When you launch a new business, you inevitably have big dreams for the future. Maybe you start out with five dependable clients and a streamlined list of service offerings. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. But more likely than not, your aspiration is to see your client list blossom, the scale of your services increase, and your overall business footprint expand.

In other words, you want your business to grow, rather than remaining stagnant. That’s an achievable goal, but only with intentionality and strategic effort. In a word, what you need is business development: A formal approach to finding new business opportunities, adapting favorably to market changes, and remaining competitive within your field.

Business development is essential for any small business owner looking to realize their entrepreneurial dreams, or to see their business remain dynamic and flourishing. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the nature of business development, and the importance of business development for smaller companies.

Business Development at a Glance

First, let’s clarify what business development means, and how it relates to other core functions of small business ownership.

• Business development can be best defined as the process by which you implement strategies across your enterprise to promote growth and to generate new revenues.
• The goals of business development may include looking for new opportunities to grow your business, such as expanding into new markets or developing new product lines, as well as identifying new prospects and converting leads into customers.
• Business development is closely related to sales, and it’s typical for sales and business development teams to work in tandem. However, there are also key distinctions. For example, business development often focuses on building and sustaining relationships with prospects, which can ultimately make the work of the sales team far more frictionless.

Why Focus on Business Development?

As for why small business owners should invest in business development activities, there are a number of benefits to consider. Some examples include:

• Market expansion. Investing in business development can allow smaller companies to uncover new customer segments, geographic regions, or product lines. This can lead to increased revenue streams as well as more diverse income sources.
• Enhanced business strategy. Taking the time to do business development often forces small business owners to be more critical in assessing their strengths and weaknesses, in articulating their value proposition, and in refining their business goals.
• Better customer relationships. With its emphasis on managing customer relationships, business development can be great for fostering brand loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals.
• Competitive advantage. Investing in business development can help small businesses identify unique selling propositions, improve their offerings, and stay ahead of competitors. This might mean investing in new technologies or creative marketing strategies.
• Increased efficiency. Finally, business development can yield increased operational efficiency, helping entrepreneurs to identify opportunities for streamlining their processes or eliminating unnecessary products from their catalog.

For Small Business Owners, Business Development is Non-Negotiable

Simply put, business development activity is essential for companies of all sizes, including businesses numbering just five, 10, or 20 people.

But what if you don’t have the time or expertise to conduct these activities in a consistent or strategic way? That’s where we come in. Piedmont Prospecting provides a full spectrum of focused business development and lead generation services for small B2B companies. We’d love to tell you more about our approach to business development. Contact us directly to find out more!