The Nuts and Bolts of Business Development

There are four simple options to consider when looking to strategically grow your business. Note the word strategic in there… this is not about just working harder or making more things in hopes of growing your business, it is about making a plan that make sense for how to grow your business for the long term. Before we get too far into setting some goals, it makes sense to start with a solid understanding of the basis on which the business has been built.

Every successful business has created something that sparked the interest of their customer. You would not be where you are today if you weren’t doing a couple things right, right? Well, what it is that created that spark? What do your customers like about your product or services? Why do they work with you? What is your special sauce? Understanding what your are good at is not only about understanding what your staff does well, it is about understanding what the customers’ perception is of what you do well.

Once grounded in what you are doing right, a business development strategy builds on that foundation. Growth comes from selling more to your existing customers and/or from selling to new customers. Here are four possible business development strategies that support these options. Use your experiences to date and your understanding of your position in the market today to decide what option(s) are best for your company.

1. Create add-on sales.

The lowest cost way to increase sales is to sell more to your existing customers. This is why every retail establishment has a tempting selection of small items at the cash wrap: If a client is in the store and has their wallet out to buy something, then why not ask them to pick up just this little bit more? Add-on sales are not just a good strategy for retail, the concept works in all sectors. The underlying premise here is that you have a solid understanding of the market and can increase the amount of business you do with your existing customers by interacting with them more frequently, adding product features, increasing product selection or expanding service options.

2. Increase exposure.

If you want more customers and feel that you still have plenty of room to grow in your existing market, then it may just be about exposure. Is it a common experience that you run into customers—who are exactly the ones you want to work with—who do not even know that your company exists? Is everybody at your firm busy, nose to the grindstone, doing their job and delivering work, but maybe no one is getting the word out to new customers? If yes, then maybe your business development strategy is simply to put more resources (time, energy, and money) into marketing. This strategy might utilize tactics like optimizing your website, creating new promotional materials or running an advertising campaign in your current market.

3. Test new waters.

Expansion into new markets is often a logical next step in a business’s growth. This means taking what you know you are good at and trying to find a new pool of customers, similar to the ones you have now, in a new area or sector. Figuring out who these customers are and where they are is the key to success with this strategy. This means doing some thorough and professional market research to understand economic trends in the new market, the size and health of your potential new customers, and the strength of your new competitors. You want to know as much about the new market as you can before you dive in.

4. Explore new territory.

Economies go up and down, technologies shift behaviors, and who knows what is coming your way. Knowing that change in the environment is a certainty means that it is wise for businesses to diversify whenever they can. A strong stable company does not rely on any one target customer for more than 20% of their business, and the same holds true for reliance on any one product. Sometimes a diversification strategy is needed. This means moving forward with an idea that is a diversion from the current business to push the company in new directions. This kind of strategy needs to be done very carefully with planning put into how to provide the people, time, and money needed to properly test the new offering without harming the core business. However, if done carefully exploring new ideas can open up exciting growth opportunities for the company.