A well-known African saying goes, ‘If you need to go swiftly, go by yourself.’ Go together if you get to go far.’

It sounds like a win-win situation: more output, less labour. Joining forces with another person isn’t always a good idea. Assuming that you can make more money by doing the project on your own, why not?

In contrast, have a look at worker ants for examples of this. Insects aren’t judged on the strength of a single insect, but rather on the strength of a large group of them.

It was our forefathers and mothers who first established tribes, then towns, and finally nations.

A team of selfless individuals may be defeated by a team of selfish individuals, but a team of collaborative people would defeat a team of selfish individuals.

Today, networking organisations abound in the UK, helping people make connections with potential business partners, mentors, and collaborative companies. Surely, the ancient tribes had something to say.

What are the advantages of working together?

When you work with others, you not only save time and effort, but you also increase your chances of success.

The lone wolf creating a pack has several advantages besides making the to-do list more appealing to look at:

Maximize profits by spreading costs out

It’s a lot easier to save costs when there are more partners or organisations working together.

Collaboration is at the heart of BrandGathering’s mission. It offers the matching tools necessary for firms that are compatible to find one another and increase their marketing efforts by collaborating.

Pop-up stores and cross-promotions, which share the expense of marketing events, allow for more things to be accomplished on a smaller budget. However, how can you know if you’re a good match?

Co-founder Christina Richardson of BrandGathering advises: ‘Your mindset is crucial – go into any potential relationship with the vision of getting it work for both organizations, not always you.. You’ll discover marketing initiatives that are bigger than with the sum of their parts if you look for ideas to help both businesses.

A more legal mechanism of recording what each brand contributes and receives as part of something like the collaboration should begin once the initial negotiations have been successful.’ In this way, all parties are on the same page, and there is minimal room for confusion or disagreement later on.

Diversity is a strength.

People collaborate for a variety of reasons, one of which being the opportunity to utilise a variety of expertise. Improved decision-making is made possible by an increase in complementary industry expertise and a decrease in wasted time.

When it comes to a company’s success, it’s essential that everyone engaged has the same goal in mind.

Toria Swales, an accomplished hairstylist, and Kayla Wren, a talented photographer, decided to open their award-winning innovative hairstyling and photography company The Junkyard together last year.

With Kayla’s help, Toria and Kayla’s business has risen to new heights that they couldn’t have achieved alone.

Entrepreneurs can’t afford to go it alone, and a partnership provides them with the necessary support structure to succeed. As a result of our shared goal of making The Junkyard a success, we are able to collaborate on our work and discuss business aspects more efficiently.’

She does, however, warn that the key to success is choosing the proper partner:

‘A company’s success hinges on its employees feeling equal in the workplace. There must be a great level of trust between you and the individual you’re working with. If you and your partner don’t agree on everything, you need to be able to voice your thoughts and accept your partner’s thoughts with open arms.’

It’s not always simple to find the proper partner to work with, but if you persevere, it may elevate your firm to new heights.

We learn, evolve and expand our horizons every time we work with just another person or firm. It’s hard to argue with the Ancient Britons on this one.