{"id":3776,"date":"2021-10-12T05:13:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T03:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/teamwork-makes-the-dream-work\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T14:30:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T12:30:53","slug":"teamwork-makes-the-dream-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/teamwork-makes-the-dream-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Teamwork makes the dream work"},"content":{"rendered":"

The power of partnerships<\/b><\/p>\n

Giving critical appraisal can be a tough ask \u2013 one that Peter Rijsdijk knows all about.<\/span>\"Business<\/b> As a business advisor and partner at Thexton Armstrong, Peter has to get down and critical on a daily basis as he supports a number of entrepreneurs to develop and grow in a changing and challenging workplace. <\/span>The first few client meetings are always the most critical first steps on a journey towards long and happy partnerships and honesty is always the best policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to have that neutral advisor,\u201d says Peter. \u201cSomeone like me, for example, who doesn\u2019t know you to talk you through it honestly. Collaboration is a very important step and it must be the right one. So, let us talk about your vision, both personal and business, and your goals; what kind of partnership are you looking at? When forming partnerships entrepreneurs have to be able to share their goals, they have to understand each other well and work together to achieve the partnership they both want. This is where someone like me would come in \u2013 you need a matchmaker who can help you progress from a position of \u2018I want\u2019 into thinking \u201cpartnerships.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Questions, questions, questions<\/b><\/p>\n

In a Covid-recovering world with unpredictable economies, collaboration has become one of the buzzword for growth in purpose-led partnerships and Peter, who also works with the Wyseminds\u2019 team, is a specialist in preparing and guiding businesses through mergers and acquisitions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurs ask advisors like me to help them when they\u2019re looking for partnerships in business. They\u2019re looking for independent experts to listen and pose the right questions. It\u2019s likely they have already invested emotionally, but before they commit formally, they need a critical eye cast over their proposals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not always easy, however, but as many mergers advisors find, it comes down to asking the right questions and \u2013 in some cases \u2013 being challenging or \u2018playing devil\u2019s advocate\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOf course advisors and entrepreneurs can occasionally fall out, temporarily of course. Sometimes it\u2019s needed. Entrepreneurs ask us to be critical and therefore we\u2019re allowed to ask \u2018do you really want that?\u2019 \u2018Is that the right direction for you?\u2019 Being neutral really is an advantage in this situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting to know you\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s first piece of advice is as old as the hills, or at least familiar to those of us who have seen friends and loved ones rush into marrying the wrong person: in other words, get to know each other first before you commit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany entrepreneurs know each other through networking or in a B2B relationship, but going into partnership is a whole new situation. Before they cement this new co-venture in an absolutely formal structure, they need to spend time accepting each other, working together as a team. They think that if they\u2019ve known each other for ten years in a business environment that they really \u2018know\u2019 each other and have the same vision but that is not always true. There\u2019s a big difference between what you say and your vision and what you do and how you do it together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sage advice, but why do companies seek partnerships at this moment ?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost entrepreneurs are looking for knowledge and innovation in preparing for future growth. However, currently it’s even more about sharing the costs and planning for greater resilience from the unknown. Many seek partnerships because they\u2019re too small and if they join together with someone else they\u2019ll have a better proposition to bring to their customer. This is not a substitute for investment; that is still necessary, too.“<\/span><\/p>\n

One to 100<\/b><\/p>\n

Once up and running, the first 100 days are vital for new partnerships.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be very exciting,\u201d says Peter, \u201cand you mustn\u2019t get carried away and lose the point of why you\u2019re together. It\u2019s important to discuss the tough topics and to ask again and again: why are we working together? Why are we doing this? Talk about your shared purpose and shared values. Purpose must be at the forefront.\u201d You are setting the scene for the future and like with any relationship it needs constant nurture.<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes a pairing perfect?<\/b><\/p>\n

As many married couples discover, passion is different from lust and for successful partnerships to last and be fruitful, there are a number of vital components required, namely, yes, passion, but also energy, shared values and communication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe always ask both parties to be clear about purpose and direction,\u201d says Peter. \u201cIf you talk about those two aspects and they are able to give the whole team a very clear direction and let them see what the purpose is, it will be enormously beneficial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCommunication is so important and both entrepreneurs need to talk about value creation. Things don\u2019t have to be perfect but there has to be energy and vision. Of course, each person has his or her own check points, but you should be able to say \u2018OK, after three months we will do this\u2019 and \u2018after six months we will do that\u2019. And if you are not communicating, it\u2019s likely that you will not reach the goals you\u2019re striving for. That is when the entrepreneur must be critical and talk through how things are not working the way they want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is easier said than done in some cases as Peter wryly remarks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurs are passionate about what they do and what they stand for, but they are not necessarily used to working with other people. It can be challenging to work with others. However, if you can’t, partnerships soon go wrong. This is where communication comes in. If you communicate with your team, you can learn from each other. You don\u2019t have to do everything yourself!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all about the money<\/b><\/p>\n

What? Not all about the money? Well, that\u2019s not strictly true, but there are ways to make money and keep money. Once on the road to successful collaboration, Peter offers one last piece of advice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t just think about profit! Your growth must be sustainable \u2013 if you do that, you\u2019ll have reserves for a long time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To misquote the great Warren Buffett, there\u2019s nothing wrong with getting rich slowly. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The power of partnerships Giving critical appraisal can be a tough ask \u2013 one that Peter Rijsdijk knows all about. As a business advisor and partner at Thexton Armstrong, Peter has to get down and critical on a daily basis as he supports a number of entrepreneurs to develop and grow in a changing and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[130,124,60,36,108,131,126,86],"class_list":["post-3776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-acquisitions","tag-alliances","tag-business-growth","tag-entrepreneur","tag-growth","tag-mergers","tag-partnerships","tag-peter-rijsdijk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3777,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3776\/revisions\/3777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}