What Does a Joint Venture Consultant Do?

When companies are looking to expand, it's possible that the experience and marketing prowess of a joint venture consultant might help. Identifying an appropriate partner for some business endeavor could require the time and contacts that a company's management team simply does not have. A joint venture consultant may be part of the process to support a client's search to find partners for an endeavor. This professional might also help with advertising efforts so that a new business can increase its profitability.

A joint venture consultant may advise a business through the partnership process from the earliest stages until the business is dissolved. It is not unusual for a consultant to remain engaged for a number of years. A consultant can help a business in the negotiation stages as contracts are being drawn and the role of each member is being clarified. The experience of a joint venture consultant may be especially useful to a business that has never formed a partnership before or that can simply use the guidance of a professional who can provide context on the deal environment.

The precise role of a consultant in a joint venture partnership may be best defined based on the needs of a client. For instance, a consultant should be able to recognize how to leverage the core business of a client with the resources of some other business. If the consultant is tasked with identifying a joint venture partner, the professional should uncover businesses that will introduce some distribution, technological, or financial benefits to the client through expansion. A joint venture consultant should support the client's endeavor to share not only the risks involved with a project but also the profits.

Among the strengths that a consultant should bring to a joint venture is marketing. The industry professional should be able to market a client to potential partners in a deal and also to promote the product or service that is being provided once the endeavor is underway. Products or services produced in a joint venture may be new to the market, and without the proper marketing, sales may never reach the desired potential. A consultant should be able to support marketing efforts by issuing press releases and making executives available to media outlets. On the partnership side, the consultant should identify businesses that have similar client demographics to the client so that those synergies can be optimized.