Business development requires a multi-disciplinary approach and there is no ‘one size fits all’ strategy. Ironically, it’s the most expensive option, with ‘front of the line’ service and unlimited consulting with partners in the firm that sells the most. Moreover, the job of a business developer is highly cross functional, as it requires collaboration with various internal and partner-company teams such as sales, engineering, and marketing to ensure that a deal is consummated.

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.

During this phase, the business require infusion of additional capital to buy capital equipment to increase production (for manufacturing businesses), to establish additional service network (for service providers) or procure more goods for trade (for trading businesses).

Marketing – Your marketing strategy will have a direct impact on your success. Just as when buying any service, when contracting for professional business development services it is important to have clear deliverables. This is the third stage of a business development.

What Are The Stages Of Business Development

In the almost 30 years that I’ve worked as a CPA, I’ve had the opportunity to see businesses go on to achieve amazing results in the marketplace and for their community and for the owners. Working in business development is an excellent way to develop skills in strategy, negotiations, and managing partner and client relationships. Incorporate sales training for business development and growth. At this stage in the company life cycle business risk is beginning to decrease and the opportunity for true value creation presents its self, yet the path to that second level can be a long and tricky walk.

A successful business development process is being able to get a clear and concise evaluation of the inherent strengths and weaknesses, goals and issues that face the development of your new venture. A common problem facing many firms, regardless of where they are in the company lifecycle, is that they get stuck in the trenches of daily operations, at the cost of conducting business development activities.

Managing a business development team member is similar to a sales team member in many respects. Hiring a business development person is different than finding a sales person for your team. Overall, boutique consulting firms focus on a limited scope of industries, and resolve business issues quicker than large management consulting firms that require more time for a specific project.

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Starting a new business is far more than simply hanging a sign out and waiting for customers to pour through the door and I’m sure anyone willing to invest in a new venture is well aware of this fact. In many cases this role is a liaison between sales, marketing, procurement, and management. It might be hard to decide if and when to use various business development services. For example, life science and other firms with R&D cycles require more time in an incubation program service companies.

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.

Large management consulting firms are able to draw from massive reservoirs of overlapping knowledge and expertise in contrast to the more narrowly focused boutique consulting firms, and can offer a single client support on IT, strategy, operational, human capital, and financial issues.

The Taxonomy Of Business Development

Every business has its life cycle that it undergoes during the course of its entire existence. These firms tend to work with private sector companies but also with governmental institutions and nonprofits. Marketing is not ‘selling’, though sales is considered as a part of marketing. Yet, management consulting has long been a booming market with numerous players, both large and small, offering their advice to firms.

Moreover, no company can house all expertise internally, thus the advice from external business professionals may at times come in handy. A business development specialist is typically a cross between a marketing and a sales person. Hiring a development consultant is going to cost you money, but it’s important to see this as an investment for your business.

Business Development Metrics

The Business Development Strategy is used to underpin your main Business Plan and essentially it sets out a standard approach for developing new opportunities, either from within existing accounts or by proactively targeting brand new potential accounts and then working to close them. Identify – Before you can seriously plan for business development it is necessary to identify new business opportunities. With the help of the business development plan you can monitor the progress of all the current programs and evaluate the efficacy of your future endeavors.

Consultants often will require an hourly rate or fixed salary as well as some kind of bonus structure for placing deals together which may be a single payout for each business deal that is signed or a revenue share that is paid out over a period of time based on the amount of business that is ultimately generated from the relationships.
While a business development expert can always play the role as sales person the opposite is not always true. Hiring a business development person is different than finding a sales person for your team.