Entrepreneurs’ expertise can be a shared advantage

Small-business owners find pooling their talents can help them reach a larger group of potential customers without getting stretched too thin

While many entrepreneurs value their independence, a growing number are realizing they can’t succeed alone.

By Ann Meyer
Special to the Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0407190020jul19,1,5965774.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Stretched thin by daily business challenges, many are teaming up with other companies to beef up an area that otherwise might lag.

The Aldo Castillo Gallery, a 5,000-square-foot River North art gallery specializing in high-end Latin American art, is embarking this summer on an alliance with Lukas Machnik Interior Design Service.

Aldo Castillo, the art gallery’s director, and designer Lukas Machnik became acquainted when Machnik shopped at the gallery for unique art for his clients. They began referring customers to one another and offering advice back and forth, but now they’re taking their business relationship a step further.

The gallery is providing Machnik with rent-free office space and will promote his services. In return, Machnik is lending his design expertise on how to best display the gallery’s merchandise.

Instead of a museumlike atmosphere, Machnik is hoping to create an environment where patrons can visualize the art in their own homes.

"It’s creating a space where you can see a relationship with art and furniture," Machnik said. "It’s a new concept."

Alliances between two or more companies crop up for a variety of reasons, but they’re often spurred when the participants find each has an area of expertise that could benefit the other, said Curt Sahakian, executive director of the for-profit Corporate Partnering Institute, a Skokie consulting group. The ultimate purpose is growth.

When forming alliances, he advises companies to first determine what they need, then look for prospects with that expertise. For the alliance to be successful, however, your company must also have something to offer in return, Sahakian said. "It needs to go two ways."

What’s more, alliances are more likely to succeed when participants share core values, said Melissa Giovagnoli, president of Chicago-based Networlding. "Talk about your priorities, what matters most to you, and see if they line up," she said.

Successful alliances are becoming increasingly common among companies of all sizes and experience levels, experts say.

Consider Marge Johnsson and her new start-up, Magnolia Restorations LLC, a historic-renovation consulting company based in Winnetka.

When Johnsson launched the company last year, she wasn’t lacking in business experience. She had built a finance and accounting consulting company in a decade to a thriving 70-employee firm with annual revenue approaching $10 million. She sold the Johnsson Group to a French publicly traded company in 2001.

Still, for all her success, Johnsson started largely from scratch with the recent launch of Magnolia Restorations and faced the universal challenge of developing a following for her new company.

By hooking up with a like-minded small business in a nearby suburb, however, Johnsson has helped bridge that gap. While informal, the alliance between Magnolia Restorations LLC in Winnetka and Benjamin Historic Certifications in Highland Park is paying off for both companies.

Like many alliances, theirs was the outgrowth of working together on a project. When Johnsson purchased the 1908 Howard Van Doren Shaw Montgomery House in Glencoe and decided to restore it, she soon found Susan Benjamin, an architectural historian who specializes in writing landmark nominations and helping clients get tax benefits for rehabbing historic properties.

Project serves as a showcase

The team was successful. The house, which now serves as a showcase for Magnolia Restorations, received historic landmark status in Glencoe. That accomplishment has led to other projects for Magnolia in Illinois and Wisconsin.

The more the two women worked together, the more they realized they shared a common goal as well as a similar customer base. Many of Magnolia Restorations’ clients, who want expert advice in restoring an older home, also seek landmark status. Plus, as part of the restoration process, Magnolia strives to understand a building’s architectural history. That’s where Benjamin’s 40 years of experience as an architectural historian shines.

"What Susan does is the history. What I do is the interpretation of the history," Johnsson said.

By teaming up, the two companies bolster each other’s services and can save their clients time and money.

Independence is maintained

"I’ve often believed 1 and 1 makes 3," Benjamin said. "We all bring different skills to the table." Yet by using alliances, rather than mergers, businesses maintain independence.

Benjamin, who previously was in a formal partnership, appreciates the freedom to pursue a variety of directions.

"You can pick and choose the people you work with as the situation arises," she said. "It’s a tremendous advantage."

Machnik shares Benjamin’s desire for autonomy.

"I do not want anybody influencing my work or how my business is going to be directed," he said.

His company’s alliance with the Aldo Castillo Gallery works, he said, because the two businessmen share a similar taste in art and each respects the other’s expertise.

"We both were artists before and moved on to being business people," Castillo agreed. "We understand the product, but now we understand business."

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