Social Enterprise: Partnering and Joint Ventures

There are times when Social Enterprises will want to work together. For example, on a tender to provide services or on a one off project.

An effective joint venture should be well planned and documented from the start. We can help you identify and understand the issues in order to deliver a successful joint venture. There will be a lot to think about and plan.

For example, the partners will need to consider:

The purpose of working together: What are the objectives of the collaboration? What are the perceived benefits of it?

Roles and responsibilities: Who will do what, when and to what standard?

Lines of accountability, communication and meetings: Who is authorised to represent each partner? How will you communicate and how often?

How much time will each partner is prepared to dedicate to the joint venture

Finances, funding, accounting policies and financial exposure: What’s the budget? Who bears which costs? What happens if there is an overspend or an underspend? Should there be a spending review?

The ways in which the collaboration may be monitored to make sure it is working

Employment issues: Who employs the joint venture staff? What happens to the staff when the collaboration ends? TUPE.

Publicity, press releases, marketing and the use of each other’s name or brand

Intellectual Property issues: What IP is being provided by each partner? For what purpose can the other partner use it. What happens to jointly developed IP?

Data Protection: Will the partners share or transfer personal information? Has enough been done to comply with the data protection laws?

Duration of the collaboration: How long will it last? When will it end? Will it ever be appropriate to end it early?

What happens if things start to go wrong: How disputes will be resolved?

Exit strategy: What happens when the collaboration ends?

Contact us if your Social Enterprise needs help with a joint venture or partnering arrangement. Also ask about our fixed pricing and Client Promise.