Earlier this year I had heard from sources at various business schools that given the recession and slower consulting and investment banking hiring, a lot of MBA graduates were looking to careers in business development. This is a great development, but in my experience the term "business development" means quite different things to different people. Here's a paraphrasing of some of the types of statements I've heard in the workplace:

• "Business development is about new customer acquisition and sales."
• "Sales personnel are divided into existing accounts and hunters. Business development looks for breakthrough, strategic sales."
• "Business development handles strategic partnerships & deals."
• "Channel sales are the primary focus of the business development team."
• "The VP of Business Development works financing, acquisition, and strategy activities."
• "Business development establishes the cross-promotional marketing deals."
• "Business development focuses on strategic initiatives (whether partnership, financing, product) identified by the Board."
• "The business development team is facilitating design of a new product with XYZ company and our development team."
• "Business development sells product to the channel."
• "Oh. You handle a mixture of finance, marketing & sales, strategy functions. You're business development."
• "Business development folks are jacks of many different trades."
• "Business development is about getting larger partners to commercialize on brand extensions that you may not be able to handle on your own."
• "The sales team does that. You want to know what business development does? We need to talk about that in my office. Come on in, and please shut the door so we can have some privacy."

There is an element of truth in all of these statements. Business development can be all of these things. It really depends on company. In my mind, however, the role of business development is to find new strategic opportunities for the company and start the company on the path to execute (incubation). It is not uncommon for business developers to have a combination of strategy, marketing & sales, finance, legal, and operations background.

Based on my experience in business development, here's the flavors I've run into (roughly from more to less common):

• Partnership development
• Strategic market development and sales
• Strategic marketing
• Mergers, acquisitions, and financing
• New business line exploration
• Channel sales
• New product development

What are your experiences with business development professionals? To what extent is it a well-defined function within your business? What types of issues have you run into?

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