In the SMB space, the phrase Business Development has usually meant, Sales & Marketing. However, in my world, it’s always meant business Development. As a business consultant, I don’t just focus on one area like sales or marketing but rather, I incorporate all aspects of the business when I engage a small business owner.
I typically start out with covering accounting and finance since that’s the most important place to start. Going over the books and making sure that the reports are accurate are extremely important as is implementing best practices.
Sometimes some clarity can be gained by modifying or tweaking the chart of accounts. Being able to drill down into expenses, viewing specific products or services (both on the ) that may or may not be profitable can really help with decision making.
We then move onto other areas of concern. Usually that means going over the sales and marketing plans…if they actually exist. If there are no plans in-place, then getting one written down is critical. Most small businesses do NOT have a sales manager or worse, the owner is playing that role….instead of focusing on growing the business.
Getting a PT sales manager or virtual sales manager can be a huge game changer. Additionally, if the client sells a physical product I can and will assist with the development of a channel sales division/department/platform to help boost revenue.
Not only that but, putting in-place some specialty tools that will help the sales team can return huge dividends as well. Systems such as a funnel apps, sales management apps, CRM apps, advanced calendaring and contact systems, project management apps, VoIP systems, call center platforms, mobile devices etc can all help with growing sales and when combined with a smart marketing strategy and plan, you’ll be on your way to generating and jumping on… valuable leads!
Speaking of marketing, having a simple marketing strategy , developing a plan and, devoting a small amount of $$ to the budget can go a long way in generating leads, building a recurring revenue stream and or kick-start your company’s sales team.
Additional resources such as web applications and creating lead gen websites can do a lot of good . And if you’re like me and only sell services, then devoting a small amount of time and dollars to things like landing pages, affiliate team building, referral programs, selling merch and doing some other wacky things like starting a podcast, developing an app, building eCommerce sites are all great ideas that I go over with small business owners.
Operational efficiencies are also very important to cover. Becoming more efficient usually means workflow and
These are only a few of the topics I cover when consulting with a small business owner.
I also go into further detail in this video (below) and once we finish our website, eCommerce store, YouTube channel and other social media sites, I will do a podcast series specifically on business development.
So keep an eye out and make sure you subscribe to our channel, like and share this article (and video) so that we know you find this content interesting, valuable and want more of it.
Thanks again for checking out our blog and we hope to see you over on our YouTube channel as well as our social meda sites. Take care and……..cheers! –JR