Entrepreneurship can be a lonely road and isolation not only takes a toll on your social life, but can also kill your business. One way to avoid this death sentence is to collaborate with other entrepreneurs — even those who may be considered competitors.
Consider Donna Standridge of Saphoros Skincare Essentials, who wanted earlier this year to exhibit in the gifting lounge at the Billboard Oscar party benefiting the Children Uniting Nations charity. Since Donna could not attend herself, she enlisted the help of Valerie Reed, a friend, fellow Premium Indie Beauty Network member and owner of a cosmetics company based in the Los Angeles area. Valerie agreed to go to the event to ensure that the organizers kept their promise to organize and maintain Donna's display and take pictures.
Valerie arrived at the event to discover that Donna's display was a mess, so she quickly jumped in, without having a clue about how Donna liked to organize her displays. The next thing you know, the display was beautiful and Valerie was showing Donna's products to movie stars and taking pictures of them as they signed Donna's banner to raise money for charity.
Says Donna, "Val pulled me from a river I didn't know I was drowning in. Our strong bond, our sisterhood, and our support for each other gave her the drive to represent my company. I cannot tell you how thankful I am, not just for her saving the day, but for the treasured friendship that will last a lifetime and goes far beyond business. And I met her through Indie Beauty!" You can visit Saphoros' photo gallery from the event at Saphoros. there's a link on the home page. You can visit Valerie's website at Valana Minerals.
Donna and Valerie set a wonderful example of entrepreneurial kinship, demonstrating the arrival of what I call the collaboration nation. It's a new way to compete in a capitalist society that is desperately in need of people who happen to be business owners, rather than business owners who happen to be people.
Question: ho can you collaborate with to create a mutually beneficial business relationship?
