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.

Another dynamic of this is that it can be difficult to admit that sometimes we need help, or it could be that upper management would take a dim view of our abilities if we asked for outside help with our internal processes. Incubators often employ a selective screening process assessing the feasibility and workability of the business plan of incubatee prospects before letting hem join the program.

Many separate workgroups or business units support the BD process, from corporate management to the operations staff to production personnel and administrative staff inside the company, to third party Subject Matter Experts (SME) or professional proposal preparation personnel like those provided by third party consulting firms.

From the birth of ideas to early startups, to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who seek second stage growth, and all they way to strategy implementation for corporate giants, many institutions exist to support firms in their business development efforts.

Digital Marketing As A Subset Of Business Development Strategies

What is business development? 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. A person that specifically focuses on business development will understand how to communicate potential business deals to perspective businesses in the right manner.

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.

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.

Business Development Steps And Strategies

Job titles continually evolve based on the changing needs of companies. Plan – Once new business opportunities have been identified you will need to decide how you can best reach those new customers and markets. Given the growth stage in which your company finds itself it can indeed be worthwhile considering employing business development services in one way or another.

While there of course exist much overlap between of these fields, it gives an idea of who, how, when and for whom various actors interact … Read More...