You want to put together a business development strategy, but don’t know where to start.

The first step is understanding who will lead business development and what strengths they bring. If you are the founder and you will be leading it yourself, you need to know whether you are stronger at building relationships or stronger at discussing numbers, margins, ROI, and deal structure. That matters because it will shape how you sell, who you target, and which opportunities you pursue. The same applies if you are hiring a business development manager. Some businesses grow more through trust, relationships, and long sales cycles, while others need someone with stronger financial acumen who can speak confidently about value, returns, and commercial outcomes.

Once you understand the type of business development your company needs, the next step is choosing the right sales channels. Which channels are most likely to generate revenue? If you are in the early stages, it is worth testing different channels for the first year. Review them every 90 days to see what’s working, what’s not, and where your best opportunities are. By the end of the year, you should have a clear picture of which channels bring in the most revenue and profit.

If you already know which channels perform best, focus on those and build a budget around them with an ROI target in mind. For example, if your most profitable channel is attending quarterly conferences that cost between $500 and $1,000, and those events can lead to $10,000, $100,000, or even $1 million in profit, then attending is worth it. But it is not enough to generate revenue alone. You need to ask whether the return meets your target. A common benchmark is that a 3x ROI is strong, while a 5x ROI is excellent.

Once you know which channels work, the next question is how you are communicating with prospects in those channels. What does your sales process look like? What tools are you using to stay organized? What reports are helping you track progress and make better decisions? This is where business development becomes strategic. Once you know what works, your job is to focus on it, improve it, and build repeatable systems that support consistent sales activity.

Most importantly, remember that customers are not only buying a product or service. They are also buying trust, confidence, and the way you communicate value. In competitive markets, people often choose the person or business they feel most confident and like to work with, and that is what makes the difference.