Importance of Business Development
Business management has quickly developed in one of the most wanted disciplines of modern times. Trained graduates are hired by international corporate houses to bring in scientific rigor into the organizations practices. Various management schools have opened up in the last thirty years but there are universities and colleges that provide business courses separately.Business development is a part of business management and it helps to develop a certain company using tips and tricks of business management. MakeMyAssignments.com provides business development assignment help.
Let’s discuss about what is business development and what are the key topics in it and what are the important plans.
What Is Business Development?
Business development comes under business studies as an interdisciplinary field. It includes views and ideas from the areas of organizational theory, business management and commerce. Nowadays IT programmers, specialized engineers, marketers, sales agents etc have responsibilities associated with business development because this discipline has evolved into various sub-disciplines. A business developer’s task is to come up with a growth plan and execute it effectively. Business developer collaborates with the production, marketing and R&D teams etc., in the development stage.
The professionals of business development require a skill-set in all the key areas of business management, such as:
- Finance
- Marketing
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Legal
- Strategic management
- Proposal Management or capture management
- Sales experience
We should discuss all these sub-disciplines separately to know how these areas contribute towards the discipline of business development.
1. Finance
Finance can be defined as the management of assets and liabilities for a person or an organization or the government during certain and uncertain times. Finance has three key areas, such as:
- Corporate finance
- Personal finance
- Public finance
Through business development’s point of view, to increase business and reduce costs, understanding the financial state of the organization is important to frame plans and strategies. Financial reports that declare the financial state of a company are of three types and they are as follows:
- Statement of income. It notes the net profit incurred by the person, company or government.
- Statement of owner’s equity that records the effect of inflow or outflow of cash on the owner’s capital.
- Balance sheet. It tells the current financial position of an organization.
2. Marketing
Marketing refers to a business process that deals with promoting and selling of goods and services to maximize profits of a business organization. Marketing includes four different aspects: price, promotion, product and place. Any strategy related to business development has to consider the 4Ps of marketing mix to plan efficiently.
3. Strategic Management
The formulation and execution of strategic plans that are often managed by the top posts of management of an organization on the behalf of shareholders and board of directors and formed after a careful analysis of the inner and outer environment of an organization refers to strategic management. Over the last few years, the marketing processes are the main point of focus of strategic management rather than production processes. For the development of business, strategic planning and implementations are very important.
4. Mergers and Acquisitions
Merger is a part of strategic planning and it refers to the uniting of two or more companies or organizations, whereas acquisition is the taking over of a company by a different company. Mergers and acquisitions comprise of different stages and they are as follows:
- Documentation is a letter of purpose between two official parties to enter into an agreement.
- Business valuation refers to the market value of both the partner organizations that are entering in an acquisition or merger.
- Financing is types of a merger and acquisition deal that can go through either cash or through stock purchasing etc.
5. Legal Aspects
Managing a business is full of legal aspects. Mostly these laws are commercial. When starting a business, one should consult or hire a professional lawyer.
6. Capture Management/Proposal Management
Capture Management/Proposal Management refers to the study of propositions for undertaking new businesses.
How Does Business Development Include All These Aspects?
A business developer needs to have a proper understanding of all these areas in detail. By merging his knowledge of all these areas the developer can then propose a successful business development strategy. The financial state of a company, the competition of the company in the market, ways to find funds for future projects etc., a business developer needs to be aware of all such aspects. In the recent years, business development has increased into an independent area of business. Many organizations have started delivering solutions for business development based on research done overtime.
A Business Development Policies: Business Pipeline Strategy
“Pipeline” is a very interesting business development strategy. Pipeline refers to the flow of future clients that the organization has started to develop. Every business development strategist proposes business development ideas to their customers in the pipeline that consists of the following:
- Sales figures that are targeted
- Causes for possible wins and losses
- Sales channels and figures that are top-notch
- Selling of services and figures
Some Other Techniques and Skills Involved In Business Development
- Assessing opportunities in the market and the target markets.
- Collecting intelligence on your customers and competitors
- Initiating leads for potential sales
- Advising on sales policies and processes for business development and drafting them and then enforcing them
- Following up on the sales activity etc.
Therefore, business development is a complicated field that includes a lot of other associated fields. Business developer should have a certain amount of understanding in everything: even if it is finance or accounting or marketing or sales.
- In the field of finance, the developer has to be aware of capital budgeting, drafting financial statements, creation of financial analysis etc.
- In the production area he should know the process of production and the raw materials that are used in the process.
- Also, he has to know about marketing mix, marketing strategy etc.
