What are the basics of business development?

Business development is the business unit within an organization that works to create long term growth and profitability through three main activities. These activities include, but are not limited to, creating meaningful partnerships, establishing business in new markets and increasing the value of a current customer base.

To be successful at business development, you need to keep in mind that this role is a mix of sales, marketing, negotiations, networking, project management and contract review. One of the many joys of working in a business development capacity is that you’re provided the opportunity to work with various business units throughout the company, all while being allowed to influence the growth and direction of your business based on current business and market trends.

Business development should be a core part of your business’ growth strategy. Every business, regardless of size, should have at least one person responsible for the company’s business development activities, even if it’s in addition to other responsibilities. A great candidate for this role would be an employee that already has connections to the sales and marketing organizations of your company. You should be looking for an enthusiastic, detail oriented and self-motivated individual, as this person will be actively “selling” your company to partners and customers.

To get started with business development, I would suggest doing some good old-fashioned research. It’s absolutely necessary that you understand your industry, and all of its moving parts, before you start making decisions that can affect your company’s growth, and ultimately your revenue.

Here are a few research topics to consider:

• State of your industry
• Where your current sales coming from
• New and existing business opportunities
• Competitive and external threats
• New and potentially disruptive technologies or products

Now that you have an understanding of all the factors that may affect your business, it’s time to put them to use. The first step in using this data is to identify new sales or customer markets. Through your research, you’ve probably uncovered that some of your competitors are operating in markets or verticals that you’re not currently selling in.

• Why are your competitors in this market?
• What types of customers are they attracting?
• What is the opportunity in this market? Additionally.
• What is the return on your investment (ROI)?
• What would I need to do to enter this market?
• Does my core product cater to this demographic, or will I need to create a new product?
• Would I have to change my customer acquisition and/or marketing strategy to enter this market?

Based on the answers to these basic questions, you should be able to quickly determine if it makes sense for you to pursue these new markets. When looking at new markets, you want to make sure that the market will offer you a large customer base to sell too, with limited changes to your operational structure (unless the opportunity is large enough). Simply put – find a pond that has lots of fish you can reel in without buying new gear.

The first step in business development is to monitor the external environment, as well as the internal workings of the company in question, looking for business opportunities. Opportunities can come in a variety of forms. Perhaps a new technology promises to change the way an industry operates. Perhaps a new generation of youth is fueling growth for new product segments. Perhaps there is a profitable market segment that is being underserved by the business community. All of these signs and more can reveal solid business opportunities.

After identifying and selecting an opportunity to pursue, business planners must create a marketing plan for developing products and services, stimulating demand in the marketplace and getting the products into the hands of customers. The first company to offer online data backup to business and individual customers, for example, had identified a clear, technology-driven opportunity to create a new market, but was faced with the task of creating demand for a service no one had ever heard about.

Developing sales channels, co-branding with complementary goods manufacturers, advertising and promotional activities can all help to achieve business development goals.

Developing a new line of business requires money. Existing businesses expanding their operations into a new line of business can find themselves at an advantage over startups as they likely have cash on hand and solid credit reputations to finance new investments. Smaller businesses must plan more extensively and pursue a number of different avenues to obtain the financing needed to enter a new line of business.

Developing customers is vital to developing your business over time. Guide your customers through first-time purchases, to repeat purchases and eventually to brand preference and habitual purchasing to leverage the power of word-of-mouth advertising. Turning customers into champions for your brand by providing them with exceptional quality and service, as well as unique and unforgettable experiences, can accelerate your brands to a position of market dominance, or at least help to secure a healthy market share.

Dear Abdus,

Business development is the business unit within an organization that works to create long term growth and profitability through three main activities:

1- Creating meaningful partnerships.

2- Establishing business in new markets.

3- Increasing the value of a current customer base.

Basics of Business Development:

1- Long-Term Value.

2- Generating Long-Term Leads.

3- Partnerships & Cooperation.

Regards,

Hany Sewilam AbdelHamid

Head of Business Development | Sales & Marketing

Entrepreneurship Coach & Consultant

Digital & Social Marketing Certified Expert

I agree with the experts answers. Thank you.

Thanks Hany for the excellent answer

Basics of Business development are eagerness, attitude, desire of success, product knowledge and go getter. We should have good communication skills, capability to perceive possibilities for business in all aspects.