Collaboration
Newsletter
June 2009
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"The successful person makes a habit of doing
what the failing person doesn't like to do."
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Dear Stephanie,
 Over the last 14 years of consulting small businesses, I have had the privilege of working with many partnerships. In fact, over 60% of our consulting clients have been partnerships - whether they were family partnerships, married partners or friends. Almost 100% of the time the company has come to us because the partnership was now hindering the growth and the success of the business.
The individuals in these partnerships could have prevented lost opportunities, lost profits, and a lot of pain if they would have defined some clear partnership parameters at the beginning of their working relationship. Often these partners who were once good friends or had strong family bonds, are now operating their business without speaking to one another, working with a veil of suspicion and with no clear direction or purpose other than to protect themselves.
Top 4 Reasons Partnerships Fail
Here are some key areas that typically are missing from these organizations:
No Clear Communication Structures
 What is required for partners in terms of meetings and types of communications that need to be shared with partners?
What are the steps to resolve conflicts?
No Methodology for Business Decisions
How compensation is determined for each partner's role verses their level of ownership?
How are financial decisions made within the organization?
Are roles & responsibilities clearly defined for partners? What are the
consequences for non-performance?
No Clear Legal/Financial Documents
What legal documents exist to support the partnership?
What is the financial commitment of each partner?
What happens if one partner does not want to participant in a financial outlay
No Exit Strategies Clearly Identified
How can the termination of the partnership happen?
What behaviors or actions constitute a mandatory leave or termination? What does each partner want from this business besides a financial gain?
Partnerships can be highly successful. They can also be a huge impediment to the success of the company if the partners have different agendas and are headed in different directions.
By sitting down with your potential partner or current partner and answering the questions above, you will begin the necessary communication process and structures to build a solid partnership and thus, a solid business.
To download an expanded version of these tips, please click here.
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Upcoming Classes
Sales Achievement Program
June 17th, 9:00am-12:00pm Collaboration's Sales Achievement Program allows business owners & sales professionals to create solid and consistent sales performance. This program will provide knowledge, tools, skill training and accountability towards achieving your sales goals. The program focuses on sales goal attainment and skill development.
*This program meets once a month for six months.
New Venture
July 24th, 8:00am-1:00pm
New Venture is an entrepreneurial program that assists the start-up entrepreneur in developing their business concept and evaluating it through each step of the business planning process. Only 18% of new businesses make it past their first year; 73% of the businesses that have gone through our course are still in business today.
*This program is an intensive 5 session interactive workshop
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3 Point Book Review
The Speed of Trust
Author: Stephen M.R. Covey
 This book was a great read and we had the opportunity to hear Stephen speak in LA last month (Thank you Jim Ratichek from AP Logic for flying us down for the day). In the work environment, poor trust cost businesses millions of dollars every day. The 3 point book review:
·Trust can be evaluated on 13 behaviors made up of competencies and characteristics
· High Trust environments allow for speed of work and lower cost (the book gives some real life examples that are spot on) and obviously the opposite is true - low trust environments cost businesses money and time.
· Building a strong trust environment ripples outward to your customers and marketplace and has exponential impact on your business revenue and reputation.
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Client Outcomes & Success Stories
"We're 20-for-2. Working with Collaboration influenced our bottom line, resulting in revenue growth of 20% each year for the past two years.
Most businesses find themselves at one time or another with challenging levels of overhead. That was our situation when we contracted with Collaboration. We had grown too fast in a highly competitive wine market and had systems but they needed organization. Our marketing lacked consistency and, more importantly, we hadn't branded ourselves well..."
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Free Educational Business Lunch
hosted by
Collaboration & Clever Ducks
Mastering Your Email in Outlook and Blackberry
Amy Kardel, of Clever Ducks, will help busy professionals optimize productivity when using the tools most at hand every day: Microsoft Outlook and mobile devices, with a focus on Blackberry. By gaining control of both tools, you will get better business results while reducing stress and staying in sync with the flood of emails that come your way.
Although these devices serve as your primary access to calendar events, emails and other tasks, they often become a distraction because of the amount of information that is often thrown at you. By effectively leveraging both tools, you will find it is possible to stay on task and sort through the clutter. Amy can help make life simpler by setting up some systems, using some tricks and understanding some advanced functions of your technology.
Where When?
- Friday June 26th, 12:00pm-1:00pm
- Cost of this seminar is FREE
- Lunch will be provided so please RSVP so we can plan accordingly
- Seminar will take place at the Collaboration Training Center
- 3196. S Higuera, Stuite D, San Luis Obispo
Please RSVP to the program below. Seating is limited to 20 people.
Yes! I want to attend. |
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Collaboration LLC is committed to building healthy communities by assisting proactive business owners in building profitable, sustainable businesses through results oriented education, coaching and consulting services.
We look forward to sharing how we can be of assistance to your business and welcome any questions you may have. Please give us a call for a free business assessment.
Sincerely, The Collaboration Team Michael Gunther, Jennifer Porcher, Stephanie Sharp, Eric Hubbs, Gracie Flint & Julia Roca
Collaboration LLC
3196 S. Higuera, Ste D
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Ph: (805) 541-9040
Fx: (805) 541-9044 | |
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