What is a Joint Venture?

Did you know that the streaming site HULU is a joint venture between NBC and Disney?

Or have you ever noticed how there is a Starbucks at every Barnes & Noble?

These are examples of popular and successful joint ventures.

Any two businesses can enter into a joint venture in order to make a profit, diversify a product line or to simply become competitive in their industry.

These types of business alliances are growing in popularity and are gaining importance in the market.

If you are a business owner, and curious about how a joint venture works, here is a quick guide that will help you out:

What is a Joint Venture?

A joint venture is a business arrangement, such as a new project or other business activity, that involves two or more parties pooling resources.

Each of the participating individuals or entities are jointly responsible for any profits, costs and losses associated with the venture.

However, the venture itself is considered its own entity and is separated from any of the participants’ business interests.

For example, Google Earth is a well-known venture between Google and NASA. If some sort of litigation was brought against Google Earth, for whatever reason, both Google and NASA’s interests would be protected.

The same goes for BMW and Toyota, who created a joint venture to research hydrogen fuel cells, vehicle electrification and lightweight materials.

When To Consider a Joint Venture

Even though joint ventures are technically “partnerships”, they can for any legal structure.

For example, corporations, partnerships and LLCs can all be used to form a joint venture and, although joint ventures are typically formed for production or research, they can also be created for a continued purpose.

Joint ventures can also be used to combine large and smaller companies in order to complete one big project or deal or several big or little ones.

Here are some reasons why you may want to consider forming a joint venture:

  • You can leverage resources. By combining the resources of both companies, you can leverage the strengths of both entities. For example, such as Google Earth, Google had the coding and programming technology while NASA had the satellites.
  • It will save you on costs. When you partner up with another business, you can split costs such as advertising and labor.
  • You can combine expertise. A joint venture can certainly benefit from the unique skills and expertise each party can bring to the table.

If you’re looking at developing a product or business that can benefit from having another party involved, it may be worth looking into a joint venture.

The Pros and Cons of a Joint Venture

As with any business venture, there are benefits and risks. Here are some pros and cons of forming a joint venture:

Pros of a Joint Venture:

  • Joint ventures are not a partnership. Therefore, separate business assets are protected from liability.
  • Joint ventures enable fast business growth by achieving maximum profitability through shared resources.
  • Joint ventures can be temporary. This means that individual parties can benefit from the agreement and then go their separate ways after achieving business goals and sharing profits.

Cons of a Joint Venture:

  • Joint ventures often involve different management styles. These differences may create friction and impact operations.
  • Joint ventures can end up like school projects. You may end up with one party who is unable (or unwilling) to contribute equally.
  • Joint ventures can fail if clear goals are not defined. With unclear goals, it’s difficult to assign responsibilities to all parties involved.

Are You Ready for a Joint Venture?

While joint ventures provide exciting business opportunities, no agreement should be stepped into lightly.

Our professionals accountants at Liu & Associates can help clarify the financial implications of a joint venture as well as help you determine whether incorporating this venture is in your best interest.

If you are considering forming a joint venture, please contact our experts for more information!