Sean Guerre is back! He’s a person in the thick of the action as far as starting new events are concerned, and I was thrilled to start the first of a series of his thoughts on jumping ‘into the great unknown’ is concerned. Without further ado, here’s Sean!
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A small media company like mine thrives on live events, new brands and launches until we reach the exhaustion point of our team resources, new ideas or key contacts in the markets we serve. What do entrepreneurs do when they hit “the wall”? Of course.. it is time to JV!
Joint Ventures or “JVs” can really help accelerate growth for your company by leveraging the ideas, resources, talents and contacts that your JV partner can bring to the table. Your business may be strong in operations or marketing and with just the right sales and administrative support from your partner, and did I already mention their contacts? A JV could be the perfect answer to your growth problems….or a nightmare where angels fear to tread and fools rush in!
How to set this up to avoid being the fool? I can only pass along the hard-won wisdom that we have gained from having all forms of JVs including Good, Bad and Ugly…really ugly.
Initial Important Guidelines and Questions
- How do the cultures of the two companies mesh? Is one a command and control/button down shop and the other a free-wheeling/free spirited group? If so, can you live with the differences?
- What does each partner bring to the table? (this is also known as “Why should we JV”?)
- It is critical to completely and honestly assess the strengths and weaknesses of each partner to determine how the roles and responsibilities can be fulfilled to launch an event .Is the amount of value that you bring to the table equal(or less than) to the what you’ll get back(profit, market entry, killing competitors, etc).Is this the same equation for the partner, ie win-win?
- Roles & Responsibilities MUST be determined for each partner and for each team member or contractor that will be a part of the JV event. These should be very detailed with descriptions of how the parties will interact on any shared duties.
Did someone say shared duties? Big Danger and best to avoid! Try to work out the roles and responsibilities so that each group independently completes their part of the role and thehands over to the partner. Back and Forth in a JV is a pit of despair and hopelessness which can kill the spirit of the best launches JVs.
- Timelines and Budgets must be created at the beginning of the JV. Sounds simple but this step can really showcase different expectations, styles of workflow and frankly how each partner feels about the revenue and expenses for a launch event.
Once these initial steps are completed, and if you are still ‘dating’, then you can move on to the “Big Stuff” such as milestones, profit sharing (you are in this for a profit…right?), percentage of ownership, exit/buyout clauses, conflict resolution, intellectual property rights, etc, etc.
We’ll explore more of the courtship, mating rituals and birth of a JV event in later posts, so stay tuned and enjoy the adventure! Cheers!!
Sean Guerre is a media entrepreneur/investor and currently is the co founder of Stone Fort Group- a Digital and Live Event Media startup serving b2b communities in the Energy, Automotive and Workforce marketplace. His claim to fame is serving as a former chairman of SISO-Society of Independent Show Organizers. He is passionate about launching live events, new digital media brands, startups, running and craft beer. Favorite Quote- “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”- Mike Tyson. You can find Sean on twitter- @SeanGuerre, or via email Seang@stonefortgroup.com.