What Is a Business Development Strategy? 4 Tips for Building a Sustainable Business

A lot of small business owners talk about the ups and downs of running a business. Feast or famine. Either you’re very busy and making a lot of money, or you’re twiddling your thumbs while watching all the money drain out of your bank account. But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way? That you can have steady income as a small business owner?

It might seem like it’s too good to be true, but it’s a very attainable goal if you have a business development strategy and you follow through with it.

​A business development strategy is the process of developing a strategy for growing your business in a way that is both realistic and sustainable. I spend a lot of time helping my clients build and maintain their business development strategies, but if you’re just getting started, here are the top four things you need to know.

​Determine Your Destination

Before you can create a strategy to achieve your goals, you first have to define what those goals are. Is it a certain income level? A certain number of clients? Only once you know where you’re going can you create a roadmap to get there, so start with the vision you have for your business, and then figure out a way to quantify that vision so you have a target to aim for.

​Define Your Ideal Client

Defining your ideal client is a crucial part of your business development strategy because it will drive every other element of your business development efforts, from the networking events you choose to attend, to the topics you cover in your marketing materials, to your marketing channels. Only once you know who your target audience is, what pain points you’re solving for them, and where they tend to hang out (both online and off) can you create a successful business development strategy.

​Define Your Goals

​Remember the definition of a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time sensitive. So how are you defining your goals and what metrics are you going to use to determine whether you reached them?

​Identify the Resources You Need

Once you know where you want to take your business, it’s time to make a list of the resources you need, both to get there, and to measure your results. This can mean technology to help you get in front of and stay in touch with prospects and clients, or it can mean people, whether it’s referral partners to help spread the good word about you, or people to take some of the work off your hands.

For more information on how to build and maintain a business development strategy, I recommend my book, which leads you through every step of starting and building your business, from concept to marketing. Whether you’ve just started your business, or you’ve been at it a while but you’ve been struggling lately, my book can help you gain a fresh perspective on what might be working and what might not be working, so you can re-strategize and start focusing on the efforts that drive results.