Smart business partnerships

Four strategic moves to help grow businesses.

Partnerships have helped to fuel the growth of some of the world’s biggest companies. Coca-Cola became what it is today by partnering with bottlers and manufacturers.

By ensuring neighbourhood shops around the world had a Coca-Cola sign displayed outside, it gained unprecedented brand awareness, becoming one of the most known and recognised brands in the world.

At different stages of their growth many businesses find themselves in need of a partner to help further their goals.

By forming strategic partnerships, you can often leapfrog on progress. Done right, a good partnership can have a tremendous impact on company growth, from increasing sales and reaching new markets to driving efficiency in your operations.

Partnerships for growth

Aisha Pandor, CEO of SweepSouth, says that “in today’s age of collaboration, finding likeminded businesses to create alliances with can be a valuable tool in taking your company to greater heights”.

Since their launch in 2014, SweepSouth have formed many partnerships with companies such as Unilever, FlySafair, FNB, @home, Superbalist and NetFlorist, and it’s one of the smart strategies that’s propelled them from being a small tech start-up to taking their leader board place as SA’s largest home services platform, with expansion into Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt.

Partnerships on the ground

Zoho has partnered with communities on the ground and opened 59 new global hub-and-spoke offices in rural areas and small cities in the last two years. Zoho has built its business by being a partner that helps people thrive.

Initiatives include partnerships with local organisations and government bodies to lower the technology adoption barrier for businesses and upskilling courses in association with educational institutes.

Strategic partnerships for enhanced customer value

Great partnerships can help even well-established brands gain a competitive advantage, helping each brand to offer stronger value to their clients.

When selecting a company to partner with, think about what makes sense to your business and to your clients, and what service or product would benefit them most.

Safely using fintech to save with a security partner

Upnup is a South African microsavings app that allows clients to accumulate Bitcoin by rounding up their transactions and purchases. To further enhance security around transactions, they partnered with Stitch to allow customers to automatically move funds from their linked bank account into their upnup wallet.

Payments and data API Stitch allows customers to link their financial accounts to their favourite app or platform for the purpose of making fast, secure payments directly from their banks.