Harnessing the Power of Synergy

by Christian on May 27, 2011

Synergy can be defined as the energy that is created when parts or processes work harmoniously together as a whole. When you think about it, that is the perfect definition of a joint venture as well!

When two businesses come together with the sole intention of boosting the bottom lines of both, synergy really can occur. We’ll take a look at the synergy of joint ventures in this article to inspire you to the many heights these partnerships can achieve.

Synergy in Business

When two companies come together for the purpose of creating a higher performance level together than they can achieve separately, that is synergy in the business world.

To demonstrate this concept, let’s take a look at a math problem involving horses. When two horses are able to pull 9,000 pounds together, how much can four horses pull? If you said 18,000 pounds, you would be incorrect. Four horses working together in synergy can actually pull as much as 30,000 pounds.

Now consider your business. Let’s say you have a current customer list of 5,000. You partner up with another company that has a customer list of 10,000. While the short response will be that you expand your customer list to 15,000, consider word-of-mouth recommendations, additional marketing and the advantage of business endorsements from your joint venture partner. Instead of an increase to 15,000, your new customer base might be exponentially higher simply because of the synergy created by the strategic alliance between your two businesses!

Finding Synergy in Your Joint Venture

To assure synergy in your own joint venture endeavors, you must focus on three key factors:

Vision – You and your joint venture partner should combine strategies and opportunities to make the most of your partnership. The visions you have for your separate businesses become that much more powerful when they are combined into a single joint venture.

Creativity – When you combine creative efforts, you inspire one another to achieve well beyond your initial goals for your business. This takes your vision to a whole new level by finding paths to make that vision a reality.

Execution – The practical element of synergy, execution actually involves putting the vision and creativity into action. Execution combines your talents and resources to achieve the highest possible goal for the least amount risk. Execution requires teamwork – both from the joint venture standpoint and within each individual staff – to achieve the goals you set for your companies.

Synergy is not something that happens randomly; it involves preparation and communication to bring synergy into a joint venture. Before you and your joint venture partner sign on the bottom line, it is important to discuss your vision, goals and resources for your joint venture to ensure you are both on the same page and will be working together for a common purpose.

Synergy combines energy, power and resources to create something much bigger than either individual can do alone. In the case of a joint venture, synergy provides the necessary force to take your marketing to the next level so you can build an effective customer list, increase the quantity and quality of your sales and significantly boost your bottom line.

 

The Need for the Formation of Productive Synergies in the Creation of an enabling environment for Entrepreneurship Development by Ekow Mensah

By: Ekow Mensah: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ekow-Mensah-Entrepreneurial-Minded/152289474845005

It is disheartening indeed that the moment you decide to defy the status quo and be unique, being an entrepreneur instead of looking for a well-paying job; the odds seem to turn on you and the joy of being innovative and seeing your vision being transformed into reality through your products and services, seems to diminish. The life of fulfillment that comes with being an entrepreneur or an innovator seems to turn into a life of struggle, immense difficulties and survival. Indeed, nobody said it will be easy but does it have to be so ‘damn hard’ especially in Ghana, a country that seems to be blessed with everything but strained with massive lack in resources to promote innovation and entrepreneurship!

Of course the government is doing what it believes will help and most importantly gain them political points, so most of their interventions, as they call it, are tailored to meet the ‘needs’ of the indigenous masses who by the way, work just to put food on the table and really are not too much concerned with innovation, international standards and going global with their crafts. As needful as these interventions may be, they still lack the elements worthy of putting Ghana on the global economic map. Initiatives such as the Ghana Venture Capital Fund, whose operation is not too different from the banks now, with back-breaking requirements and unbearably long waiting times for funds, make it impossible for young, talented, passionate, innovative and educated individuals and groups to access the funds. So, obviously, we can not depend on the government alone to ease the burden of entrepreneurship and innovation.

The way forward I believe, is the formation of formidable and productive networks. I don’t know why but i guess it’s a human thing or particularly a ‘black’ thing. We never work together, never! We all prefer to work in our own small corners, doing our own small things and as most people put it ‘minding our own business’. That wouldn’t even be a problem if we were minding our own businesses but we get caught up in being copy-cats and imitators and eventually mess up great initiatives. Predecessors; our mentors and role models feel threatened by our innovation, passion and speed and secretly and even openly shamelessly sabotage us…it’s sad.

Henry Ford once said “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Evidently success in entrepreneurship lies in building productive synergies and instead of talking and complaining, we should come together, each with their skills sets and resources to create that enabling environment we so much desire in Ghana. In Genesis 11:6 (on the tower of Babel), God said “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” (NIV) God realizes that when people are unified in purpose they can accomplish impossible feats…it’s time to come together to build our destinies…join us make the GHANA START-UP CAPITAL FUND a reality and a tremendous success… http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_185907504791286