Difference between Business development and Sales

There is a difference between business development and sales concepts that always a mix-up happen in people’s minds. Business Development concept varies from the company size and capacity that should be followed by different strategies. In larger companies, it means creating a very high-level vision and developing the relevant strategies to reach the company's intended vision.

Customer acquisition, especially in the early stages of the company, is a crucial task particularly for young companies in terms of cash generation and idea validation to increase its appeal to potential investors or acquirers.

The confusion mostly happens with the start-ups. In smaller start-ups, a lot of business development is intertwined with the sales since is the most rational, healthiest and less risky way for smaller organisations to grow. “Business development determines how much of the business will grow and where the growth will come from, and defines the approach to capturing growth while Sales creates the relationships with customers or client in order to align them to product or service and meet their exact needs. Sales is the execution of the plan; business development is the creation, focus, and measurement, of the plan.”