Collaboration, Not Competition: A Winning Small Business Strategy

By Nicole Fallon, BusinessNewsDaily Staff Writer, 24-02-2014

By treating each other like neighbors instead of just competitors, small businesses can achieve greater growth through collaboration.

Small business owners can sometimes feel like it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you fall behind, even for a moment, a more tech-savvy business with greater resources could swoop in and take your customers. But competition among businesses doesn't always have to mean war. Instead of viewing other companies only as competitors, entrepreneur Jay Bernstein thinks business owners should look at them as potential collaborators.
"Collaboration is vital to every business," said Bernstein, founder and CEO of B2B social networking platform WinWin. "There are so many opportunities out there for businesses to work together to exchange ideas and increase purchasing power."
Bernstein based WinWin on what he calls the "neighbor principle" — you go to your neighbor to borrow some milk because you're out. The next day, when it snows, you bring your snow blower down the hill to help him. When this idea is applied to small business, companies can leverage each other's strengths at little or no cost to grow both of their businesses. [14 Great B2B Business Ideas]
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