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Today, the business of owning and operating a company is highly competitive as brands wrestle with one another over a particular client or market to come out on top. Many companies, however, simply can’t afford to overwhelm the competition, concerned that outspending the opposition will eventually run the business dry.
Chad Jenkins, owner of over 50 companies, including entrepreneurial collaboration brand SEEDSPARK, and author of the innovative book Just Add a Zero, believes competition is not the be-all and end-all of running a business. Instead, he knows collaborating with other companies helps all parties involved prosper and should be prioritized as such whenever possible.
Collaboration is easier said than done, of course, which is why he wrote Just Add a Zero. Jenkins wants to help those who yearn to think unconventionally and inform them that there is a community ready and willing to support them.
The Power of “Unless”
Jenkins posits that entrepreneurs are held back by conventional thinking when encountering obstacles.
In discussing how he helps empower entrepreneurs to cultivate unconventional thinking, the author states, “I typically create growth strategies anchored around concepts that help people do that… So, Just Add a Zero sounds very simple, right? You see the numbers, and you add a zero to it. What would have to be true for that number now to be a true statement in your business?”
Many of the entrepreneurs Jenkins’ works with responds to this question with incredulity, saying they would need a great deal more resources, connections, or just a different location for their business to make their plans work.
In turn, Jenkins asks them to “add the power of one little word: Unless.” He observed, “They just get real quiet, and they come up with the answer themselves. It’s really interesting and fun to watch.” Through this exercise, Jenkins has empowered business owners to leverage these answers as the next steps they need to multiply their efforts and propel their companies toward the next milestone.
Additionally, by asking this question to multiple people at once, he helps them recognize that others now share the same way of thinking—they are not alone on their entrepreneurial journeys. Also, because they are in a room with like-minded individuals, they may potentially form future collaborations on the spot.
Leveraging Collaboration
“Most often, there are people out there who can do exactly what you need to help catapult your business forward,” Jenkins explains. “But the only convention in today’s world is the mindset of ‘I’m going to pay you money. And you’re going to provide me a service.’”
When people treat businesses as purely transactional, with no communication beyond the immediate exchange, all parties suffer. Jenkins notes that by being honest about their goals and expectations, each business could gain so much more from the relationship.
“If I was pretty open and honest about the outcome of your services,” Jenkins elaborates, “my business is going to create this outcome. And [if] we came together and collaborated on the outcome, you’re probably going to make double the margin that you would have made in the current conventions.”
Collaborating in this manner, although it demands transparency many businesses are unwilling to display, ultimately benefits everyone. It becomes that much easier to reach a certain outcome when everyone involved is fully aware of all that needs to be done to attain that goal.
Through Just Add a Zero and much of his work at SEEDSPARK, Jenkins has helped many business owners unite for their betterment. He recognizes that sometimes a company’s direction doesn’t need to look vertically for a partner but instead look to the left or right to see who’s also searching for their next collaborator.
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