Many public and private organizations have determined that one of the most important ways to grow and scale is through “Business Development” which means mergers, acquisitions, licensing, investments, options-to-buy, and several other investment vehicles.

We have seen an exponential growth in Business Development in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, technology, and even professional services,

In the past, these same companies had a culture and philosophy of “If it’s not invented here, we don’t want it,” but those days are long gone because of the inherent risks associated with a strategy that thinks an organization can do everything perfectly. Business Development is all about mitigating risk and at the same time increasing the quality of products, services, and overall efficiencies.

From a Business Acumen Skills perspective, it takes a new and different mindset to build the organizational capabilities to successfully create and execute a strategy and culture of Business Development.

I am pleased to share 7 different business skills needed to achieve Business Development success. We will follow up this blog with another one focused on the business leadership skills needed to execute a Business Development strategy.