In my experience, every successful ecosystem requires the combination of both the right conditions and the right mindset of the people involved in it.
While the conditions may not be always in our control, the mindset for a successful partner ecosystem can definitely be developed through practice.
This is clearly very important to develop if we pay attention to recent trends in the world.
For example :
By 2025,(as per Mckinsey) nearly a third of total global sales is would come from ecosystems where partners from different industries collaborate to develop unique solutions
Source: McKinsey & Company
Hence the 3 Principles that in my opinion can be applied to nurture a successful partner ecosystem are as follows:
1. Define And Understand The Problem
If you want to succeed at a goal, you need to understand why you want it.
- Michael Dobson
The first thing one needs to understand is what issues and grievances are they solving through their product or services.
There are always a lot of solutions out there in the market, but unless a product or service gives your partners and their clients some actual real-world and measurable value, it would simply fizzle out in the nick of time.
If you have complete clarity and understanding about the problem that your partners and their clients are facing, you would be able to develop the right solution that addresses their pain points with precision which in turn would earn you an immense of trust and success.
2. The Secret Sauce…Teamwork
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is a success."
– Henry Ford
No matter how you encounter your partners, it is essential that you understand the diversity that they bring with them.
The key here is to use the diverse views and leverage them in order to develop the best for your end clients. A wider range if diverse views will lead to a more versatile product or service.
Also, the work culture in the ecosystem needs to be conducive for it to thrive. A negative environment in the ecosystem will subdue innovative approaches and stifle brilliance and growth.
3. Evolve with the Market
“Unless you continually work, evolve, and innovate, you’ll learn a quick and painful lesson from someone who has.”
- Cael Sanderson
There are countless examples where ecosystems have become stagnant and defunct because they failed to predict where and what the market was moving towards.
Of course, there will be times when your initial plans are no longer of use to anyone out there. Market needs can sometimes evolve faster than expected leading to a complete U-turn of the projections.
But do not be disheartened in such instances. The key here is to be always seeking constructive feedback and evolve continuously based on this feedback in a balanced way.
This will help you to stay ahead of the competition and really give the product and services your customers actually need before even they realize that they need them!
To sum it all up, Understand and deconstruct what are you trying to solve, find a good diverse team to solve it, and finally seek continuous feedback in order to stay ahead of the curve and beat the competition. It’s said in a simple way as follows :
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. – Helen Keller
