CHAPTER 17 THE PARTNERSHIP CHARTER

You’ve made it past date night. At this point, you’ll need the conversation with your soon-to-be partner to land, so your common goal can evolve from a theoretical, far-away eldorado into a boot-strapping mission. Because in the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

The following is a blueprint designed to help you put down in words how wonderful life is when you tackle it as a team. This charter distills the important parts out from the chatting phase and shows you whether or not this courtship will lead to a grand wedding and happy offspring. Fill out all the parts in earnest, and do it together. This is your last chance to find out if both of you really understand one another.

The charter consists of five pages. If you’ve done your homework, you shouldn’t have much trouble filling in the blanks. We’ll walk you through it.

1. Partnership intent

This is your creed. It formulates your end goal and clearly states your future plans.

2. The give-and-take model

Decide on the nature of your partnership and discuss the conditions in which it will exist. What are you providing, and what you each expect in return? You’ll notice the place allotted to your answers is small. This will help you keep your plan simple.

3. Business model

What will your business model look like? Will you work together based on a resell commission? Will you share resources? Or will you co-create a product or service? Maybe you’ll even opt for a combination of two business models.

4. Partnership format

Will you work in a close-knit framework or do you prefer a rather loose form of collaboration? Are you looking to boost your growth, or rather to up the ante in the knowledge department? Here’s where you decide how intense you want your partnership to be.

5. Three for three

Time to make concrete plans for the next 90-days. Which three things will your new partnership do in the next three months?

1. Partnership intent

What is your intent with this partnership?

Simply and honestly, what are you and your company’s intentions?

What long-term opportunities will you engage in?

Looking at a time frame of 3 to 7 years, put down in a few words which opportunities you see.

What is your “more than for profit” purpose?

Examples are: improving one or more SDGs, giving back part of your profit, setting up a circular business model…

2. Give-and-take model

On the enabling
side

What can we offer?

How can we add value for possible partners?

(e.g. brand/resource/
network…)

Make a shortlist and describe what you can offer your partner(s).

Our conditions

What are the conditions of your partnership?

What should a potential partner comply with? What should their vision be? What values should be shared?

Are there certain KPIs partners should meet? What is non-negotiable? (e.g. ISO9001compliance, ethics…)

Describe the non-negotiable conditions for a partnership.

Describe the desired general terms for a partnership.

On the receiving
end

What are we getting out of this collaboration?

Which possible value streams do we see?

Which data do we want? (e.g. experience, a co-created product…)

What would you like to receive from the partnership?

3. Business model

What is your intent with this partnership?

Resell
Commission

Shared
Resources

Co-created
product/services

4. Partnership format

How intense do you want your partnership to be? And what will be the content of your exchange?

CONTENT
PARTNERSHIP

We co-create content together to inspire our audience

BRANDING
PARTNERSHIP

We believe that by joining forces that we can leverage each other’s brand

KNOWLEDGE
PARTNERSHIP

We can enrich each other’s knowledge and skills

DATA
PARTNERSHIP

We actively exchange data with each other in a clear give and take

TECHNOLOGY
PARTNERSHIP

We can leverage each other’s technology

INNOVATION
PARTNERSHIP

We co-create new products or services together

LICENSE
PARTNERSHIP

We can resell each other’s products and services or leverage each other’s IP

STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIP

We make the partnership exclusive and communicate actively about it above the radar

EQUITY
PARTNERSHIP

We take a stake in each other’s entity or create a joint venture

5. Three-for-three plan

What three concrete things will you do together in the coming 90 days?

1.

2.

3.