Business development is a combination of activities aimed at increasing the capacity and value of a commercial entity. It is a summation of sales and marketing, with the business’s mid to long-term plan in mind. Whatever the company does to increase its numbers constitutes business development. In the current business dispensation, data collection, analysis and management are critical in sustainably developing a business. 

Sales

It is the increase in gross revenue by exchanging a product or service for money. Salespeople are the last-mile or frontline people in a business transaction. They ensure the customer gets the product and knows how to use it. In a business development cycle, sales increase the number of customers and revenue earned over time.

There are different types of sales approach which solidifies the volumes and quality of a sale. Companies adopt different sales models based on the type of product they offer

• Business to customer – it mostly applies to fast-moving consumer goods, and the customer, in this case, is the final consumer. The sales representative from the business engages directly with the customer in hopes that the encounter and the service provided are enough to sway the customer to their brand.
• Business to business – it applies to services that simplify, facilitate, and enhance activities in a product cycle. Software companies or wholesalers fall into this category. Salespeople talk to people in charge of procurement to schedule transactions. The decision to buy depends on the market, volumes and price.
• Hybrid – companies can decide to sell to both intermediaries and final consumers. The number of products sold determines if the seller will sell as a wholesaler or consumer. Salespeople, in this case, approach both customer clusters, although their focus is the wholesales as they purchase in bulk.

Marketing

It’s a combination of product or service visibility practices to educate the customer on the benefits, ingredients and usage. The aim is to introduce the product to consumers and show them why it is the best alternative. In business development, marketing increases the number of people who know of the product, stirring the conversion conversation. It should have a call to action button or statement leading to sales.

Marketing has evolved over time and ranks as one of the most innovative functions within a product life cycle. The following are some marketing methods and why customers prefer them.

• Below the Line – engagements between the marketer and consumer in this category are face-to-face. Marketers use fliers, billboards, person-to-person or any other approach that does not use a medium of communication.
•  Above the Line – it is product visibility through a communication medium to reach the masses. There are 3 above-the-line marketing approaches.
  • Formal Media – this is marketing over standard media like television and radio. As the main revenue earners for these platforms, they develop structures to guide the marketing, including timelines, audio-visual quality and the number of times the advert goes on air. It is the pioneer in this field.
  • Social/Informal Media – this is leveraging the number of people on a given media to publicise your product or service. Facebook and YouTube are the biggest social media platforms where marketers buy into the numbers to push their products. They can either run them with their numbers or promote the post to attract more people who are not necessarily within their followership. 
  • Influencer Marketing – it involves partnering with popular people on social media so that they can help you market your product. Essentially, you are banking on the popularity of the influencer to get your product into the market. 

Mid Term Planning 

Mid-term planning is a crucial part of business development as it shapes the direction of the business. In short-term planning, the strategy is on implementation and data collection, which creates the business development structure. However, business development is crystalised and consolidated in the mid-term as the planner sieves what works to create a sustainable strategy.

Sales and marketing are the implementation arm of business development, while mid-term planning is the managerial arm. It explains why the sales and marketing manager (if the functions are joined under one manager) is called a business development manager. They oversee the creation and execution of go-to-market strategies and perform monitoring and evaluation to get the best combination with the best possible impact on the market.  

Factors Affecting Business Development

Market Knowledge 

A good and sustainable business relies on market knowledge. It evolves based on the market forces and innovates to stay afloat. This is made possible through data collection, analysis and management. A good business reads market dynamics, which dictates trade volumes, cost implication and resource mobilisation. 

Skills and Competencies

The people within the rank and file of the business development department must be competent enough to read market forces. It can be through education or experience, but employers value experience more. No course in Kenya teaches business development, either sales or marketing. To be a business development professional, you need go-to-market expertise

Leadership

The company should have a visionary who sees the business through business development lenses. Every action, policy and activity should directly or indirectly contribute to business growth. Whilst the line manager implements the company’s development agenda, they also collect data that will be used to make the business development plan more efficient. 

Long Term Planning

Planning for posterity guides the business through its lifetime. Successive managers can tap into the vision and custom-make the plan into a more relatable one. Capital and human resource are the main influence in this case, as their involvement can alter the efficiency of the business development plan. This approach is important when the business is going through the customer consolidation and expansion stages.

Technology  

As the business world grows, so does business efficiency. Technology, especially in operations, simplifies the business, cuts operating costs and contributes to business scale-up. Entrepreneurs can now plan and incorporate best practices into their work ethics. Technology and machines are the biggest enablers of business development. 

A good business will always create its growth plans around business development. The numbers involved are the tangible parameters of the company’s liquidity and what the entrepreneurs need to do to grow the numbers.