Have any joint venture experience?

> What if you don't have a product to sell?
> I've read that you can broker the JV's and
> get a slice of the profits. How would you
> set that up?

Ok. First things first. Being a JV Deal Maker is TOUGH. Sure. It is appealing. After all, what better way to make money than put two people together for a percentage of every sale that gets made. NO WORK after it has been set up.

BUT

*I* would consider THAT kind of project to be for the ADVANCED JV entrepreneur. NO BEGINNERS ALLOWED kind of thing.

TRUTH is: Businesses owners will more readily deal with other businesses than with a go between.

Knowing this FACT, you can rework how you would approach a JV deal. And that is, by being the other business owner.

So

Instead of trying to match a shoe seller with a dress store... YOU become the shoe seller. YOU get your shoes from the wholesalers. Just like the shoe store does. THEN the dress shop will talk to you. And talk to you as a fellow business OWNER. More respect.

Not saying a deal cannot be brokered by someone. Just that THOSE kinds of deals are BEST left to those who KNOW what they are DOING and NOT someone who is LEARNING.

Like all things... learn FIRST and SMALL. Cut your teeth. GAIN experience. Then - and only then - move on up to the bigger fishies.

You may just find - after YOU have made money by being one of the business owners in the deal - that you don't want to be a JV Deal Broker.

One reason: YOU get a customer list. Deal brokers get nothing but the money. Once the deal is done, money stops flowing. With a list... you get to market to them again and again and again and again and again.

Maybe next time you deal with Mobile Lube Dude - sell mobile lube to those who bought your wonderous shoes. Or mayhaps you sell your shoe buyers some special-blend mountain-grown can't-stop-at-just-one-cup coffee-grounds for their plugers - and if they don't have plungers sell them one.

Putting deals together (brokering) is a headache. Better to BE a PROPER BUSINESS OWNER and put deals together to sell YOUR products to the customers of others PROPER BUSINESS OWNERS.

Wear the marketing cost. Give a profit percentage. Rejoice at the increased sales and extra customers you have.

Can't be bothered with that. Then FINDING is the BETTER OPTION. Better than JV Deal Brokering. Lets REAL BUSINESS OWNERS do their own deal and you get a percentage of it. (Jim Straw has a GREAT course on Finding.)

I know this did not answer your questions - setting it up, guaranteeing payments, etc. That's because learning to walk before being a JV deal broker (run) is more important.

Michael Ross

P.S. Whatever deals you make with these "businesses owners" put it in writing get it in writing.