9 Small Business Collaboration Ideas To Boost Sales and Reach (2025)

As a small business owner, you have something special: you’re a real person with an authentic brand story that customers connect with. This authenticity helps you stand out, whether you’re attracting customers who love supporting small businesses or building relationships with other business owners in your area.

One powerful way to use this advantage is by collaborating with other brands. When done thoughtfully, small business partnerships can significantly boost your sales. Working with local businesses or running promotions with others in your industry helps you reach new customers and grow your business.

In this piece, we’ll explore creative collaboration ideas with real success stories from small business owners who effectively partnered with others. 

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9 small business collaboration ideas

Working with like-minded business owners opens up creative opportunities, from joint newsletters to collaborative giveaways. Here are innovative ways to work with other brands. 

1. Team up for traditional marketing

When retailers on Mill Street in Almonte, Ontario—a small town outside Ottawa—wanted to increase foot traffic, they realized traditional channels like magazine ads were too expensive for any single store. Their solution? Join forces with neighboring businesses.

The small businesses, including Cheerfully Made Goods, Kentfield Kids, and other charming local businesses, couldn’t afford traditional advertising individually. Instead, 10 Almonte merchants now share a monthly page in a regional food magazine. 

“Instead of it costing us a thousand bucks, we each pay $80 a month,” says Emily Arbour, owner of Cheerfully Made Goods. “We don’t necessarily get our own ad, but it’s for Almonte. If the town’s busy, then we all benefit, including me.”

The collaboration goes beyond shared advertising. “We often promote each other,” Emily says. “If I’m having a workshop but I also know that Tin Barn is having a sale, it will always be at the bottom of my email. We do that type of thing for one another.”

The Mill Street businesses also host craft fairs together and partner on events throughout the year.

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A post shared by Cheerfully Made / Emily Arbour (@cheerfullymade)

Collaboration takeaways

• Look for promotional opportunities that might be out of reach alone but achievable with partners.
• Partner with local business owners who share your values and goals.
• Focus on growing your whole business community—what’s good for one is often good for all.

2. Create joint promotional newsletters

Regular newsletters help you stay connected with customers. By partnering with another business, you can reach new audiences without adding much work to your plate. You’ll connect with your partner’s subscribers—who often share interests with your existing customers—while keeping costs low.

Picture a bakery and coffee shop creating a monthly Breakfast Buzz newsletter. They share recipes, brewing tips, combo deals, and customer stories. Each business contributes content that adds value for both audiences.

The newsletter might include:

• Special discounts and promotions
• Tips and how-to guides relevant to both businesses
• Updates about shared events and collaborations
• Behind-the-scenes glimpses of both companies 

Both businesses then promote the newsletter through their social media channels and websites.

Collaboration takeaways

• Partner with brands that share your target audience but don’t compete directly with you.
• Split content creation to reduce marketing workload while bringing fresh perspectives to your readers.

3. Share retail space to grow together

Retail partnerships can do more than cut costs—they can help grow your business. 

Just ask Gareth Davies, owner of Ottawa’s Maker House. His store, which sells local, handcrafted home goods in a trendy neighborhood, started as a pop-up. When it was time to sign a long-term lease, he wanted to share the opportunity.

“We started as a pop-up shop in this space, since it was bigger than we ever could have committed to out of the gate as a new retail store,” says Gareth. “When it came time to pony up and pay a full market rate for a three- to five-year lease, I looked at partnerships I built in the pop-up phase to see who might be interested in sharing the space.”

Brad Campeau, founder of Brew Donkey, saw potential in the partnership. His company runs tours showcasing Ottawa’s craft beer scene, and the Maker House space seemed perfect.

“[Brad] was trying to grow to more of a Main Street presence, instead of having tours meet in a nondescript building that was way off Main Street—still urban, but hard to find,” Gareth says. “So he approached me to make sure he was on my radar, because he knew that the pop-up thing would end eventually.”

Since they already knew each other—Ottawa is essentially a “small big town,” as Gareth puts it—the partnership made sense. They created a bar-like space at the front of the store where customers can buy merchandise.

Their shared target audiences helped make the partnership successful. People who support local breweries often want to support local shopping too.

“Beer is part of the retail formula that is probably under-tapped,” Gareth says, noting the pun. “But it’s true. Every month, we host parties and social nights where you’re in here, you’re in the space, you might be shopping and looking at things, but you’re also here to meet up with friends and taste craft beer samples from a local brewery.”

Collaboration takeaways

• Strategic alliances help both businesses reach new and relevant audiences.
• Sharing retail space, especially in prime locations, makes physical stores more accessible for small businesses.

4. Cross-post on complementary brands’ social media

Social media partnerships can help you reach new audiences on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. When you create content for a complementary brand’s social media, you connect with their followers who already trust their recommendations.

This strategy works well for business in related fields. A fitness coach might share workout tips on a nutritionist’s account, or a wedding photographer could feature their work on a local venue’s Instagram.

To create effective guest content, study your partner’s social media style and voice. Share valuable insights, unique perspectives, or engaging stories that resonate with their audience. While it’s tempting to pursue partnerships with large accounts, collaborating with smaller, aligned businesses often produces better results. 

Make sure both brands benefit by setting clear expectations upfront.

Collaboration takeaways

• Create content that serves both audiences and set specific goals—like growing your following or promoting a sale.
• Exchange guest posts to get fresh content without extra work.

5. Create a specialized gift guide

When gift-giving season approaches, most businesses pitch their products to existing gift guides. But one group of small business owners took a different approach—they created their own.

“The vintage market is definitely a niche market,” says JayDee Mahs, owner of Third Shift Vintage. “There aren’t a lot of websites that promote vintage as gifts. Our team brainstormed ways we could promote the items in our shops in a fun and interesting way—and the idea of gift guides was started.”

JayDee works with six other vintage store business owners across the US, coordinating through a Slack channel to create their niche gift guide.

“All seven of us contributed to the gift guide—from the design phase through to the production phase,” JayDee explains. “We discussed the tools we would need to create the guide, the format we wanted to use, how the guide would be marketed, and how we would track its success. Each of us contributed items to be featured, as well as the text to describe those items.”

One team member with graphic design skills serves as an editor and handles the layout.

“Now that we know the mechanics of putting together a gift guide and ways to successfully promote it, we’re really looking forward to finishing the guides we’re currently working on,” says JayDee. “These upcoming guides are going to be exciting and fun, and hopefully just as successful, or more, than last year.”

Collaboration takeaways

• Create gift guides for any occasion, not just holidays—think back-to-school, Mother’s Day, or special events.
• Share free content ideas like gift guides across multiple platforms to increase reach, including guest posts on partner blogs and social media.

6. Cross-promote discounts with other brands

Planning a sale? Or have products that pair perfectly with another brand’s offerings? Set up a cross-promotion that gives shoppers discounts on both brands.

A coffee roaster might team up with a local chocolate maker to offer a discounted coffee and chocolate gift box. Or keep it simple by offering separate discounts that encourage customers to shop with both businesses. Just make sure your offer is straightforward and makes sense for both brands.

Collaboration takeaways 

• Share the promotion across both brands’ social channels and websites to maximize reach.
• Partner with brands whose customers share your interests so the discount appeals to both audiences.

7. Create collaborative product lines

Teaming up with another brand to create products lets you combine strengths, reach new customers, and make something unique together. For example, a candle maker and local artist might collaborate on hand-painted candle jars to sell online.

Success starts with finding a partner whose values and customers match yours. Look for brands with complementary products or services, then develop ideas that showcase both your strengths.

Set clear responsibilities for design, production, marketing, and sales. Plan your launch campaign carefully—build excitement by sharing behind-the-scenes content online and promoting across both brands’ channels.

This approach lets you test new business concepts without having to come up with a business name, invest in business licenses, or register your business.

Ruggable frequently partners with other brands to create limited-edition collections in its online store. 

8. Host a joint giveaway 

Collaborative giveaways help you create buzz without a big investment. 

Team up with other businesses to create an exciting prize package. A yoga studio might partner with a health food store and local spa to offer a “Wellness Weekend Package.”

Keep entry requirements simple—like following participating businesses and tagging friends—to increase reach and engagement across all brands’ social media.

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A post shared by Maker House Co. (@makerhouseco)

Maker House ran a giveaway with other vendors in the vicinity.

Collaboration takeaways 

• Choose prizes that excite all participating brands’ audiences.
• Keep entry requirements simple but engaging, like asking participants to tag friends or share content.

9. Partner with influencers 

Connect with local influencers who share your brand’s values and style. Consider working with micro-influencers—they often have more engaged, loyal followers in specific niches. When influencers recommend products, their audience’s trust extends to the brands they feature.

Create engaging content by having influencers showcase your products alongside complementary businesses. For example, a gift shop and craft brewery might work with an influencer to create a “holiday gift and drink pairing” guide.

Collaboration takeaways: 

• Build a group of complementary brands to approach influencers together.
• Consider micro-influencers—their engaged audiences often care deeply about specific interests.

Tools for small business collaboration

Here are some useful tools to help manage your partnerships:

• Shopify Collabs helps you partner with other Shopify stores to cross-promote products and run joint campaigns.
• Mailchimp lets you create co-branded email and SMS campaigns, great for crafting co-branded newsletters or highlighting new collaborative products. 
• Trello helps organize multiple brand collaborations by tracking ideas, tasks, and deadlines in shared workspaces.
• Canva makes it easy to create and collaborate on visual content like social media posts and promotional materials in real time.
• Google Workspace lets you share and edit documents with partners for content, marketing strategies, and planning

Small business owners are better together

Go beyond networking and add collaborations to your product, sales, and marketing strategies. Focus on partnerships that benefit everyone involved. Work with complementary brands to share ideas, build relationships, and reach new customers. Even new businesses can get a head start by joining forces with others.