114. Build on your own strengths

Dear Erik,

I know a lot of entrepreneurs who are very successful abroad. I also took my business ventures outside of my own country, at times with more success than in the Netherlands. The idea that being a foreigner was actually an advantage always stuck with me. You can spot the things in need of change and improvement much quicker. You are unrestrained by old habits and other limitations imposed on you by local customs. Your unbiased view of things enables you to perform better. You are free of the usual ballast that a local entrepreneur carries with him. You feel fresh and once you figure out which elements of your own culture you can implement and which you can’t, it becomes easier to do business successfully.In short, I hardly think it matters if you are a local entrepreneur or a foreign one. It depends entirely on your skillset. But that is beside the point. Why would you be afraid of entering into a partnership? In fact, how do you expect to survive without solid and strong partners? I find it extremely liberating to have them. The stronger, the better. I deeply appreciate the professionalism of large partners. And looking back on all the partners we have had so far, it never happened that one trumped the other. What might occur is that you grow apart, or the partnership loses momentum because its profitability begins to waver.

In the Netherlands, we outsourced the sales of our services to independent agents and other temporary employment agencies. We also outsourced our entire payroll system (and that’s fairly unique in our industry – I’d even wager we are the only temp agency to have done this in the Netherlands). This year, we have handled 800 – 1000 temporary workers in the Netherlands with just four of our own staff. So that is the advantage of having solid, reliable partners.

Why don’t I fear that the agencies, our agents or the other partners will run off with our clients or our temporary workers? Why would they? We provide them with an amazing service. Our added value is immense, and we complement each other well. We do something they cannot do, and they are capable of doing things we cannot or do not want to do.

In short, we build on our own strengths. We have a high degree of specialization and precisely because of this, we need strong partners who excel in other areas to make an impact. I think that it’s a prerequisite for any partnership that both partners complement each other, rather than overlap. When the level of overlap is strong, one party will often attempt to dominate the other, and that never has a happy ending.

So, if you are searching for a partner who is entirely equal, you might just be right. But if your partner becomes much stronger and eventually wants to be independent, you can just both go your own way. Being stuck in a partnership where neither party is happy seems like the worst thing imaginable to me.

Regards,

Gerard