Strategic Partnerships Canvas
A Guide & Tool to Build Successful Alliances
Businesses can grow on their own, but most successful companies rely on partnerships. Collaborating with others helps companies expand, enter new markets, develop new technologies and products, and improve their services.
For example, in the pharmaceutical industry, partnerships between research institutions and drug manufacturers help develop new medicines.
And if we want some statistics to validate the impact of alliances, 95 % of Microsoft’s revenue comes through its channel partners ecosystem, and Tesla and Panasonic partnered to develop batteries that saved the car manufacturer significant costs. In the IT industry, more than 70% of business deals come from partnerships.
Companies form partnerships for different reasons: to protect their market, to grow, or to share knowledge and resources, are some of the most common.
The more important alliances, usually called Strategic partnerships, bring two companies together for a very impactful shared goal.
To make it easier for businesses and professionals to create strong partnerships, I’ve developed the Strategic Partnerships Canvas, a free tool available on Miro.com.
The goal is to provide a structured yet flexible approach that simplifies the complexities of partnerships, making collaboration more accessible and effective for professionals worldwide, no matter their background or experience.
The Canvas: A Simple Approach to Complex Collaborations
Forming a strategic partnership requires many steps and agreements. The Strategic Partnerships Canvas is a tool that helps partners define and organize their collaboration. It can also be used by a company alone to plan the kind of partner they need.
This Canvas’ goal is not to be a perfect solution for every case, but a practical tool for professionals working with partnerships. It aims to address all important aspects of a partnership before it actually begins, planning and organizing the alliance in a structured way, and setting it up for success.
Overview
The Strategic Partnerships Canvas is structured to help companies build partnerships step by step, ensuring a clear and organized approach.
It starts with the setup phase, where partners define the partnership’s purpose, values, and target customers. This helps align both companies from the beginning and ensures they have a shared vision.
Once the foundation is established, the focus shifts to defining goals and responsibilities. Each company outlines its individual goals and expectations while also identifying shared objectives. This clarity helps avoid misunderstandings and ensures both parties contribute effectively.
Next, the governance and operational structure are set up. This includes defining how decisions will be made, setting up performance metrics (KPIs), and determining how often the partnership will be evaluated. For example, businesses use a mix of lead and lag indicators to track progress and adjust their strategy as needed.
The execution phase covers key activities, necessary resources, and the tools or processes that will support the partnership. Companies define the activities they will undertake, the people responsible, and the systems that will be used to manage operations efficiently.
Finally, the Canvas addresses results, rewards, and exit criteria. Partners agree on expected outcomes, how rewards and responsibilities will be distributed, and under what conditions the partnership should be modified or terminated. For instance, exit criteria can include reaching a revenue target or a significant change in market conditions.
By following this structured approach, companies can navigate the complexities of strategic partnerships in a logical and effective way, reducing risks and maximizing the value of their collaboration.
How to Use the Canvas
Using the Strategic Partnerships Canvas effectively requires collaboration and structured discussions. Partners should work through each section step by step, ensuring all key elements are covered before moving forward to the next.
This can be done through a series of workshops between the parties where each part of the Canvas is co-created. The first parts of this tool include specific sections so each partner can define their own expectations before moving on to agreeing on the common ones.
This is very important as while the goal of the partnership needs to be the same for both parts, it’s clear that they don’t necessarily have the same individual objectives.
Defining how the strategic partnership will be governed should come next, and this needs to include not only performance metrics but also how those will be evaluated and reviewed. Having a clear accountability framework will ensure both parties remain committed to the agreement.
The Canvas brings the accountability to an individual level at this step, where it is expected that even the specific responsible people within each organization will be defined at this stage.
Only after all the above, the partners should work together on the execution, as this relies on the previously well-defined roles and streamlined common workflows. The tool provides space to agree on the most important areas of this stage that can be expanded with other more detailed ones.
Finally, the parties should define two very important topics: success and exit. Establishing what success looks like, how rewards and responsibilities will be shared, and under what circumstances the partnership may end helps ensure a smooth collaboration. By setting clear expectations for success and exit strategies, companies can avoid uncertainty and protect their investments.
During the above process, there are several key questions that need to be answered, which are included in the Canvas itself. For instance:
What is the goal of this partnership?
What value does it create for customers?
What are our shared goals?
What are the roles and responsibilities of each company?
How will we measure success?
What key activities and systems are needed?
What are the criteria for success and exit?
Delivering Value for Everyone Involved
Some time ago I created another Canvas, the Value-Based Partnerships Canvas, which focuses on how to balance Margins, Effort and Delight. Those principles drive any partnership, strategic or not.
Seeing the great response I’ve received to that tool and the struggles that professionals and organizations have in creating truly strategic partnerships, this new tool came to life.
The goal is always the same: creating, capturing and delivering value for everyone involved. However, the Strategic Partnerships Canvas is a practical step-by-step framework that, based on my experience, can help to avoid many of the most common pitfalls in developing truly strategic alliances.
By following its structured approach, companies can design partnerships that are clear, efficient, and beneficial for all parties.
While it may seem complex at first, the Canvas provides a clear roadmap that makes the process easier. Whether used with a partner or alone, it helps companies think critically and create strong, lasting partnerships.