When it comes to improving the running of your business or building up a solid business from the ground up hiring a firm of business development consultants are a great way of increasing your profits and developing a solid business plan. In such instances boutique consultancy firms come in handy to for example support a particular project or give advice on matters related to a specific topic such as law, finance or HR. Larger corporations often make use of larger management consultancy firms to identify existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement.

While a business development expert can always play the role as sales person the opposite is not always true. Examples of niches in which boutique consulting firms operate include human resources and staffing, IT, healthcare, business process outsourcing, and accounting.

For that reason, there are a multitude of professional service providers in the field of business development. Make sure to always discuss details of the engagement process and the scope of the services to be delivered. Strategic focus, institutional strengthening, human resource training and financial strategy, are some of the dimensions that a second stage business accelerator may offer.

Lastly, the value of business development services is discussed from the perspective of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). A company spends varying amounts of time in an incubation program depending the type of business and the entrepreneur’s level of business expertise.

Business Development

What is business development? In the cases where the business has taken the steps to develop and to base their activities on foundational marketing planning then in these circumstances – these plans can be used to serve as a basis on which to base the digital marketing; search engine and social media activities upon.

Boutique consulting firms offer organizations highly specialized advice that addresses specific problems or aspects of a business. The inevitable is cash flow drying up and losses mount up. Most businesses fold up during this phase. Failing to do this a common problem with companies and their sales teams and even more so with business development professionals as the relationships they have and bringing to the table are often held tightly and not given up easily.

From the birth of firms through incubators and seed accelerators, to boosting growth for small and medium firms by means of second stage business accelerators, to advising corporate giants through management consulting firms, business development constitute an important element any phase of the company life cycle.

Business Intelligence

If your business has been struggling to get more clients in the last few months or year then consider hiring a business development expert that can find the right joint venture marketing partners that can deliver hot leads to your sales team. The business accelerator’s emphasis is on accelerated and sustainable growth, and to eliminate organizational, operational, and strategic bottlenecks that prevent the client firm from growing. Lately, the internet and social media has created a huge number of marketing job opportunities.

Fast growth can cripple a small business if there isn’t enough cash flow to fulfill on the sales. Marketing involves all activities such as planning and strategy, marketing research, pricing, advertising, branding, communication, customer service and other important functions, that finally make selling possible.

During this phase cash flows stabilize and establishment of marketing networks and operational channels are completed. Hiring a consultant or consulting firm to act as a business development team for you company is a great route for many small businesses. In a new business development it is a visionary process, in which a direction for the venture can be identified and a systematic and orderly processes can be established as part of the overall business plan.

Sales Training

Job titles continually evolve based on the changing needs of companies. Firms of all sizes will sometimes find that they lack a particular skill or area of expertise, and seek the advice of a specialist. In the table below a classification of business development institutions are plotted out, based on the various stages in the company life cycle.

Many business that do not have the internal man power and capabilities to identify, engage, and do the business deals necessary for growth can benefit from a consultant or consulting firm that has access to the business decision makers or the experience necessary to reach out to companies and develop the relationships required to put together a great business deal.

Business Growth Strategies

Business development requires a multi-disciplinary approach and there is no ‘one size fits all’ strategy. Companies that want to execute business deals with larger fortune 500 type companies should always highly consider hiring an expert that has preexisting relationships with the company that you want to do a deal with. This is an ideal time for businesses to consider expansion or diversification.

Its products and services are gaining acceptance in the marketplace and customers are patronizing them in increasing numbers. Find all kinds of information about small businesses, right from beginning a small business, to getting government grants, analyzing the market, etc.
Implement – If your business is not at the stage to appoint a full time marketing director, at least hire an experienced business development professional to work with your company for a few days a month.