As with just about anything, if you don't know what you're looking for, how will you know when you've found it? Sit down with your management team and identify the most important criteria for selecting the right partner fit for your business. Areas to consider:
What is the potential for impact? The most important criterion is the potential of an alliance with this target to deliver strategic value to your company. What would be the impact to your competitive position, brand awareness, market acceleration? How quickly could you get traction with this partner in the marketplace?
Are the two companies compatible? This is where your friends and family network and reference calls with existing partners will prove helpful. Is this company's culture and management team compatible with yours, and do you have compatible core competencies?
Are their goals and strategies consistent with yours? The stronger alignment there is between your company goals and the target company's, the greater the likelihood of forging a successful alliance. Identify what the target companies goals and objectives are and determine if they are synergistic with yours.
Is this a good environment for partnering? It's very helpful to know what kind of partnering culture the target organization has. Do they have a good reputation with their partners? Do they demonstrate a commitment to partnering? One of the most effective ways to ferret this out is to talk to one or more of the target company's existing partners and ask them what their experiences have been.
What are the risks with this partnership? Risks of doing? Risks of not doing?
What access can they provide to other potential partners? Companies tend to settle into one or more partner networks. Consider the partners that your target company has. Would any of these companies be desirable targets? Are any of them already on your partner target list?
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