What Is Business Development?
Business development is one of the most used and most misunderstood terms in business. For some, it means sales; for others, partnerships or doing deals. At the Business Development Association (BDA) the global authority for BD standards we define business development as a strategic discipline that creates measurable, sustainable growth by identifying opportunities, shaping value propositions, building ecosystems, and orchestrating market expansion under clear, testable standards. This page sets the global baseline: a precise definition, a competency framework (the BDA BoCK®), the lifecycle, the metrics that matter, and how professionals and institutions can align with world-class practice.
Business Development is the disciplined design and execution of growth identifying, validating, and capturing new value through markets, customers, partnerships, and offerings governed by standardized competencies and ethical practice.
The framework consists of 14 sub-competencies designed to cover the behavioral and technical competencies of business developers, including:
Opportunity Intelligence: continuous scanning of markets, customers, competitors, and technologies to surface high-leverage opportunities.
Market Development: segment selection, entry strategy, and go-to-market design for new geographies, verticals, or customer jobs-to-be-done.
Partnerships & Alliances: sourcing, evaluating, negotiating, and governing partnerships that create net-new value (distribution, product, data, funding).
Venture & Offer Creation: shaping new revenue streams—offer design, pricing & commercial models, pilots/POCs, and scale-up readiness.
Growth Governance: risk, compliance, measurement, and cross-functional orchestration to convert opportunities into durable results.
For More About The BDA Competency & Knowledge (BoCK)
The association has developed a comprehensive framework of competencies and knowledge. BDA BoCK® To be a global reference for best practices. It includes:
- Behavioral Competencies: Strategic leadership, communication and influence skills, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, negotiation and relationship management skills.
- Knowledge-Based Competencies: Growth and expansion strategies, market and competitor analysis, project management, model innovation, marketing and sales strategies, financial models, legal aspects and compliance.
This framework is the cornerstone of all the association's business development certifications and accreditations.
Business Development vs. Sales and Marketing
BD
Marketing and sales go beyond creating new markets, building strategic partnerships, and designing innovative growth models that open revenue streams and opportunities that did not exist before.
Sales
Focus on converting this interest into actual deals by convincing the client, negotiating, and closing contracts to generate direct revenue.
Marketing
It aims to build awareness of products or services, and create interest among potential customers through campaigns, advertisements, and promotional activities.
As BD expanded globally, organizations faced fragmented definitions, inconsistent training, and unclear signals of competence. BDA was established to solve this: a single source of truth that defines the discipline (BoCK®), certifies professionals, accredits institutions, and aligns practice with measurable outcomes and ethics. From global HQ in London, BDA sets the standard that governments, universities, enterprises, and consulting firms can rely on.
The global reference body that defines and unifies professional standards.
The official provider of internationally recognized professional certifications such as: Certified Business Development Professional (BDA-CP) and BDA-SCP™.
An institution that accredits academic and consulting programs to ensure their compatibility with BDA BoCK®.
A global community connecting professionals and organizations around best practices.
For More About Get Your BDA Business Development Certification
