Joint Ventures are considered an essential part of growing your business and becoming successful. However, many people looks at JV’s as a fearful or overwhelming idea. If you follow some steps and have some preparations together then you can move forward confidently.

First, before approaching anyone, do you have your business set up and do you know what you want to do a joint venture on. Many of the people that you approach may already be receiving several offers, so preparation is the key.

Then decide on who you want to have JV’s with. If you are not sure, you can do some research to help you find some potential people. The details on searching can be an article in its self, but to highlight you can:
Look at what your business is; what other businesses would complement yours. Then search the web for them. You can also ask around at forums and newsgroups and ask for referrals. Once you have done that carefully, pick a handful that you would like to try.

Look at their websites. Ask yourself, what is it about them that I like and why would I want to do business with them. What about their site stands out for me and that I could comment on.

Is there a report or course that I could try get to know them better. Is there a product that I can try? Is this even the right person for my JV? When you understand the other person, not only will it help you approach them, you will also be able to know if indeed you could recommend them to your list.

Then decide which of them you would want to work with. Now you can approach them. Think about what your goal is for the JV. Yes, there are the thousands of dollars it can bring, the free advertising and leveraging each other’s resources, but what is the ultimate goal for each JV.

What would your answer be when the potential JV partners says, “So, what do you have in mind?” Is this JV about writing and promoting a book, starting a contest, creating a product or sharing advertising costs, just to name a few.

While you are thinking about your answer, you need to realize that the potential JV partner is thinking, WIIFM. (What’s in it for me).

Why should he or she pick you over (or as well as) the other people that are also approaching them. Think about how this will help them. Do you have a large list, or contacts that they may want? Do you have stats to show how your plan will help them?

If they say no, and some will for many reasons, go on. They may already have too many things on the go right now. Ask if you can contact them in the future.

There are also different rules and viewpoints on the initial contact. I have heard some people say to phone, as they get so many emails that the call would stand out. Others have said, don’t presume to phone and interrupt them when you haven’t already met them.

There is a combination of things that you could try. For example, send an email that you wish to call. Send a letter via the post office. I have even seen people send requests by an express service and have included a number of different trinkets, samples and attention getters. You may need to experiment, as each person is different.

Ultimately, I believe that you should show that you have taken the time to get to know them on some level and know what their products are. When people feel that you respect them and their product or service, this can go a lot farther than being seen as just a source of your revenue.

Ultimately, plan, prepare and then take action and you will find yourself not only attracting great JV partners but also making good friends along the way.

Businesses are everywhere. They are the units that perform most of the economic activity in our economy. Most businesses exist to generate a profit. There are some businesses that exist to perform a function other than profit, such as cooperatives and non-profit organisations. The traditional definition of a business is an entity that brings together time, effort and capital in order to produce a profit.

There are different ways of classifying businesses but here are the main types:

• These take raw materials and make finished products, which they then sell. They make a physical good such as a car or a sofa.
• Service businesses do not produce a physical product but offer a service to consumers. They make a profit by charging for their skills and labour.
• Retailers and distributors. These businesses facilitate the chain of supply. They buy goods from the producers or wholesalers and sell them on to consumers at a higher price.
• Agriculture and mining. These businesses are also known as extraction industries as they make their profit by taking raw materials out of the ground. Forestry, fishing and coal mining would be in this group.
• Financial businesses include banks, insurance companies and investment funds. They offer financial services to consumers and other businesses and generate a profit by managing capital for others.
• Utilities are companies that provide vital public services like heat, electricity, gas, water and sewage treatment.
• Real estate is the business of buying, selling and developing land and buildings. These can range from homes to commercial properties to factories.
• Transportation businesses move people and goods around the world. These would include taxi and bus companies, freight companies, shipping companies and airlines.Businesses can either be privately owned or publicly owned by the government. Government usually regulates business for a variety of purposes. This will include collecting corporate taxes. Also certain business pose a risk to the public and so must be regulated. Some businesses, especially extraction and manufacturing but also others, have a significant impact on the environment. If they were left unregulated, they could, while carrying out their functions for profit, do irreparable harm to the environment. Others, such as drug companies and pharmaceuticals must be regulated so that safety and health standards can be maintained. Drugs must be monitored so that any that begin to cause serious side effects are quickly taken off the market.

  Most people hold the view that it would not be successful to have businesses regulate themselves when it comes to vital areas of the public interest.

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