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The
following Case Study is an interview (printed with permission)
between Katheryn Labosky and JV-Web. Katheryn is an experienced
marketer and businesswoman, and the owner of KLR Marketing /
Written
Solutions, and co-owner of Home
Business Movies.
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Case
Study Overview:
Subject
and Author: Katheryn Labosky, Accomplished Marketer and
Entrepreneur
Topic:
"How to Create a Truly Successful
Joint Venture on Every Level - and Generate So Much Momentum
That it Produces Even More Profit Than You'd Ever Have Guessed..."
Summary:
Katheryn recounts a successful joint-project with her business
partner David Doggett that proved to be very successful - and
also had a very positive, yet unexplainable impact
on each of their own seperate businesses...
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JV-Web:
Katheryn, can you give us a quick summary of your latest
joint venture?
Katheryn:
My latest Joint Venture has actually led into more of a complete
partnership than a Joint Venture. My partner and I decided to
produce our first product
for home-based businesses. Prior to this, both he and I had
been service related entirely, and we both catered to the same
niche markets. We identified a need in these niche markets
that wasn't being resolved by our service businesses and developed
the product around this need.
JV-Web:
Would you mind explaining a little about the benefits of
working with
your JV partner instead of outsourcing?
Katheryn:
It definitely saves money over outsourcing, but overall I don't
think this
type of creation was "outsourceable" at all. It's
a very technology driven product and my partner had the technical
skills I lacked. It's a bit of a work heavy product too, so
he and I did need to have a partner in order to effectively
and quickly produce it. Our other businesses also cut into our
time so neither one of us had the time to devote to outsourcing
of the development of this product. Outsourcing is many times
more work heavy than others imagine.
JV-Web:
You mentioned that you and your partner already knew eachother
quite well before embarking on this joint project. Would you
have considered a similar partnership with someone that you
didn't already know - if they had the same thing to offer?
Katheryn:
I would consider other JVs/partnerships only if the person
offering them had a proven track record of business success
themselves and could work effectively with me. My partner,
David Doggett and I were both in business for almost the same
number of years and shared the same knowledge base and methods
of doing business. The product we created was significantly
different than others out there, and it is a multi-media online
marketing application for small to mid-sized home businesses,
so a knowledge of this market was needed by both.
JV-Web:
Your project was obviously a success on many different levels.
In your
mind, what were the key "ingredients" that made it
successful?
Katheryn:
This was the easiest question for me because I know exactly
why this product succeeded for both Dave and I so well, and
why our partnership flourished:
A.
We both shared the same knowledge base and past experiences,
and we both
functioned within many of the same target markets prior to the
creation of this product.
B.
We both had a good solid knowledge of business principles and
of marketing.
C.
We had enjoyed working with each other prior to our partnership.
D.
We both discussed our expectations and approaches completely
before proceeding.
E.
And what I consider MOST important: Our personalities work well
together. We don't have the SAME personalities (Dave is the
calm one, while I am the emotional one), but our personalities
complement each other and lead to our working flawlessly together
as well as working flawlessly with clients. We instinctively
pick up certain chores within the business, which suits each
of our personalities. We almost always agree on everything,
and when we don't, we discuss things rationally. Dave and I
"respected" each other and what we had done with our
lives and our businesses PRIOR to the creation of our partnership.
It is that mutual respect for each other that really makes
the partnership flow smoothly at all times.
JV-Web:
Obviously both yourself and your JV partner were investing
alot of resources, time and faith (so to speak) into your joint-project.
Did you have an agreement in place that protected both of you
in case anything went wrong?
Katheryn:
Dave and I are really just now getting a legal agreement together.
We had started this in the beginning of the partnership, and
planned to have it completed before the product took off. The
product was so enormously popular, so quickly, though, that
we got caught up in the creation of more styles of the product
and the usual customer service, that Dave and I are just now
finishing our agreement in writing. Neither one of us is really
in any hurry, I guess, as both of us are so comfortable with
each other. I guess if we didn't know each other as well
as we do, this would not be the case.
JV-Web:
You mentioned that the JV had a bit of a mysterious "ripple
effect" - increasing activity in each of your own seperate
businesses as well - even though the joint-product belonged
to a different subsidiary company. Can you give us a few details
about this phenomenon?
Katheryn:
This was the greatest surprise to both Dave and I. We
planned to launch the product and simply continue our efforts
in our own service businesses the way we always had. When
we launched the product though, interest in the product AS WELL
AS our other services exploded, and we have an influx
of work that continues even now for all our products and services.
The new
product line worked as an advertisement for all our services
to new clients. In addition, existing clients now wanted MORE
of both my services and Dave's as now we were a "complete
package" helping them to get everything they needed in
one location. We now promote our prior services "as
one" also, as this does increase business for both of us
exponentially.
JV-Web:
Alot of our readers are likely trying to sort out how set
up a Joint Venture so that it actually works, and so that everyone
wins. Do you have any advice that you can offer in regards to
turning an "agreement" into a working, thriving partnership?
Katheryn:
The best piece of advice I can give is to actually like and
respect the other person. If that doesn't exist right from
the beginning, nothing will happen, as too many debates will
occur. It's actually a trust factor that really takes time to
develop perhaps. Dave and I don't "step on each others'
toes" as far as decisions, as I trust him completely to
make the right ones and I know without a doubt that he trusts
me the same. We constantly make decisions within the business
without worrying that the other will disagree.
This
also is because our goals/expectations are the same. Everything
is split 50/50 and we are brutally honest at all times
with each other. We made a commitment not just to the product,
but to our partnership, and even without this particular product,
Dave and I would continue together to create others. There's
such a level of commitment as partners that Dave and I share,
it's really hard to describe to others.
JV-Web:
Thanks so much for your time, Katheryn. Do you have any URL's
that our
readers can visit to learn more about what you're doing?
Katheryn:
Dave and I both have several sites. Our "Partnership Product"
is Home
Business Movies and can be viewed at: www.homebusinessmovies.com.
Dave's services
can be viewed at: www.cyberneticmedia.com,
and my own services at: www.written-solutions.com.
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Katheryn
Labosky is
an experienced marketer and businesswoman, and the owner of
KLR Marketing / Written
Solutions, and co-owner of Home
Business Movies.
David
Doggett is an experienced entrepreneur and the owner of
Cybernetic
Media .
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