What is exactly Business Development?

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What is exactly Business Development?

In the first section of The Guide to Business Development and Partnerships, I highlight several experts who attempt to define Biz Dev.  I think Andrew Dumont gets it best when he writes: "In it's simplest form, Biz Dev can be described as connecting similar businesses to similar goals."  I like his definition in part because it is so broad.  But I don't think it is specific enough.

Here is my definition: "Business Development is the function at the company responsible for identifying, securing, and/or managing relationships with organizations outside of the company (excluding customers and suppliers) that helps other key functions at the company achieve their respective goals."  Let me address some of the key ideas in this statement:

I use the word "relationship" to describe the myriad structures – formal and informal – that a company can have with another organization.  Note that I have deliberately excluded relationships with Customers, which are managed by Sales, and relationships with Suppliers, which are managed by Procurement / Finance.
I use the terms "identify, secure, and/or manage" because BD can take both a "hunter" (i.e., identify, secure) and "farmer" (i.e., manage) role.
I state that BD helps other key functions at the company achieve their respective goals.  Specifically, BD helps: 1) Sales, 2) Marketing, 3) Product, and/or 4) the CEO.  In an ideal world, none of these functions would need to rely on an organization outside of the company.  For example, Marketing would hit their lead quota every month without any outside help.  Product would release every feature on their roadmap on time without any outside help.  But the reality is that each of these functions is constrained, so each function could potentially benefit from a partnership with a 3rd party.  And Biz Dev is the function at the company responsible for managing the company's efforts in this area. (1) (2)
Now that I have defined "Business Development", let me provide some concrete examples of the various forms that BD can take.

Source: http://jamescohane.com/wtf-is-biz-dev-aka-what-is-business-development/