Friends with Benefits

Partnering with a larger business can accelerate growth and create stability for a small firm, but it’s not without risks. Better Business caught up with two businesses with experience of working with big companies to find out the main factors to consider when agreeing a deal.

Striking a partnership with a multinational is the holy grail for many small businesses. For a burgeoning firm, with eyes firmly set on growth, securing a deal with a large and experienced company could be the move that opens the door to a world of new clients, increased turnover and – crucially – validation. That’s if you find the right deal, of course. Get it wrong, and a seemingly brilliant deal that promised to take your company to the next level could ultimately end up hurting or holding back your business.

Eamon Moore, Founder and Managing Director of Dublin-based IT solutions provider Emit Solutions, is a man with considerable experience when it comes to dealing with the big guns in his sector. Indeed, they don’t come much bigger than the likes of Dell and Microsoft. “We appointed Dell and Microsoft as our exclusive tier one partners in 2014,” explains Moore. “As a result of these partnerships we now have access to a range of technology and business solutions that we can deliver to the Irish market.”

Emit had started working with both companies a number of years earlier and Moore believes that securing the tier one deals was a result of Emit having proved themselves as a credible partner. He says: “Both our partnerships really started to gain traction once we differentiated ourselves with elevated partner certifications. From there I believe both Dell and Microsoft recognised us as an innovative company who wouldn’t be classed as a traditional IT provider. This then led to collaboration with both partners to launch various solutions to the Irish market.” [contd]

To read the complete feature, turn to page 23 of the Better Business Magazine below