A more open minded attitude to business is needed in Trinidad and Tobago. There are many accounts of entrepreneurs having bad experiences with third parties. These experiences have fostered a fear of partnerships, co-founders and even financial institutions. Today, the fear persists but more startups being created with partners and co-founders. In addition, there are new types of institutions, e.g., incubators, with which information has to be shared.
There are many stories of stolen ideas and failed business relationships. On the other hand, there are success stories of businesses with third party involvement. I cannot offer any advice that is not available on the internet regarding how to avoid bad experiences. However, I will stress and reiterate that to remain competitive and relevant businesses need an open minded attitude. To succeed entrepreneurs must be open to forming linkages and partnerships with other entities.
Open mindedness is important for your competitive advantage. For many startups today, competition is no longer what your business can offer but is quickly becoming how the business can bundle and integrate existing services into a superior offer. To achieve this third parties must have open attitudes too. All parties must move away from the propensity to withhold information and to shun engagement.
My personal experience is that the more you share the more you learn and potentially can earn. Entrepreneurs working with other entities gain a wider perspective and see better quality opportunities. I am currently working with a group of persons on a business idea. The richness of the group enhances the perspectives of how to achieve our objective and the potential impact it may have.
Open relationships don’t just happen like that. They need to be managed. Personalities need to be managed and relationships built. To do that, a deeper perspective of the principals is required; superficial perspectives are insufficient. Understanding third parties’ motivation and personality traits is critical to building strong working relationships.
Business relationship are not forever. People evolve and the business environment changes which in turn causes circumstances to change. Changing circumstances may mean that the business match, once made in heaven, may no longer be beneficial to the parties. Maturity in business relationships is knowing when to move on amicably.