What are the best free online business development courses?
- Basics of Business Development
If you don’t know where to begin, begin here. This foundational course will ground you in essentials like strategic planning, demand forecasting and even procurement and supply chain management.
- Business Development Essentials
Another worthwhile course that will put you on track to grow your company by explaining pricing structures, finding target markets and taking your idea from pure concept to real-life cash in the bank.
- Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Many entrepreneurs are good business developers because they have great ideas. But what if your ‘great idea’ already exists? What is an invention compared to an innovation? Take this course to see how to protect and advance your business plans.
What is business development?
Simply put, business development is the art and science of finding new opportunities for a company and putting in place ways of taking existing services or products to the next level. As a business development manager, you will constantly be researching and looking out for fresh areas where you can deliver a profit. You need to know your business inside out first in order to develop it - you can’t suggest a new product without knowing whether your supply chain can deliver it to your outlets, for example.
You can also do this by entering into strategic partnerships with complementary businesses and expanding into new markets. But you can’t just have the idea or inspiration: you need to back it up with solid research, revenue forecasting and income projections. You also need to know how much your development project will cost to implement and the possible pitfalls as well as potential advantages. This is an exciting area that involves creative as well as analytical thinking skills. If you are experienced with a proven track record, you could even act as a consultant to brand-new businesses to help them achieve initial success.
I have studied the basics of business development. Do you have more specialised courses on specific topics available?
For sure! As you advance in this interesting field, you will need more detailed knowledge and perhaps even start to specialise in a sought-after or challenging area. Consider enrolling in any or all of the following courses:
- Understand B2B Business Development and Sales
Business to business is a vast field and means you don’t deal with the public but with other companies. Do you want to help a B2B enterprise grow via setting SMART goals and putting together a clear sales strategy?
- Becoming a Professional Business Coach
This is a great career once you have a lot of experience under your belt. Essentially, you help others develop their companies by offering conceptual guidance and strategic advice, all through careful communication and an understanding of different business models.
- Diploma in Entrepreneurship, Copyright and IP Strategies
As mentioned, a significant part of business development is fresh ideas for products, services and partnerships. But how do you protect them? This course explains basic copyright and ways to safeguard your intellectual property.
What is business development?
Simply put, business development is the art and science of finding new opportunities for a company and putting in place ways of taking existing services or products to the next level. As a business development manager, you will constantly be researching and looking out for fresh areas where you can deliver a profit. You need to know your business inside out first in order to develop it - you can’t suggest a new product without knowing whether your supply chain can deliver it to your outlets, for example.
You can also do this by entering into strategic partnerships with complementary businesses and expanding into new markets. But you can’t just have the idea or inspiration: you need to back it up with solid research, revenue forecasting and income projections. You also need to know how much your development project will cost to implement and the possible pitfalls as well as potential advantages. This is an exciting area that involves creative as well as analytical thinking skills. If you are experienced with a proven track record, you could even act as a consultant to brand-new businesses to help them achieve initial success.
