3 Essential Ingredients to a Great Business Partnership

What is a partnership? Defined in Wikipedia; "a partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests." 

A partnership could be focused on individuals, as in a marriage, friends, or teammates.  For example, in our family we recently adopted two adorable puppies who work together to solve problems. Sometimes one stays awake while the other is checking out what is happening, our dogs are working together in partnership toward a common goal – FOOD!

Partnerships are also incredibly important in business.  In B2B relationships especially, developing a long-lasting relationship with customers, vendors, employees, and your community is so important when striving for a valuable business partnership.  

There are 3 essential ingredients to a great business partnership:

1.   Great communication

Success in business is greatly impacted, for better or worse, by the way we communicate. Effective business communication contains terminology, technical information, as well as providing instructions that can be easily understood by your audience and through consistent and timely interaction. Communication should also be crafted together to ensure your business partnership is supported by assuring everyone's needs are addressed promptly.

2.  Integrity

People often define integrity as doing the right thing even when no one else is around. It is the ability to act with honesty and be consistent in whatever you are doing at all levels of an organization. This is based on the particular belief, value, or moral compass your business has incorporated into your daily work within a B2B environment.

3.   Think long term

A successful partnership should last. Thinking long term about who you are doing business with and why they are important comes down to trust. It is important to build a relationship beyond business tasks. It’s a commitment to one another even during challenging times. Creating a customer experience that allows both parties to succeed is golden and can last for years to come.

Finally, another essential aspect of building outstanding partnerships is to work within the local community where your business operates. At Terracare Associates, we believe that giving back and volunteering is a great way to connect, make a difference, and build partnerships in our local areas.

Terracare Associates partners in a big way. During the month of April, in conjunction with Earth Day, we encourage our employees to partner and volunteer with local charities, bringing their expertise to the community. These community partnerships benefits from our core business skills. 

Here are some of the highlights from our charitable activities on Earth Day. 

Columbine Memorial, Colorado

The outdoor memorial to commemorate the tragic shooting at Columbine High school was beautifully built in 2007. The foundation did not have continuous funding to maintain the perennials, trees, pavers, mulch, mowing and water feature. Terracare Associates volunteered to maintain the memorial year round.

Each year in April, just before the anniversary of the tragedy, our employees volunteer to clean up the memorial to ensure it is a beautiful peaceful place for remembrance.

Learning Gardens - Liberty High School, Brentwood, California

Terracare Associates has built five Learning Gardens in the San Francisco Bay area to connect children and adults to nutritious foods through hands on experiences with accessible, local, edible gardens.

Bill Horn, Senior Vice President, spearheaded the idea to connect youth to the earth and Terracare Associates has selected school gardens as one of our signature community projects. Most recently we installed a learning garden at Liberty High School in Brentwood California. The Superintendent of Schools (pictured) supports and strongly supports this partnership.

Project Cure – Centennial Colorado

Project Cure is a non-profit headquartered in Centennial, Colorado. Their mission is to collect and recycle medical equipment and supplies to be used at hospitals in need around the world. We helped Project Cure with a plant sale fundraiser on Earth Day.

The team designated two locations, one in partnership with Sheraton Hotels on the 16 Street Mall and Project Cure headquarters in Centennial. The sale was a huge success -- raising enough to send more than $35,000 worth of life-saving medical supplies.

How does your company give back? Share your successful business partnerships with us on LinkedIn or Facebook.