ventures is truly imperative these days.





To begin with, a joint venture is technically defined as a strategic alliance between two or more parties (or businesses/ companies) to form a new business that would facilitate sharing of resources, knowledge, assets, intellectual property, markets, and profits. A new business or operational entity is established when a joint venture between two or more companies is formed. The venture could not proceed if a company does not find a willing partner to get into the deal. The joint venture is not forever. Its existence could be limited, as specified by the joint venture agreement or contract.





A joint venture is very much different from a merger. The two concepts should not be taken synonymously. In a merger, two existing companies combine through acquisition or transfer of ownership. There is a deal to buy one company by another. In a merger, both companies could decide to pursue each other’s current operations. The management of the acquired or absorbed firm is usually terminated or re-assigned into the acquiring company (though in a different hierarchy or position). Mergers do not usually result in creation of a new business or entity. Just two companies merge. Unlike a joint venture, a merger or combination could last forever provided ownership in one would not be transferred or sold again in the future.





On the other hand, what is a partnership? Always remember that a partnership is different from a joint venture or a merger. A partnership could just be a pact or a business relationship between two or more companies. The alliance could be bonded by a formal agreement with specific terms and conditions for the continuous existence of a partnership. Partnerships often involve long-term and continuing business relationships whereas joint ventures create other business projects. In partnerships, any of the company need not swallow or buy ownership of another.





A joint venture could be formed by two or more giants in an industry. It could also be formed by two minor businesses. It could be a partnership between a giant and a small company or it could be formed by a foreign business with another local entity. In a joint venture, two or more companies agree to share resources, technology, and expertise so that a new or third-party resulting business would be formed more dynamically and actively to cover a greater scope of the market. Joint ventures could also form across various industries.


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Having A Helping Hand: How To Go Into A Joint Venture




So you've got this business idea that you think is going to be really big – the problem is you don't have the resources to make it happen. Another situation is you've got everything set-up and all you need is a distribution channel. There are two ways you can go about in getting your product to the market: first is to set up your own distribution network, a work that would require a lot of time and effort, or you could go into a joint venture with someone who already has presence in the market or who has the capital you need.





Joint ventures are a regular part of today's business scene. This is mostly because of the advantages that it provides: a reduced entry risk into a market, it gives access to local or knowledgeable talent, it helps diversify a company's holdings, and is a less of a financial burden than going into it alone.





A lot of worldwide companies use joint ventures so that they may stretch their reach globally, partnering with their local equivalents so that they may be able into the market more quickly and more cheaply than they could on their own. This can also work on a lower level when a company who has no experience in a particular field goes into business with someone who's already in the market. This can be helpful for a small enterprise because it spreads out the potential losses and helps enhance your profit margin.





So, how does one go about entering into a joint venture? As is always true, one should not go into a partnership lightly. The first thing that you should think about is whether you'll be one hundred percent into the partnership. Remember that for something like this to be successful, you need to be willing to cooperate fully with your partner. If you're too much of an independent spirit to share leadership then this is probably not for you – but if you think you can rein in your pride in the name of profit, then go ahead.





The next part of setting up a joint venture is to choose the right partner. Start by drawing up a list of prospective partners and doing your due diligence on them – which means checking their backgrounds and history – have they been successful? How do they handle their employees? Are they in other partnerships and will they be detrimental to your interests? Talking it over with the company or person face-to-face is a good idead; it gives you a good gauge of their intentions and how they play the game.





When you've settled on your partner, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty. Drawing up a cooperative business plan should be first priority – remember to get them to contribute so that your operation runs smoothly. A good business plan can assure that you both profit. After that is the legal details – jointly retaining a good lawyer to draw up the agreement is a good idea so that everything is balanced. Checking on the contract with your own lawyer is a good idea, too, just to be sure.





And after that, it's putting ink to paper and you've got yourself a joint venture. Simple and direct, but it will require a lot of work – but the profits can be great.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

You Need A Partner: Taking A Look At Joint Ventures




When you're an entrepeneur with an idea, it can be sometimes very difficult to get it off the ground. You may be short on resources or don't have the know-how to implement your brilliant plan. Bu don't give up yet! Most businessmen in your position usually manage to go ahead with their big ideas by going into joint ventures. A joint venture is a limited form of partnership where two business entities come together to form an independent undertaking. This is mostly done so that the risks involved when starting a new business are highly reduced and that resources would be used to maximum efficiency.





Joint ventures also provide a lot more than spreading around the risk between partners and enable efficienct resource management. There are several other reasons why joint ventures are formed. Here are some of them:





a) Better market penetration: having an established partner in the target demographic or location is a great boon for those looking to increase the sale of their wares. The usual arrangement is that one partner uses its already in place selling infrastructure to distribute the other partner's products.





b) Geographical considerations: Global companies are always looking to lower the risks of entry into a new country. This is why joint ventures with home-grown corporations are usually the rule when an international company is first getting into the local market. These companies benefit from the unique knowledge their partners have about local market conditions and laws. They also allow for them to utilize beneficial laws that only apply to native citizen's of that country via their association with their partner. The local partners benefit by acquisition of foreign know-how and access to international assets that can help support them in the marketplace.





c) Company development: Sometimes a business just needs to grow – however, as anyone can tell you, expanding a company can mean quite a few growing pains: lack of funds, knowledge, and people. A joint venture can help a business develop the safe way – it diversifies its holdings without a large amount of risk, employees are trained by their contact with their counterparts, and it helps restructure the company for even larger growth.





Now, with all of those advantages, you're probably interested in starting up a joint venture yourself. However, you'll have to do a bit of self-evaluation. Ask yourself if you can operate smoothly with a partner out of your sphere of control and whether you are willing to give your all to a partnership – hesistant participation and being a control freak are two ingredients to a catastrophic relationship, whether they be in business or personal life.





The next thing you should look for is the perfect partner – know what you're looking for and do your due diligence; background checks are your friend and help you avoid unscrupulous people who'll just take advantage of your relationship. The next thing is to come up with a joint business plan and to have a lawyer draw up the papers.





Joint ventures are actually pretty easy to understand and are a great help fo any developing company. So go out and look for a partner!


Friday, June 3, 2011

Joint Ventures, What it is About?




For people who hear it for the first time, the term “joint venture” comes across as some kind of partnership. If you also got that impression, you are right. A joint venture is a partnership but not just between two people. It is the association of two or more people, companies or entities that want to combine their property, resources and expertise to create a business enterprise. This means that they will have joint shares on the company or in some cases the “product” or project that they have.





It differs from ordinary partnership in the sense that it is not always for the long term and unlike, partnerships, the resources may not become the property of the other. It all depends on how the parties agree on paper.





Joint ventures, you see, can happen even with companies that have already established themselves in the field. So why would they opt for a joint venture when they can certainly put up the project themselves? They lack the resources or one element in the mix. One example is perhaps two technology companies who each own a patent for a product and when these products are combined, they can produce one great product that they can sell. Because one cannot make the product on their own, the company will seek a joint venture with another to make it work.





Another example when a joint venture is called for is when companies want to expand to another country and they want to partner with a company that already has an established market in the country. This makes everything easier for the company and sometimes also cost-effective. The same goes for companies who want to put their products in the market and need the resources like factories and selling areas to launch their products.





Joint ventures also work for foreign companies who want to establish operations in a foreign land but cannot get a permit to do it. Some countries have strict laws against foreigner owning a business. Because of this law, some companies will seek partnership with a local company in order for their operations to push through. The same goes with companies who have problems with a language barrier and therefore need local companies to help them be introduced in the market.





Joint ventures are also sought in the most part because of financial constraints. Some projects can be really expensive to undertake and some products can take a huge chunk of a company’s savings, cash that they really do not want to risk in a new enterprise. Joint ventures provide these companies with the option to partner with another company and therefore, divide that risk and also divide the capital.





One thing to remember though with a joint venture is to seek a partner who you can trust and also someone that you share the same work ethic and vision with. Getting the wrong partner for this can spell disaster in the long run. So better make sure that you are making the right choice.