When skills or experience overlap with another person, some people believe you must be in competition.  This is a sign of a closed, glass half-empty mindset. But what about the benefits a combined approach, or collaboration, can deliver to a client?  This is a glass half-full, growth mindset.

Recently, I was working with one client in the morning and another in the afternoon.  In both cases the client has engaged a virtual finance director in addition to working with me on business strategy and growth planning.  My skills and experiences are different to that of either Dick or Nick (the two virtual FDs) but as senior and experienced businesspeople we have overlapping expertise to offer to both business owners.

Rather than compete for the client’s attention, favour and expenditure we, in both cases, collaborate and work together in the interest of our clients’ respective businesses.  This extends to meeting and bringing together our different services to provide a joined-up approach, as a result our individual contributions are better as a whole.

The world in which we operate is a big place with plenty of potential business.  Trying to elbow someone else out of the picture when there is benefit in a joint approach is short sighted.  In fact, we could go as far to say it highlights your insecurities.  Yes, you might ‘win’ a piece of business as a result, but the client will miss out on the value of what you can do together.  Furthermore as future opportunities arise the person with the sharp elbows isn’t going to be at the front of anyone’s queue when they are looking for a partner.

It’s not often that a Dick ‘n’ Nick day comes around but I’m delighted to have been working with open, growth minded professionals for many years. What’s your mindset when it comes to collaboration?

We have been collaborating with other businesses since 2003 and would be delighted to share some of our experiences with you.  Contact us to arrange an informal get-together.