What is International Business Development?

To arrive at the definition of International Business Development, we have to understand what is understood by “Business Development”. If you search for the term, you will find several definitions, and you will find that different people define it in different ways. Similar to that group of blind experts talking about the elephant.

Some think Business Development is the same as sales. Others think it is more like marketing. An then there are those who say that Business Development has to do with relationship building; setting up sales channels – distributors, agents, licensing deals.

Scott Pollack (see Forbes: What exactly is Business Development? and What does a Biz Dev person actually do? ) suggests a definition which nicely rolls up the many different views into one:

“Business Development is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.

  • Customers: Find new ones and extract more value from current ones.
  • Markets: Figure out where new customers “live” (both geographically and in terms of “buying mindset“) and find a way to reach them.
  • Relationships: Build and leverage relationships founded on trust and integrity to facilitate opportunities.”

Because Business Development results in the creation of long-term value, the activity is strategic in nature. This requires that the Business Development professional thoroughly understands the company’s overal strategy, and stays in close touch with the capabilities of the organization.

Nevertheless, Business Development is externally focused because it wants to create value from customers, markets and relationships.
Similarly, I suggest the definition of International Business Development as the creation of long-term value for an organization from International customers, markets and relationships.
The International Business Developer focuses on following tasks:

  • the development of an International strategy
  • the preparation of an International Business Plan
  • the implementation, support and monitoring of the International Business Plan

The International environment obviously plays a significant role: the proposed strategy and plan have to take the different cultural setting into account.

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