Business development is one of the most important areas of focus for any ambitious business.
If you want your business to grow, you will need a razor-sharp focus on new opportunities and strategies. That could mean exploring new markets or nurturing new partnerships. It might mean diversifying to create new revenue streams or developing new ideas to boost your profitability. Ultimately, good business development comes down to having good ideas that broaden your reach, sales, revenues and external relationships.
As the founder or CEO, you must put business development at the top of your to-do list.
Put time aside for business development
Sadly, business opportunities do not just magically appear out of thin air. You will have to do some serious work to create opportunities for business partnerships or bring in big new clients. To develop these opportunities, you must dedicate time to thinking and cultivating business development ideas. Make sure you allocate time in your diary.
By blocking out time to devote to BD, you can step away from the everyday operational tasks and get into a more creative and objective mindset. Where do you want the business to be in 6 months? What do you need to do to achieve this goal? Are there relationships you could build to bring this plan to life? Asking these questions and forming a project based on the answers will form the basis for your BD strategy and create a clear map you can follow.
Work on your business development plan and strategy
Once you have some positive BD ideas to work with, it’s important to embed your goals and strategy into a plan of action. As with any kind of growth initiative, your BD activity needs to be well thought-out, so you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you can reach your goals.
Give each new strategic idea a clear timeline; assign jobs, activities and roles to the most appropriate people in your team. Cost out each project idea and set a budget, so you get the best return on your investment (both financially and from a time perspective).
Most importantly, regularly track your progress against your goals. Agree on a target, set a date and measure your progress and performance against that timeline.
Build relationships with potential partners and customers
Relationships lie at the heart of your BD activity. You might be getting to know the executive team at a potential new partner company or reaching out to a new audience with a brand-new product. Understanding what makes these people tick is important to warm them up as a potential partner, customer or supplier.
People are more likely to engage with your business when they trust you as people and as a brand. So, spending time nurturing relationships and networking with other businesspeople and targets is time well spent. Trust is the real key.
Record, track and analyse your business development performance
With your goals, targets and timelines locked in, you’re ready to implement your plan. But to know if you’re making headway, you’ll need to track your performance. Use the S.M.A.R.T. method to set and track your progress. Your goals need to be; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.
If you’re using project management software or a client relationship management (CRM) app, it’s easy to add notes, record your progress and tick off the key actions in the project. You can put the financial reporting tools in your accounting software to good use. Track cash flow increases in revenue and monitor your sales and marketing expenses etc.
Get ambitious with your Business Development ideas
No business stands still. Your goals as the owner will change, your market will evolve, and new competitors will appear. Economic conditions and business opportunities will change. To keep your business at the cutting edge, keeping your BD focus alive and well is vital.
Remember to:
- Define your goals and make it clear what you want the business to achieve
- Align your BD activity with your company’s main growth plan
- Log your ideas and potential opportunities and add them to your BD plan
- Warm up your targets and potential partners, and keep notes on your progress
- Track your BD performance against your targets, budgets, revenues and timelines
- Keep revisiting your plan and flexing your BD activity to the current market.
If you want to expand your business development activity, contact Numble. We can help you highlight your opportunities and draw up the best possible plan for your B.DB.D. activities.
