So I'm sitting at a table in Hanis along Victoria Street, and I suddenly realize that this is the very same table I sat at all those months ago when I came here to meet with someone.
It's unfortunate; nothing came out of that meeting, and nothing came out of all the other meetings we had as well.
Otherwise, it really would have made an interesting partnership.
Said prospect ran teambuilding stuff armed with a camera and was looking to up the game. What we offered, in simple terms, was an exercise bordering on simulation scenarios where team members had to, under the direction of trained personnel, work with each other and get their a** out from there. It was a combination of future tech, present day corporate management theories, good training methodologies. The tech, the scenarios, the gear, the on-site talent, as well as the off-site talent was all with us.
It seemed a great thing to work on together. Prospect would get in the clients big name and small- which we were told were already there! We just had to make a great pitch, convince work out with them their objectives and outcomes and then structure the program together.
It seemed a great thing to work on together. Prospect would get in the clients big name and small- which we were told were already there! We just had to make a great pitch, convince work out with them their objectives and outcomes and then structure the program together.
Prospect's expertise + Our expertise= New Business
Pretty good, right?
For a while, it seemed like we were going full steam ahead. We chatted about it, discussed about it, decided who and how it would be done and went so far as to discuss who we might bring it to.
But somehow, when the time came to really get down and work through the contractual details, including co-consideration, the Prospect suddenly began to hem and haw. First, there was this important outstation project that had to be gotten out of the way, and then after that, there were other things to look at, which would inadvertently push the partnership back "indefinitely" by a couple of months.
A decision had to be reached.
We reached it.
And we haven't heard from Prospect since.
I guess the discussion has fallen by the wayside for now.
Whether or not it will be taken up again at another time, I don't know, but this time, I know we'll be sure to speak of consideration early in the game. Look, I know business talk. I know of business strategies that don't always put both on equalized favour. But I also know of strategies where one strength complements another's weakness, and vice versa. One side has a gap that needs be plugged. The other has an offering that plugs that gap. One side gets business in. So does the other. It is a game that both play, and both win.
It isn't about sharing, and sharing, and sharing.
Yes, I know about the sharing economy. I know of things where a firm with a special set of skills partners another with his or her own special set of skills and they work out some sort of deal that usually involves shares and lots else (in the future). Investment of time and money on either side is thereby perceived as "consideration"... and in order to sustain, the element of funding comes in.
But I'm also aware that getting funding, even seed funding, takes time, and I'm sure co-working spaces don't come free. Not with their snazzy bars and lil open-concept offices, nice chairs, coffee machines and all.
No, it's not entirely about sharing, not so I think. For a bit, yes, maybe, one can offer a lil more than the other, but any one who has been in the game long enough will know that it is not sustainable, and it gets even tougher as the game continues. If you ask me, it is about both sides providing extra value to the business.
I guess I'm a stickler for what works.
In every partnership, there is always consideration. From business partnerships to boyfriend-girlfriend partnerships to marriage partnerships, the element of consideration is never far away. It can be small, it can be big, but it has to be agreed upon. Agreed upon by both parties, put on the table by both parties. That cannot be escaped from.
My question is thus, if you can't put consideration (and it's not alot, mind!) on the table right at the beginning, that's already not very much a business mindset, no?
And more importantly, how much then of the contract does it eventually hold?
I guess the discussion has fallen by the wayside for now.
Whether or not it will be taken up again at another time, I don't know, but this time, I know we'll be sure to speak of consideration early in the game. Look, I know business talk. I know of business strategies that don't always put both on equalized favour. But I also know of strategies where one strength complements another's weakness, and vice versa. One side has a gap that needs be plugged. The other has an offering that plugs that gap. One side gets business in. So does the other. It is a game that both play, and both win.
It isn't about sharing, and sharing, and sharing.
Yes, I know about the sharing economy. I know of things where a firm with a special set of skills partners another with his or her own special set of skills and they work out some sort of deal that usually involves shares and lots else (in the future). Investment of time and money on either side is thereby perceived as "consideration"... and in order to sustain, the element of funding comes in.
But I'm also aware that getting funding, even seed funding, takes time, and I'm sure co-working spaces don't come free. Not with their snazzy bars and lil open-concept offices, nice chairs, coffee machines and all.
No, it's not entirely about sharing, not so I think. For a bit, yes, maybe, one can offer a lil more than the other, but any one who has been in the game long enough will know that it is not sustainable, and it gets even tougher as the game continues. If you ask me, it is about both sides providing extra value to the business.
I guess I'm a stickler for what works.
In every partnership, there is always consideration. From business partnerships to boyfriend-girlfriend partnerships to marriage partnerships, the element of consideration is never far away. It can be small, it can be big, but it has to be agreed upon. Agreed upon by both parties, put on the table by both parties. That cannot be escaped from.
My question is thus, if you can't put consideration (and it's not alot, mind!) on the table right at the beginning, that's already not very much a business mindset, no?
And more importantly, how much then of the contract does it eventually hold?