Are You Collaborating With the Right People? | Mini Episode

What if your next great business opportunity comes from an unexpected collaboration?

Why the Best Collaborations Don’t Make Sense at First

What do makeup and canned water have in common? Or soda and shoes? Some of the most interesting business collaborations bring together brands, artists, or audiences that initially seem like an odd match. For Mandi Graziano and Amani Roberts, that unexpected connection is exactly what can make a collaboration work.

Look Beyond the Obvious Partners

Business owners often focus on people who work in the same industry or have a similar audience. Mandi suggests looking beyond those obvious connections.

“Who has my similar clients? Who has my similar audience? And how can we collaborate so we can better serve our clients?”

The goal isn’t to find another version of your business. It’s to find someone who can introduce your customers to something useful, interesting, or completely unexpected.

Unexpected Collaborations Get Attention

Mandi points to the collaboration between e.l.f. Cosmetics and Liquid Death. Makeup and canned water may not appear to belong together, but both brands connect with younger consumers and festival culture.

Other unexpected partnerships include:

• Coca-Cola and Crocs

• Starbucks and Khloé Kardashian’s Khloud popcorn

• McDonald’s and Monopoly

• Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga

• Rema and Selena Gomez

Each collaboration brings two different worlds together and gives both sides access to a wider audience.

Collaboration Can Open a New Door

When Rema collaborated with Selena Gomez on the remix of “Calm Down,” it introduced Afrobeats to listeners who may not have discovered it otherwise. It also gave Rema’s existing audience a reason to explore Selena Gomez’s music.

“It opens up different audiences.”

Amani experienced that himself. He rarely listened to Selena Gomez before the collaboration, but the song gave him a reason to see what else she had released.

A strong collaboration doesn’t simply combine two names. It creates a path from one audience to another.

Focus on What Your Customers Need

A collaboration should offer more than attention. It should give customers something they need, even if they don’t realize they need it yet.

“What can you offer that might serve your customers?”

That could mean partnering with someone who provides a complementary service, reaches a different network, or brings a fresh perspective to the customer experience.

The partners don’t need identical aesthetics or audiences, but they should have shared values and a clear reason for working together.

The Takeaway

The best collaboration may be the one you would normally overlook.

Instead of searching only for businesses that look like yours, consider who serves a similar customer in a different way. Be intentional about the partnership, make sure everyone shows up fully, and focus on what the collaboration can offer the people you serve.

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