Business Strategies

Business Development

The function of Business Development should be seen as a natural process for any business to maximise the profitability of the enterprise in an organic & logical way.

 

Business Development should be seen as a responsibility for all stakeholders in the enterprise to optimise the financial performance of the business, although it is not uncommon for companies to set up a dedicated department / allocate the task to an individual – to “focus minds”.

 

At gutowski & milner we have even seen companies which are at a “crossroads” in their evolution, create a Business Development taskforce to improve profitability.

 

With the above in mind, let’s now take a few moments to explore the true purpose of Business Development within an organisation – other than “grow sales”. This could include (but is not limited to):

• 

  Improving profitability of an existing product or service, by:

  • Rationalising or growing current product / service ranges.
  • Divesting of existing non-contributing product / service ranges.
• Repositioning the company offering – increasing longevity of product life cycles.
• Establishing the company in new channels or countries (where the company has not previously been present).
• Creating new, long-term, strategic partnerships with clients & / or vendors.

 

For the function to perform at an optimum level, the individual(s) involved will need to be experienced stakeholder(s) of the enterprise, with deep understanding of not only the organisation & it’s employee’s strengths & weaknesses, but also have the mandate to create & subsequently implement change. They will be:

• 

  Capable of strategic planning, thinking & vision.

• Have strong analytical skills.
• Have a deep insight of the company & the changes that are realistic for the company to make.
• Can negotiate both internally & externally.
• Have the authority within the organisation to affect change.
• Understand the competition & have a working knowledge of their insights.
• Be able to work within a team & have effective networking skills.
• Understand the principles of Project Management.
• Able to create credible Scenario planning.

 

Hopefully, you can see from the above that this function, when fully understood by the organisation, with the appropriate resources / scope, together with qualified individuals, can be a potent force for business improvement within any enterprise.

 

Please feel free to contact us at https://www.gutowskiandmilner.com/contact-us/ in the first step to learn how we can help you with your Business Development plans.