Your business reputation is a valuable factor that you should be working on at all times, and there are many things that can affect it. It’s difficult to maintain your reputation when it’s being affected by factors outside of your control - especially when it’s through the partnerships that your business has formed. Business partnerships should always be beneficial, and if your reputation is being affected negatively, you should make sure to seek partners elsewhere. Better yet, you should know what to look for before you form a new partnership, to begin with.
Their values
Before you form a partnership with another business, you should make sure you understand their values, and make sure they line up with the values of your own business. A lot of the time, a business reputation can be changed in an instant if it were to partner with a business that’s seen as unethical. It wouldn’t look good for your business to preach their eco-friendly values to partner with a business that has no concern for the environment.
The quality you’re receiving
If you’re going to form a partnership with another business, you want to know what it is that you’re actually going to get from them. If they’re going to be your supplier, for example, you should make sure their products have been tested or sampled extensively to ensure your satisfaction. If you’re opting for a honing or cleaning service for your materials, you might look into something like what media is used for wet blasting. The outcome of your partnership needs to fit the needs of your business.
It’s not just your business that’s going to be affected, but your customers, too. A poorer quality product means your customers are going to feel less satisfaction from your products, and you may be forced to lower prices - which is very impractical if you’re not paying less for supplies.
The public reputation
If you were to partner with a business that’s currently facing controversy in the public eye, it’s going to drag your business down with them. You have values to uphold, and partnering with a business that doesn’t uphold those same values is going to give the public the idea that you’re more concerned about the money than what your consumers think. It’s not a good idea overall, and you should carefully consider who you decide to partner with.
Setting expectations
You need to be open and communicate with the other businesses that you intend to partner with so that you’re both clear of the others’ expectations. You could even make sure that if your expectations aren’t met, the partnership would be terminated at any time. Having an attorney involved every step of the way is going to help to protect your business from any foul play when it comes to setting up these agreements.
It’s best to make sure your expectations are known so that you don’t end up wasting time with partners that your business is simply not compatible with.