Business Development is it rocket Science?

I don't think so.

Any self thought or any business development person who is grounded will feel the same way too.

Let us simplify things a bit, My job as a business development person is not about giving the world a brand new cancer drug, but to give the company the thrust to move from point X to point Y ( obviously north bound). Tell me the truth is it really that hard to understand. To add some complexity to this point we can add all the mambo jumbo of marketing - market entry, market share, customer value etc. But the filtered down point is, the business needs to make more money and keep moving.

Am I a sales guy? no I am not. I am supposed to push the revenue, but it can be organic or inorganic. If I keep knocking at doors with a sales pitch, I am sales. But if I dream of new ways to sell my product, reaching out to new clients, or if I give wings to my sales team and the management, Then I am business development. We are confused, not because we don't know who we are, but because people don't understand what we do. Sales is tactics. Business development is strategic.

To quote seth godin : "Good business development allows businesses to profit by doing something that is tangential to their core mission. Sometimes the profit is so good, it becomes part of their core mission, other times it supports the brand and sometimes it just makes money. And often it's a little guy who can be flexible enough to make things happen."

some examples:

· Starbucks licenses their name to a maker of ice cream and generates millions in royalties.

· A rack jobber like Handleman does a deal with a mass marketer like K Mart. K Mart gives them room in the store to sell records and gets a cut, Handleman does all the work.

· AOL buys AIM instant messaging software and integrates it into their service.

· Best Buy offers extended warranties on appliances you buy. They don't provide the warranty, of course, a business development person did a deal with an insurance/service company to do it and they share the profit.

So get ready for the joy ride.