To make a small business stand up against major competition, one needs the tools of the major players, the attitude to win, and friends who help make things happen.
A partnership opportunity is a chance to make things happen. Major companies, like IBM and Dell have used partnerships for mutually beneficial situations since their beginnings. Microsoft currently has over 9000 partnerships.
The type of partnership that successful corporations use can be explained as a mutually beneficial situation between these businesses. Generally, the organizations promote and advertise eachother's skills by using their products or services. Partnering companies can recommend and refer customers to their affiliates and offer special deals to eachother.
Using partnerships between a multitude of companies in the Chicagoland area, it could be possible to cut the cost of overhead and advertising, and form a support system where customers could benefit as much as businesses.