I was talking to a person who contacted me about his company needing a service for a fairly big task. This is going to be in the five figure ranges and so it is definitely no small transaction. Now the interesting thing is for me to handle it I would need to acquire some assistance as it is not something that I would normally focus on everyday. At the same time the other choice is to simply pass it off to another company as a referral of sort.
That got me thinking too as either option both has its positives and negatives. By simply passing it off you could in hence build a better business relationship with another individual/company with the expectation that the same would be returned if the situation was reversed. On the other hand, one could simply go with acquiring talent internally route where because the budget is so huge it can make sense to hire help to handle it yourself which could end up being an expansion for you in the long term.
I have always found the biggest hurdle in both of these options is finding someone that you can truly trust to take care of it as with either option you are being dependent on them following through with their promises and obligations. Sometimes it is better to just leave it alone if the risk is too high.
Another technique that I have seen between two companies that are done with a lot of success is a private labeling and behind the scenes partnership to benefit both parties. Basically, each company acts as if they are a member of each other’s company for whoever acquired the business. Can make sense in many ways for both the short and long term if your intent was to expand.