Collaboration partners should be strategic and both parties should get mutual benefit.

How the mutual benefit is defined, in terms of timelines for the parties, short-term to long-term goals and objectives sometimes is the root cause for breakdowns in business collaborations.

Collaborations should be short to medium term. If the relationship can be long-term this transitions to strategic partnerships. Strategic partnerships are when another brand/business is associated and aligned to yours. For example, Starbucks and Spotify.

Both collaborations and strategic partnerships are required on your business journey.