People love to talk about business development and say they are business development experts instead of sales experts. Only problem is that most entreneurs need both but mostly sales. Why? The answer is cash flow.

Sales is immediate. You get somebody to buy your companies products and services, typically for cash in a specific amount of time. Sales helps cash flow now.

Business development is long term. You get somebody to forge an alliance that will sell products of your company in the future. Either the other person’s company will buy your products or their efforts will cause your products to sell in the marketplace. Business development keeps your cash flowing going in the future.

For most entrepreneurs, the reality is that they should spend most of their time on sales and only a small part of their time on business development. If they only spend all their time on sales, they may not be able to find opportunities that will help them grow. If they spend less time on sales, they can easily run out of cash.

Investors want to see some aspects of both; and there is really no recommended balance. The best ratio is one where there are enough sales to keep the cash flow high enough to afford growth and enough business development to identify where and how the company will grow. Each company is different and it’s the job of management to find that balance.