Marion's Blog

Sometimes life can be extraordinarily simple - even as an entrepreneur. You read something that sets of a train of thought which leads to a clear and precise conclusion. Or you meet people that you are so sure about from the get-go, that you feel you can build a strong partnership instantly.

The latter happened to me 5 years ago - when I met co-founders Adrie and Roeland Reinders. We sat, we talked, and I walked away with that feeling that you simply have no choice, you have to work together to see where a joint operation can get you all to. And it's led us to the most amazing ventures - now particularly with E.Factor. The partnership has been a success, I believe, because we respect each other's skills as much as we respect each other's differences.

The same needs to be true for companies that want to form partnerships, not surprising really since a company is usually an extension of some person's or persons values. So even a company that you wish to partner with, has to show respect for the same values as you adhere to. Looking at recent history - you can see companies in the public domain which were destined for success and others doomed for failure. Take the much debated merger of ABN Amro in the Netherlands with a consortium of other banks. You add to the difficulty by not asking simply to respect one other company's culture and motivation, but to do so with three others. Apart from the crisis, which turned out to be the nail in the coffin in this case - I strongly suspect it would have fallen apart after some time in any case, because the parties involved had little to nothing in common bar being a financial institution.

On the other end of the spectrum you find unlikely partners such as AT&T and Apple. They are very different in nature, the one slow and huge, the other creative and nimble in image - yet they have managed to create a partnership that has lasted a storm of criticism by the public. They simply never talk negatively about the other party, or acknowledge that it might not have been the best move. They are always backing each other up - which is one of the core foundations for a true partnership, even if it is only logical that you will not always agree.

For smaller organizations, it may be even harder to find common ground and the willingness has to be there on both sides to make it work. Harder, simply because the values of each will be deeply ingrained through the founders that are often still involved. Therefore it requires a lot of respect and a slow building of trust for small companies to partner. If the trust gets broken, because one company fails to want to understand the values of the other and even involves the other's customers in the discussion - then it is a very swift end to the partnership and a longer term relationship that could have been beneficial to both. It is often based on sheer short sightedness on the offending party's side - and all you can do, is cut your losses and end the partnership. Once this much disrespect has been shown, you have to simply move on.