Smart businesses are always trying to build partnerships. Their goal might be to extend their market visibility, or deliver a broader set of products and services, or to spread out risk.

In its simplest form, a partner is someone who is actively helping you achieve your goals, while you’re helping them. Even your suppliers could be considered partners, because they’re providing your products and you’re supplying their revenue. But usually we’d reserve the term for relationships that are based on more than just a transfer of money.

People often get scared by partnering, because they think of it as an all-or-nothing commitment. If you’re taking on someone as co-owner of your business, that’s going to deeply affect almost every decision you make until you exit.

That’s a huge decision, a future-altering commitment. Fortunately, it’s not often necessary.

A simpler and more focused partnership is to work with another business to extend your visibility in the market. A coffee shop might give out coupons for the gift store down the street, while the gift store hands out coupons for the coffee shop. This can be wonderfully effective, because they’re