How to Cultivate Powerful Professional Partnerships For Your Tutoring Business
What would be possible if you created powerful partnerships for your tutoring business?
Educators are no strangers to collaboration, but have you tapped into collaboration for your business?
Professional partnerships can be powerful in many ways:
- You can combine strengths to create something more impactful than you could on your own.
- You can expand your reach and your income potential by combining your talents and reaching new audiences.
- You can create unlimited opportunities as an education-based business owner.
Through a professional partnership, you can create a bigger impact, increase your income potential, and find the courage to get out there in an even more significant way when you team up with another awesome professional.
So, what could a powerful professional partnership look like for YOU and YOUR business?
Three Steps to Creating a Powerful Professional Partnership for Your Tutoring Business
Step #1: Brainstorm
Before you enter into a partnership, it’s wise to reflect on your strengths and experiences. You’ll want to sit down and do some brainstorming. Try to think outside the box – this is just brainstorming, you’re not obligated to act on any of the ideas.
We suggest beginning your brainstorming by making two lists, one where you list your strengths in business and one where you list your experiences. List everything that comes to mind. You never know what will spark a partnership idea!
Next, begin to brainstorm what it is you think your clients need most. Next to each idea in this list, try to think of a connection, friend, or colleague who could help you provide this product or service to your clients.
Finally, wrap up your brainstorming session by looking everything over and choosing which idea you want to tackle first.
Step #2: Consider compatibility
Once you have an idea selected and an idea of a friend, colleague, or connection to partner with, consider your compatibility as partners.
Here are some questions to consider:
- Do you and your potential partner have a shared vision?
- Do you and your potential partner both have a comparable level of enthusiasm around the project?
- Do you and your potential partner have complementary talents and skills?
- Do you and your potential partner have complementary work habits?
- Is your potential partner someone who would be willing to make compromises?
- Do you and your potential partner have similar styles of communication?
Finally, when considering compatibility, take a close look at what you bring to the partnership and what your potential partner brings to the partnership. Take a closer look at what you will benefit from the partnership and what your potential partner will benefit from the partnership.
Then use the information to reflect on if this would make a successful partnership. Ask yourself, does this partnership work for everyone involved?
Step #3: Plan ahead
Planning ahead is the best way to set your new partnership up for success.
Consider planning these details ahead of launch with your new partner to avoid any issues in the future:
- Budget – Work together to set a budget that you are both comfortable with. Then commit to sticking to budget.
- Payments – Discuss ahead of time who will control the money. How will you accept payments? Who will disperse the payouts? Look at the logistics of what that will mean.
- Content and resource creation – Have open and honest discussions about who will be responsible for what when it comes to creating content and resources. One partner may be better with PowerPoint and the other may be more comfortable creating a workbook. This is fine, but you will want to stay on top of who is creating what content.
- Task completion – Divvy up tasks in a way that supports each partner’s strengths and feels somewhat even for everyone.
- Communication – Set up systems for communication. You’ll likely want to set time for planning and working on things together.
- Technology – Consider if this is a strength or weakness for those in the partnership. Skills here may be mismatched, and that’s okay. Technology can be scary and overwhelming or exciting for the people in the partnership.
As your partnership grows, you may need to revisit some of these considerations. Partnerships evolve over time and that is great.
Dream BIG. Opportunities are waiting for you!
Find other eduprenuers and form professional partnerships for your tutoring business! Join our Members Academy! And don’t miss our Powerful Partnerships Training and action guide in the Members Academy.
