Mike Osredker is founder and managing partner of The Fioras Group LLC. Mr. Osredker's experience includes senior leadership or board of director's responsibilities for joint ventures in China, Brazil, Israel, and Canada, and business development work in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and South America.

Three Global Lessons
By Mike Osredker
The Fioras Group, LLC

I recently reviewed a white paper titled, “Meeting the Challenges of Global Expansion.” The paper is based on a 2007 worldwide survey of 497 senior executives conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit for AT&T. The paper's findings include:

• Thirty percent of the surveyed firms indicated more than half of their revenue is derived from markets outside their home market.
• Within two years, 42% of the firms expect to be generating in excess of half of their revenue from these foreign markets.
• The most likely means for market entry cited by the senior executives was sales or marketing alliances (43%) and joint ventures (47%).

While this information speaks to the continued, exciting growth of global markets, I couldn't help but pause and reflect on some of the lessons I've learned in working with international joint ventures and sales and marketing alliances. I thought I would capture a few of the more memorable lessons and pass those along.

Lesson 1 -- Know Your Partner
Make sure that your potential partner in any joint venture is reputable. Talk to one or several of the international business chambers of commerce who operate in the target market. Pay a local law firm for research to uncover any complaints or legal issues, and make sure that the firm identifies and reviews matters driven by commercial, tax, and labor law compliance.

Lesson 2 -- Know Where You Fit
Are your products or services complementary to those currently being sold by your partner? Will your arrangement with the joint venture or alliance partner be exclusive for your product space; or could your partner have more than one relationship delivering on the same value proposition? How are the sales/distribution channels compensated for the sale of your product and others?

Lesson 3 -- Be Ready to Adjust
Schedule and execute detailed reviews of your relationship and performance, at least twice per quarter, in the first year. Get into the details to be sure you understand market response to your product, competitive market dynamics, and reasonable expectations. Figure out how to ask the question, “Why?” in as many ways as possible. Be persistent and be ready to adjust.

In my experience, the joint ventures and partnerships that are most successful start with these principles. The relationships are open, transparent, and mutually beneficial for the parties. Find the right partner, work hard to establish your specific value proposition, and seek the feedback of your partner and the market to optimize your success.