Vendors are your friends, and can also make excellent business partners!

In today's business podcast, we learn that the best businesses are actually a seamless network of providers working together to offer excellent services. Collaboration can move a business from mediocrity to greatness if both partners excel at their niche and at customer service.

We rarely think of vendors as sources for great joint ventures.

However, vendors who are also small businesses are eager to gain new business, and have a hunger that larger companies may not have. They also are fortunate to be flexible enough to tailor their offerings to the needs of their clientele. Lastly, they understand the needs of a small business because they ARE a small business.

Smaller vendors can act as an officer in your company.

We will review a marketing firm CEO that now acts as another company's Marketing Director. Other firms became partners by upping the ante in their customer service, making themselves an indispensible part of other companies' businesses.

Solopreneurs can rarely do everything well.

That's why outsourcing to capable companies makes sense. But the trick is often finding companies that will fit well with your business. But how do you find those companies? The internet is a blessing and a curse - you can google anything, but you end up with a case of information overload when you get your answers.

The Overwhelmed Entrepreneur is a collaboration of business experts in one location.

As an answer to the information overload syndrome, as well as the problem of solopreneurs trying to wear every hat and get everything done in their business, we are testing out a site that provides access to experts in every area of business. It also provides inexpensive, on-demand virtual secretarial services for projects, helping you keep your Microsoft Outlook updated, or someone to just keep you on schedule. There will be free classes and curriculums for members, as well as a barter room. We also are providing access to an online Outlook program which will allow you to access your contacts, schedule, projects and tasks while you're out on the road, and still be able to synchronize any changes to your desktop Outlook.

The first class will be Bootstrapping Your Business with Barter, and guarantees to put $500 cold, hard cash in your pocket.

You can sign up for the class at http://www.owent.com. And while you're there, please check out the site. I'd love some feedback from you. What would you like to see in a one-stop-shop for business expertise, training and assistance? What do you need to help you in your business?

As always, check out our free weekly business book download, "Pssst. Pass it On - Viral Marketing", at Digital Business Books(DigBizBooks.com).

And tell me what you think about Brain Storm! - what else would you like to hear about? What area of business is troubling you? We'll try to put it together and find you assistance! Until next week, keep brainstorming! Penny Haynes