{"id":3763,"date":"2021-09-15T07:24:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T05:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/resilience-is-collaboration-your-competitive-advantage\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T14:30:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T12:30:28","slug":"resilience-is-collaboration-your-competitive-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/resilience-is-collaboration-your-competitive-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Resilience: is collaboration your competitive advantage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Julie Perkins introduces ‘Stronger Together: The Power of Partnerships’ blog series.<\/b><\/p>\n

Resilience<\/span><\/i>. There\u2019s so much hype surrounding this word, in particular following the Covid-19 pandemic. It\u2019s almost lost its meaning and yet in contradiction, I believe for female entrepreneurs and all businesses, resilience is more important to find and leverage than ever.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grit & effort<\/b><\/p>\n

Award-winning psychologist, Angela Duckworth and author of \u2018Grit: Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success\u2019 claims: \u201cAs much as talent counts, effort counts twice\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

While I agree with the sentiment (although I am a huge advocate on finding the right talent too) I\u2019d like to add another resilience ingredient to the mix. And that\u2019s the power of partnerships in making us stronger – to be fit for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaining strength, by acting as one<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Resilience:The right collaborations \u2013 whether in the form of a merger, a business partnership or a supplier – can elevate entrepreneurial potential, and the ability to grow a business \u2013 together, gaining strength by acting as one.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, on the flip side, the wrong relationships in small and medium-sized businesses can dilute what we stand for \u2013 weakening our vision of where we want to go and rather than creating the smooth, seamless road to growth we had envisioned, it can create a journey full of potholes.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as an entrepreneur, when thinking about how to grow, do any of the five below sentiments resonate?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fresh inspiration<\/b>: A new partnership can prompt some strategic forward-thinking, focusing our minds on exciting opportunities ahead. It can allow us to be braver in our ambitions and bolder in our desired goals \u2013 with shared visions and also, shared risk.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Companionship: <\/b>Ironically, despite often choosing the life of a one man band to gain professional freedom, we can often narrow our networks and get a bit lost and lonely along the way.<\/span> Collaboration may be key to opening up and growing those networks once again.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Learn from another: <\/b>We can get set in our ways as entrepreneurs; a little bit \u2018my way or the highway\u2019.<\/span> We all have <\/span>our<\/span><\/i> modus operandi. But it can be good to have more flexible growth mindsets \u2013 that encourage knowledge-sharing and learning from others.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Economies of scale and scope: <\/b>There\u2019s a lot to be said for sharing the burden of resources, operations and costs \u2013<\/span> perhaps helping with entry to new markets or an increased range of products and services.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Shared reputation: <\/b>You are no longer an island. Together, you bring many more strengths to the table that can supercharge your marketing strategies, how you\u2019re viewed as a business – and your bottom line.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With these in mind, it\u2019s unsurprising that many entrepreneurs may see strength in potential partnerships.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Look back to look forward<\/b><\/p>\n

    \"Resilience:We can look back at history to learn about the importance of strategic alliances in our post-pandemic world. Since the late nineteenth century there have been five phases in regard to the ways companies compete: efficiency, scale, quality, network and now \u2013 ecosystem. You can read up on \u2018A Brief History of the Ways Companies Compete\u2019 in the <\/span>Harvard Business Review<\/span><\/a>, that states:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cThe so-called ecosystem way of competing is an approach of co-opting third parties to build on and leverage your products and services such that they have more total utility to your customers. Your advantage comes not so much from the number of customers you have as from the number of partners you have working with or on top of your products and services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ecosystems & networks<\/b><\/p>\n

    Although the article was written in 2015 questioning what the next corporate competitive advantage might be, the global Covid crisis has perhaps put the brakes on. Predictions of new competitive advantages such as agility, data analytics, integration and disruption are all relevant, of course. But resilience \u2013 in the form of partnerships creating \u2018ecosystems\u2019 and \u2018networks\u2019 — are possibly the zeitgeist of now, and key ingredients to more purpose-led growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    However, while companies discover how ecosystems and networks work in a post-pandemic world, there\u2019s now a greater emphasis on what customers are asking from companies. Leaders now need to build their ecosystems with these changing demands in mind, and against a more fragile business backdrop.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The right relationships can be energising, fuelling resilience \u2013 and rewards. Without doubt, working together can bring huge strengths for small and medium-sized companies. While the wrong relationships can have the adverse effect \u2013 weakening your business proposition, values and growth; even weakening you as an entrepreneur and damaging the most important thing of all: the impact of your purpose<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Reasons for failure can be:<\/span><\/p>\n