Corporate partnerships -- commercial relationships with large, established businesses -- are among the most valuable and most difficult to build for smaller companies. The commercial opportunity is significant: access to a corporate's customer base, distribution infrastructure, brand credibility or procurement spend can transform the revenue trajectory of a growth-stage business. The challenge is navigating an organisation that was not designed to move quickly or take risks on new relationships.
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Large corporates are not bad at partnerships because they do not want them. They are bad at partnerships because their internal structures -- procurement, legal, compliance, IT, marketing -- are all optimised for scale and risk reduction, not commercial agility. A partnership that would take two growth-stage companies three weeks to structure and sign can take a corporate twelve months to review, approve and implement.
The companies that succeed in building corporate partnerships understand this and work with it. They identify the internal sponsor at the right level. They structure the commercial proposal in terms that survive procurement review. They build the relationship with the business unit that has the authority and motivation to make the partnership work.
This is navigation work. Commercial Crowbar provides it.
Build Corporate Partnerships That Survive Procurement
Book a call to discuss the corporate relationship you are trying to build.
Corporate stakeholder mappingIdentifying the full map of stakeholders within a target corporate -- who has authority, who has influence, and who has the motivation to champion the partnership.
Executive accessBuilding the relationship at board or C-suite level where the strategic case for the partnership can be made to someone who has the authority to override procurement.
Commercial proposal structuringStructuring the commercial proposition in terms that are compatible with corporate procurement -- addressing compliance, legal and commercial risk concerns before they become objections.
Internal champion developmentIdentifying and supporting the internal sponsor within the corporate who has both the motivation and the authority to move the partnership forward.
Procurement process navigationUnderstanding the specific procurement framework and timelines of the target corporate and managing the commercial process accordingly.
Which Corporate Relationships Are You Trying to Build?
Tell us the specific corporate partnerships you are targeting. We will assess what is achievable.
From initial approach to signed agreement: 3 to 12 months for most corporates, depending on the complexity of the arrangement and the internal process.
By building the relationship at a level that has the authority to expedite or bypass standard procurement where the strategic case is strong enough. This requires the right internal sponsor before the formal process begins.
Yes. UK-listed companies -- FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 -- are a specific focus for our corporate partnership work.
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Remove the commercial bottleneck.
Book a confidential discussion and we will identify exactly what is blocking growth and what it would take to break through it.