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Business Development...how to create profitable growth and a secure futureSo, after the initial flurry of success you now want to undertake Business Development to move beyond the "Start Up" phase. Or perhaps it's that you have found that the business is "stuck in a rut", unable it seems to move foward.
Whatever the reason, if you want your business to grow then you have to use business development techniques. These include, but are not limited to:
I know....it all seems a little bit academic and too "high brow", but stay with me on this as my job is to try and make sense of it for you and give you the tools to make it as easy as possible. Quite simply, the development process involves looking closely at what your business has achieved so far and defining where you want to be in the future. In order to bridge the gap then tools such as marketing, sales, information management and customer service can be used.
What is important is that you embrace the belief that for a company to be able to withstand competitors, business development must be viewed as an ongoing process that never stops.
Small or Medium sized BusinessesSME's make the mistake of not taking time to think about:
It's my experience that they fail to spend time on this vitally important area and do not establish procedures for business development. Instead too much reliance is placed on existing contacts or an assumption made that because they have the "right" contacts that their business development problems are solved and that somehow new business will come to them. Sadly, in most cases it will NOT!! The outcome of such thinking can be dramatic if they are unable to leverage those relationships, which very often are personal or weak. Then they will have no new business in the pipeline. The pipeline refers to the flow of potential new clients or new sales from existing customers sales that the company is in the process of developing.
Larger companiesFor larger and more well-established companies, business development usually refers to creating and managing strategic relationships and alliances with other, third party companies.In these instances the companies will leverage one anothers' expertise, technologies or other intellectual property to expand their products and services and perhaps their market reach without having to invest in building or acquiring these with internal resources.
So how do you achieve success?It requires a multi-disciplinary approach way beyond just "a sale to a customer."
Much of this can be reduced to simple templates. But it is important that you take ownership and adapt these to suit your business and the dreams you have for it. Creativity in meeting new and unforeseen challenges is necessary to keep a business on a path of sustainable growth. BUT - don't worry... Please take time to follow all my page links about this subject shown below and read through the information shown. I am sure you will find it a superb information resource!
If you want further help and support to ensure you generate success, please follow this link to
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