Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Business Development
And
how
to
remove
them
Table of Contents
Introduc0on
Chapter
1
Barriers
to
growth
Chapter
2
How
to
remove
them
Conclusion
Introduction
When
we
think
of
business
development
we
o@en
rst
think
of
sales,
or
revenue
growth.
And
increased
sales
are
indeed
a
key
part
of
developing
your
business.
However
too
many
rms
think
of
business
development
as
an
external
task,
focused
on
adver0sing,
brand
building,
marke0ng
and
direct
sales
eorts.
Repeatable
business
development
requires
looking
at
the
company
as
a
whole
and
dealing
with
internal
infrastructure
as
well
as
the
obvious
external
items
listed
above.
What
do
we
mean
when
we
say
repeatable
development?
The
image
below
is
the
best
overview
Ive
found
of
a
repeatable
business
model.
Its
from
Bain
and
Company
and
refers
to
their
book,
Repeatability.
Research
for
it
was
the
result
of
a
15
year
study
of
high
performance
companies.
Introduction
What
the
image
summarizes
is,
business
development
starts
internally,
and
progresses
to
external
ac0vity.
Many
of
my
blog
posts
and
books
have
highlighted
the
need
for
a
clear
dieren0ator
for
a
business.
This
isnt
to
say
that
every
company
is
an
Apple
or
Nike,
it
does
say
nd
out
what
your
core
competency
is,
and
build
on
that.
Business
development
has
two
meanings,
and
how
you
determine
what
it
means
to
you
as
a
business
owner
or
CEO
can
have
a
huge
impact
on
your
personal
net
worth.
If
you
see
business
development
simply
as
driving
sales
and
revenue
growth,
that
may
or
man
not
provide
an
acceptable
level
of
return.
However
if
you
see
it
as
developing
your
business
from
the
inside,
so
that
growth
is
repeatable
and
protable,
that
will
maximize
value.
Every
business
owner
should
have
either
a
transi0on
plan,
or
a
cash
out
plan
in
mind
depending
on
their
personal
needs.
So
whether
you
want
your
business
to
be
a
re0rement
annuity
providing
cash
with
someone
else
running
it,
or
you
want
to
sell
outright,
you
need
to
build
value.
The
rst
step
is
to
be
honest
with
yourself
and
examine
any
barriers
that
may
be
geSng
in
your
way
to
maximizing
the
value
of
your
business.
Then
take
the
steps
necessary
to
correct
them.
The
0me
to
posi0on
your
business
for
sale
is
well
before
you
decide
you
might
want
to
sell
it.
Ive
worked
with
dozens
of
companies
that
went
through
roller
coaster
revenue
and
protability
years.
I
had
one
owner
sum
it
up
really
well
a@er
realizing
his
company
wasnt
worth
near
what
he
thought.
When
I
want
to
sell
my
company
nobody
wants
to
buy
it,
when
I
dont,
everybody
wants
it.
Translate
that
to
mean,
in
the
great
years
when
he
was
able
to
take
huge
returns
from
the
business
he
wanted
to
hang
on
to
it.
When
things
got
tough,
he
considered
selling
and
there
were
no
buyers.
Buyers
look
at
performance
over
0me.
You
should
always
run
your
business
like
you
were
looking
to
sell.
It
provides
you
great
op0ons,
and
fewer
sleepless
nights.
CHAPTER ONE
Barriers to Business
Development
Barriers
Internal
While
there
are
many
candidates,
Ive
tried
to
pick
the
most
common
impediments
that
Ive
experienced
and
those
that
have
the
greatest
nega0ve
impact
on
developing
a
business
model
that
provides
protable
growth
year
over
year.
Lets
start
by
agreeing
on
one
thing,
no
maVer
what
issues
are
keeping
you
from
developing
your
business,
it
starts
and
ends
with
you,
the
guy
in
the
mirror.
Lack
of
direc,on
If
you
dont
have
a
clear
vision
of
where
you
want
to
take
your
business
within
a
specic
0meframe,
and
you
cant
ar0culate
it
to
all
your
stakeholders,
youre
not
focused.
If
you
arent
focused,
your
employees
and
your
business
arent
focused
either.
You
are
in
danger
of
chasing
any
interes0ng
diversion
that
may
come
up.
That
ac0vity
may
even
develop
revenue,
but
it
probably
wont
build
las0ng
value.
Find
your
core
competency
and
build
on
it.
Growth
developed
without
a
plan
is
o@en
reac0onary,
and
results
in
scrambling
to
handle
the
addi0on.
That
o@en
results
in
increased
cost
and
re
gh0ng.
Decide
where
you
want
to
go,
what
you
want
to
do,
and
communicate
it.
Also
just
as
important,
decide
what
youll
stop
doing.
Good
business
leaders
create
a
vision,
ar=culate
the
vision,
passionately
own
the
vision,
and
relentlessly
drive
it
to
comple=on.
Jack
Welch
Barriers
Internal
Tac,cal
vs.
strategic
focus
If
youre
too
busy
dealing
with
day-to-day
issues
to
spend
some
quality
0me
thinking
longer
range,
something
is
wrong.
If
the
majority
of
top
managements
0me
is
spent
dealing
with
admin
or
re
gh0ng,
you
arent
addressing
the
root
cause.
Dont
confuse
being
busy
with
being
eec0ve!
Its
easy
to
feel
a
sense
of
accomplishment
by
xing
problems
but
the
top
persons
job
isnt
to
x
them,
anyone
can
do
that.
Your
job
is
to
prevent
them.
Strategy
is
hard
work,
and
there
is
no
instant
gra0ca0on.
But
if
you
are
going
to
lead,
youd
beVer
have
a
plan
and
direc0on
in
mind.
Infrastructure
/
lack
of
processes
You
cannot
grow
your
business
if
you
cant
handle
what
you
have.
You
also
cant
protably
grow
your
business
if
costs
increase
at
the
same
rate,
or
even
greater
than
sales.
Lack
of
resources,
or
the
right
resources,
and
lack
of
processes
can
wipe
out
the
posi0ve
impact
of
sales
growth.
This
is
made
worse
if
your
priori0es
shi@
repeatedly
stressing
your
infrastructure.
People
Either
having
too
few,
or
the
wrong
people
can
be
a
huge
barrier
to
building
a
repeatable
business
model.
Deal
with
people
issues
promptly,
before
they
impact
others.
To
develop
sustained
growth
you
must
be
able
to
aVract
and
retain
great
people.
Great
people
dont
migrate
to
a
company
that
doesnt
provide
opportunity.
Lack
of
aggressive
growth
means
less
opportuni0es
for
advancement,
making
key
people
hard
to
aVract
and
even
harder
to
keep.
Barriers
Internal
Silos
Call
it
communica0ons,
teamwork
or
whatever
term
you
choose,
but
not
having
cross
departmental
goals
and
accountability
is
a
growth
killer.
Growth
is
not
a
sales
or
marke0ng
responsibility,
its
the
en0re
organiza0ons
responsibility.
Everything
that
happens
internally
as
well
as
externally
should
be
done
with
the
customer
in
mind.
Internal
turf
wars,
poor
service,
poor
quality
products
absorb
huge
amounts
of
0me
and
eort.
And
guess
what,
you
customer
doesnt
care
whose
fault
it
is.
Access
to
cash
or
credit
If
you
dont
have
access
to
adequate
credit,
that
certainly
limits
growth.
This
gets
back
to
having
your
business
ready
to
sell
at
all
0mes.
Part
of
that
is
making
it
and
keeping
it
aVrac0ve
to
lenders.
Banks
are
not
in
the
risk
business.
If
you
need
risk
capital,
that
becomes
very
expensive.
Have
a
plan
and
work
the
plan.
Show
progress
and
make
your
company
aVrac0ve
to
lenders.
Leadership
eec,veness
All
of
the
above
can
be
aVributed
to
leadership
or
lack
of
leadership,
the
guy
in
the
mirror.
Your
employees,
your
customers,
your
shareholders
and
Board
of
Directors
are
looking
to
you
to
provide
the
vision,
and
drive
accountability
and
results.
What
you
do
is
much
more
important
and
eec0ve
than
what
you
say.
If
you
arent
visibly
commiVed
to
making
your
organiza0on
the
best
it
can
be,
how
can
you
expect
your
employees
and
more
importantly
your
customers
to
be?
When
things
go
wrong
in
your
command,
start
searching
for
the
reason
in
increasingly
large
circles
around
your
own
desk.
-Gen.
Bruce
Clarke
Barriers
External
Some
of
the
things
that
are
barriers
to
growth
and
development
are
seen
as
external
to
the
company.
I
submit
most
of
these
are
internal
issues
with
internal
solu0ons
that
become
visible
externally.
Sales
eec,veness
How
do
you
measure
sales
eec0veness?
The
obvious
metric
is
revenue
growth,
are
you
sales
growing
year
over
year?
However
there
are
other
things
to
consider:
What
are
your
cost
of
sales?
Are
you
forced
to
sell
on
price
even
though
you
arent
the
lowest
cost
provider?
What
is
your
customer
reten0on
rate?
What
does
your
sales
pipeline
look
like?
Is
it
growing?
Are
you
following
up
on
leads?
Are
your
sales
people
having
diculty
geSng
appointments
and
genera0ng
leads?
If
sales
arent
as
eec0ve
as
youd
like
do
you
know
why?
Are
you
doing
any
marke0ng
or
relying
strictly
on
direct
sales?
Value
Proposi,on
Do
you
have
a
compelling
unique
value
proposi0on
that
your
sales
team,
and
your
customers
understand
and
agree
with?
If
not
youre
the
same
as
everyone
else.
What
do
you
sell?
What
problem
do
you
solve
beVer
than
everyone
else?
If
you
dont
have
a
value
proposi0on
that
your
customers
understand,
and
agree
with,
its
a
huge
impact
on
sales
eec0veness.
Your
sales
force
has
to
rely
on
personal
contacts,
which
aVrite
over
0me,
or
lowest
price.
What
can
be
more
damaging
is,
if
they
dont
have
a
well
dened
product
or
service
with
a
sound
strategy,
they
scramble
for
things
to
say.
Keep
your
sales
message
clear
and
consistent.
Barriers
External
Market
intelligence
Marke,ng
eec,veness
If
you
dont
have
clear,
compelling
message,
you
are
lost
in
the
noise.
If
you
dont
have
a
repeatable
source
of
new
leads,
if
your
website
isnt
an
ac0ve
part
of
your
lead
genera0on
process
you
are
missing
huge
opportuni0es
for
growth.
Over
70%
of
purchases
for
goods
and
services
involve
a
web
search
at
some
point
in
the
process.
It
all
gets
down
to
your
message.
If
you
understand
your
market,
you
understand
your
compe00on,
your
value
proposi0on,
and
cra@
your
message
around
those
items
your
message
will
stand
out.
Its
hard
to
stand
out
as
a
me
too!
Barriers
External
Weve
iden0ed
11
subjects
that
Ive
seen
rsthand
in
numerous
companies
and
in
numerous
markets
that
adversely
aect
repeatable
business
development.
Most
of
these
are
within
your
direct
control.
We
can
blame
poor
economic
condi0ons,
government
regula0ons,
or
scarcity
of
resources,
for
growth
issues,
but
the
truth
is
everyone
deals
with
these.
Strong
companies
can
prosper
in
poor
economic
0mes
at
the
expense
of
weaker
compe0tors.
In
the
next
chapter
well
review
how
to
remove
these
11
barriers.
CHAPTER TWO
How to eliminate the barriers to
Business Development
Business
Development
Model
Barrier Breakers
Direc,on
A
part
of
the
planning
process
dened
on
page
13.
Many
leaders
are
afraid
to
dene
a
direc0on
because
it
may
cause
them
to
overlook
opportuni0es.
But
chasing
random
opportuni0es
can
lead
to
poor
return
on
investment
,and
stressing
cri0cal
resources
such
as
cash,
and
people.
Set
a
direc0on,
and
evaluate
every
new
opportunity
against
your
strategy.
Tac,cal
vs.
Strategic
focus
Develop
an
overall
plan
to
use
as
a
guideline
and
keep
it
in
front
of
everyone.
Review
it
on
a
regular
basis
modify
as
needed
and
hold
people
accountable
for
results.
It
makes
decisions
easier
by
answering
a
single
ques=on,
does
this
eort
or
investment
take
me
closer
to
my
vision?
If
not
why
do
it?
Infrastructure
/
Lack
of
processes
use
the
results
of
your
S.W.O.T
analysis
to
ll
your
gaps
and
focus
your
eorts.
Develop
and
document
processes
to
x
the
weaknesses.
People
-
Perform
to
plan,
communicate,
and
drive
growth.
Hold
people
accountable
equally
and
people
will
respond.
Deal
with
poor
performers
fairly
and
quickly.
The
longer
you
delay
dealing
with
underperformers
the
more
you
alienate
top
performers.
Silos
-
Destroy
them.
Be
fair,
open
and
insist
in
cross
department
goals
and
achievement.
Access
to
credit
A
credible,
documented
plan,
with
some
track
record
of
performance
can
work
wonders
in
this
area.
A
lender
wants
to
know
youve
thought
it
out
and
can
execute.
Leadership
Be
decisive
and
ac=on
oriented.
Share
your
vision.
I
read
somewhere
that,
if
your
people
arent
mocking
you
about
how
you
communicate
your
vision,
you
arent
doing
it
enough.
Expect
results
from
the
organiza0on
and
from
yourself.
Barrier Breakers
Sales
eec,veness
Measure
how
you
determine
success?
Set
goals
and
meaningful
metrics
to
measure
progress
on
a
regular
basis.
Clarify
your
message
and
make
sure
your
sales
team
believes
in
it.
Value
Proposi,on
Part
of
the
planning
process
on
page
14.
Its
cri0cal
to
develop
one,
unless
you
are
the
low
cost
provider
and
can
stay
there.
Market
intelligence
Again
should
be
part
of
the
discussion
in
the
planning
process.
You
cant
develop
a
UVP
if
you
dont
know
this.
Marke,ng
eec,veness
Make
your
website
an
ac0ve
lead
genera0ng
machine,
not
a
sta0c
brochure.
Take
a
look
at
my
eBook
on
Inbound
marke0ng
if
you
want
some
ideas.
The
minute
youre
sa=sed
with
where
you
are,
you
arent
there
anymore.
Tony
Gwynn,
Hall
of
Fame
Baseball
player
Conclusion
Repeatable
protable
growth
does
not
happen
in
a
vacuum.
It
takes
planning,
commitment,
research
and
accountability.
But
like
any
other
good
business
ac0vity,
it
can
be
accomplished
with
the
right
process.
Ive
developed
a
slide
show
en0tled
7
steps
to
repeatable
business
growth.
I
use
it
for
speaking
engagements
and
presenta0ons.
You
are
free
to
use
it
to
drive
discussion
within
your
organiza0on.
Click
here
to
download
the
PowerPoint
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