Business development can be looked at as a collection of thoughts, ideas and activities used to make a business better, covering a multitude of bases and functionality points; for instance, when looking to expand or transform your business, the development stage or process is the time allocated to doing the research, marking the route for the business to take, and procuring the necessary funds for that next step.
Here are some areas where business development can be utilized:
- Sales
- Marketing
- Strategic initiatives or partnerships
- Project Management/Business Planning
- Product Management
- Vendor Management
- Negotiations, Networking, and Lobbying
- Cost Savings
What Should a Business Developer Know?
Since business development involves high-level decision making, the business developer should remain informed about the following:
- The current state of the business in terms of SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)
- The current state of the overall industry and growth projections
- Competitor developments
- Primary sources of sales/revenues of current business and dependencies
- The customer profile
- New and unexplored market opportunities
- New domains/products/sectors eligible for business expansion, which may complement the existing business
- The long-term view, especially with regards to the initiatives being proposed
- The cost areas and the possible options for cost-savings
Content source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/090815/basics-business-development.asp
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