Title: Navigating the Shifting Landscape of Business Development: Strategies to Maintain the Upper Hand
Business development is a crucial function, especially for sustainable organizations. These entities often succeed by creating and investing in secondary businesses to fuel their growth. Ruchir Nath, a leader at Dell Technologies, has noticed this trend, and shares some examples.
Amazon, for instance, launched AWS, while Apple created the iPod and iPhone. Other companies like Shell, Netflix, and Amazon, expanded their customer base and value chains to stimulate growth. According to Bain & Company, 70% of top 100 companies have launched successful second-growth engines, with 54% integrating value chains and expanding customers.
McKinsey highlights that businesses with a focus on new business-building grew revenue three times more than their peers post-2008 financial crisis. By 2024, half of organizations' revenues will likely be from new products, services, or businesses yet to emerge.
The continued opportunities for innovation and growth should not be overlooked. However, as Ruchir points out, these advantages are only granted to companies with a vision and the culture to persistently innovate and grow. Failure to invest in the future led to the demise of Kodak and Blockbuster among others.
Entrepreneurial spirit, collaboration, and a cohesive pod structure that integrates strategy, product, and marketing teams, are essential for new business development. Identifying the value proposition and use cases is another crucial step. Proof of concept and early customer feedback offer necessary insights for improvement. Strategic partnerships serve to scale and strengthen the new business, while understanding the risk of cannibalization and having a well-crafted investment strategy proves vital.
Ruchir presents these methods through his own experience and observations, emphasizing the significance of knowing the 'why' behind business development efforts, investing in talent, and collaborating and iterating with customers.
Ruchir Nath, the leader at Dell Technologies, discusses how companies like Amazon and Apple have successfully stimulated their growth by creating and investing in secondary businesses. Furthermore, Ruchir Nath shares his thoughts on the importance of a vision and a culture of persistent innovation for companies to take advantage of the continued opportunities for innovation and growth, citing the demise of Kodak and Blockbuster as examples of the consequences of failing to invest in the future.
