If you are considering a joint venture or getting ready to enter into one, it is vital that you establish a joint venture contract. This is one instance where word of mouth or simple verbal agreements are not going to be adequate. You need to have a clearly defined outline of how things will go, what the rights and responsibilities of various partners are, and how payments and expenses will be determined and delivered. But why is this so important?
Protect Yourself
Any potential joint venture partner that encourages you not to consider a contract or is dead set against a contract is one that you are probably better off without. If for no other reason than the fact that you should probably doubt this partner's true intentions. Even if the doubts are unfounded or untrue, you would be better served avoiding doing business with those whose motives you question or integrity you distrust. Trust is important in any business venture and a contract helps keep everyone in the process honest.
Protect all Partners
It would be a shame to create a profitable joint venture that is later ruined by one partner who either robs you all of your profits or maligns your good name by accusing you of stealing his or her idea. Unfortunately, these things have been known to happen. Having a physical contract that is signed by every single partner will eliminate the possibility of the work being stolen, the profits being stolen, or someone accusing you of theft for the product that was created collectively. Everyone involved in the process benefits from the protection that a contract offers except those who have ill intentions.
Clearly Defines Roles
The other reason you need contracts in all joint ventures is so that the roles of each partner can be clearly defined. There is something about seeing your responsibilities in black and white on a legal contract that bring them front and center in your mind. If everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, everyone is better prepared to handle them and get the job done. This also avoids questions and grumbling when the time comes to distribute the profits between you or when contemplating ending the partnership. Your contract should define the terms for all these eventualities and give you the answers you need in these situations.
There is no question that you need a contract when considering all joint ventures. The contract is the one piece of paper that is most necessary in a joint venture partnership. If you are considering a joint venture with someone who doesn't want the benefit of a contract and is unwilling to extend you the courtesy of signing a contract, it is a good idea to rethink the partnership before you invest any more time, effort, energy, or information into the process. Remember that everything you discuss with this potential partner is information that he or she has to come up with a product that will compete with yours if the partnership falls through and without a contract, there really seems to be no reason to go forward.
You have a knock out joint venture idea. You've recruited your joint venture partners. Now what? How do you begin to build up to the joint venture launch without losing momentum or worse, experience a very real sense of let down when the product goes live and sales aren't quite what you were hoping for? Of course everyone has dreams of a massively successful joint venture product loss that will make everyone involved in the project wildly wealthy.
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case—especially for first time joint venture products. Only the gurus who have massive mailing lists and hundreds of partners in on the release are able to bring in the massive piles of money on the first day of a launch. That doesn't mean that you can't have a very successful product launch in your own right. It is a good idea to be realistic in your expectations though and realize that once you've mastered this product, you can build upon the success and create a new product to launch while still earning on this product. That is where the real Internet wealth with joint ventures comes in.
Create a Rockin' Product
It is absolutely necessary to create a product that is different from others on the market, that meets a common need within your niche, and offers real value to those who buy it. If you fail to do any of these things you will not achieve the success you are hoping for. That doesn't mean you won't make any money but pretty much guarantees you won't make as much money as you could make. Plan to spend a lot of time developing, working with, and refining your product in order to ensure that is the best product you could possibly come up with before you release your product to the buying public.
Build up Buzz
Hit your list and the list of your partner in the days and weeks prior to release with hints about the amazing product you are preparing to release and what it can mean to them. Let them know it's coming and make sure that they are looking out for it. You may even want to offer a subscription to a new mailing list that will be dedicated to the product launch. This makes sure that they don't miss the information you are dripping to them as the big unveiling approaches. Encourage them to tell their lists and friends about the product that is on the way. You may even want to offer a prize to those who get the most people to sign up to your list prior to the product launch. A free product is a great incentive and can really motivate people to bring you even more visitors.
Don't forget to use your blog, article marketing, and social networking to build up buzz for the big release as well. You can't leave it to your existing list or the subscribers. You need to generate your own buzz and do a little advertising to guarantee that as many people as possible are their to witness your launch. This is a great way to build up to your joint venture and ensure your success as much as possible.
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