Business Strategist: How to Create Cooperation for Real Results

Two businessmen shaking hands in a modern office, symbolizing partnership and cooperation. Photo: Kampus Production/Pexels

According to Jay Abraham, a prominent business strategist, the concept of cooperation is often misinterpreted by entrepreneurs. Abraham contends that true cooperation involves combining assets, capabilities, or relationships to achieve outcomes that surpass what individual parties could accomplish on their own, rather than simply forming partnerships or collaborations.

In a recent interview, Abraham shares his experience of helping companies identify opportunities for exponential growth through resource combination, rather than just incremental gains. He highlights the potential of joint ventures, strategic partnerships, co-branding, and operational collaborations to unlock significant revenue and profit increases by leveraging existing assets.

Real-World Examples of Cooperation

Abraham cites several examples of successful cooperation, including the acquisition of Pixar by Disney, which resulted in the elimination of redundant infrastructure and reduced overhead. He also notes that InBev uses its global scale to negotiate the price of aluminum cans, and Volkswagen builds multiple car models on a single electric vehicle platform. These examples, Abraham says, demonstrate the power of intentional design in achieving successful cooperation.

Abraham’s approach to cooperation involves identifying the right partners, specifically those facing a problem that the collaboration can solve. He then works to demonstrate that there is no downside to the partnership and that all implementation steps will be handled.

Abraham shares a case study from Japan, where he partnered with a book publishing company that had a database of 500,000 entrepreneurial customers but did not know how to monetize it. Abraham developed a framework, handled conversion and delivery, and structured a revenue-share arrangement, resulting in a partnership that generates approximately $7 million annually, with about $5 million in profit.

Abraham also recounts the story of a young entrepreneur he met in China, who wanted to build a motorcycle distribution business across Asia but was unable to secure bank financing. Abraham advised the entrepreneur to look for companies with underutilized assets, and a year and a half later, the entrepreneur had partnered with Asia’s largest lawnmower manufacturer, resulting in an additional $25 million in revenue for both companies in the first full year of production.

Abraham cautions against treating cooperation as an all-or-nothing commitment. Instead, he recommends testing for “indicative viability” by making a small offer to a limited segment of a market or database to gauge interest. If the response is positive, the partnership proceeds; if not, the risk stays low.