As I have mentioned before I am very active in the beauty community.  Like all makeup junkies I love Sephora.  For those who don’t know, Sephora is the Willy Wonka chocolate factory of the makeup world.  The store sells top beauty brands as well as has an in-house line of cosmetics.  Recently Sephora partnered with Pantone and created a limited edition line based on Pantone’s color of the year: Tangerine Tango.

The thought of one of the leading beauty brands partnering with THE authority on color is such a genius idea I’m surprised it took so long for it to happen.  Partnering with other organizations is a great way to open up your brand to new service offerings,  new audiences and new opportunities.  Here are some tips of what to look for in a successful partnership.

Look for partners in complementary industries:  Take time to think about your services and what partnerships would complement them. Sephora’s partnership with Pantone is brilliant because they both service audiences that value similar things (albeit in different ways).  It helps them both present beauty and creativity in a new light to their customers. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and ask yourself what they value in you. Who can you partner with that shares the same values?

More opportunities without more payroll: Partnerships are also great for expanding your team without expanding your payroll. Partnerships also allow you to go for business opportunities that might otherwise be out of your reach. The partnership with Sephora enabled Pantone to capitalize on the make-up market, one where the love of colors is the name of the game. I’m sure they never thought they’d be selling cosmetics! Finding organizations that can expand your existing operations on an as-needed basis is a great way to start.

Flexibility by proxy:  A great thing about partnerships is that they allow larger organizations to capitalize on the flexibility and nimble nature of their smaller counterparts; not to mention visibility to their niche audiences. While its difficult for more established companies to play in a start-up environment, partnerships can provide access to innovation and energy that combined with resources can lead to new products and opportunities.

Think about what partnerships your organization could benefit from.  With a little searching you will find a perfect match that will lead to beautiful results.