business-development

name	business-development
description	Build strategic partnerships, referral networks, and channel relationships that create new revenue paths. Covers partnership evaluation, co-marketing, joint ventures, community-driven growth, and alliance management. Use when developing partnerships, building referral programs, evaluating collaboration opportunities, or expanding through strategic relationships.

Business Development

Core Principle

Business development is not sales. Sales closes deals with end customers. Business development builds relationships that create new paths to revenue — partnerships, channels, alliances, and referrals. The output is not a transaction; it's a relationship that generates transactions over time.

Partnership Evaluation Framework

Is This Partnership Worth Pursuing?

Score each dimension 1-5:

1. VALUE ALIGNMENT
   Do you share the same customer? (not competitor, complementary)
   Do you share the same values and quality standards?
   Is there mutual respect for each other's expertise?

2. REACH
   Does the partner give you access to an audience you can't reach alone?
   How large and engaged is their audience?
   Is their audience your target customer?

3. EFFORT vs. RETURN
   How much work does this partnership require to maintain?
   What's the expected return (revenue, leads, credibility)?
   Is this a one-time collaboration or an ongoing relationship?

4. TRUST
   Would you refer your best client to them?
   Do they deliver on their commitments?
   Is the relationship balanced (not one-sided)?

Score:
  16-20: Pursue actively
  11-15: Worth exploring, define a pilot
  6-10:  Low priority, revisit later
  1-5:   Pass

Partnership Types

For Solo-preneurs and Small Teams

REFERRAL PARTNERSHIPS
  You refer clients to them, they refer to you.
  No money changes hands — just mutual value.
  Best for: Complementary service providers.
  Example: A web developer and a copywriter.

CO-MARKETING
  Joint content: webinar, blog post, newsletter swap.
  Both parties promote to their audience.
  Best for: Similar audience, non-competing offerings.
  Example: Two coaches with different specialties co-host a workshop.

CHANNEL PARTNERSHIPS
  They sell or bundle your product/service with theirs.
  Revenue share or commission model.
  Best for: Products that enhance an existing offering.
  Example: An AI tool bundled with a consulting package.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
  You contribute expertise to a community (talks, content, mentorship).
  The community becomes a lead source and credibility builder.
  Best for: Early-stage builders establishing authority.
  Example: Teaching in a professional group, then fielding inbound interest.

JOINT VENTURES
  Co-build a product, course, or offering.
  Shared investment and shared revenue.
  Best for: Ambitious projects neither party can do alone.
  Example: A technical builder and a domain expert create a course together.

Outreach Framework

The Ask, Listen, Do Approach to BizDev

1. ASK YOUR WHY
   Why does this partnership matter?
   What do you bring that they can't do alone?
   What do they bring that you can't do alone?

2. LISTEN AND BUILD TRUST
   Start with giving, not asking.
   Share their content. Introduce them to people. Attend their events.
   Listen to what they actually need — not what you want to pitch.

3. DO AND IMPLEMENT WITH MEANINGFUL IMPACT
   Propose a small pilot: one joint webinar, one referral, one co-created piece.
   Deliver results. Let the results speak.
   Expand only after the pilot proves mutual value.

Cold Partnership Outreach Template

Subject: [Specific shared interest] — potential collaboration

Hi [Name],

I've been following your work on [specific thing you noticed].
I work with [your audience] on [your expertise].

Our audiences overlap but we don't compete — [explain the complementary fit].

Would you be open to [specific small ask]?
  - A joint LinkedIn Live on [topic]
  - A newsletter swap for one edition
  - A mutual referral for [specific type of client]

Happy to share more context if helpful.

[Your name]

Referral Program Design

SIMPLE REFERRAL SYSTEM (for solo-preneurs):

  1. Identify 5-10 people who serve your same audience differently
  2. Have a conversation: "When you see [problem I solve], send them my way.
     When I see [problem you solve], I'll send them yours."
  3. Make it easy: Share a one-line description they can copy-paste
  4. Follow up monthly: "Sent you anyone lately? Anyone for me?"

STRUCTURED REFERRAL PROGRAM (for scaling):

  Tier 1 — Casual referrals: Thank-you note, reciprocal referral
  Tier 2 — Consistent referrals: Revenue share (10-20%), co-branding
  Tier 3 — Strategic partners: Joint offering, shared revenue, formal agreement

Measuring BizDev Success

Metric	What it measures	Target
Partnerships initiated	Activity level	3-5 new conversations/month
Partnerships active	Relationship health	Growing quarter over quarter
Referrals received	Inbound from partners	Track source for every lead
Referrals sent	Your contribution	At least match what you receive
Revenue from partnerships	Bottom-line impact	Growing % of total revenue
Time to first value	Partnership efficiency	First mutual value within 30 days

Anti-Patterns

BizDev Theater	Real Business Development
Collecting business cards at events	Following up with one specific person about one specific idea
"Let's find synergies" with no plan	"Here's a pilot: one joint webinar, 30 days, we split promotion"
Partnerships that only benefit you	Mutual value — if it's one-sided, it dies
Chasing big logos for credibility	Building with people who actually refer and collaborate
Signing partnership agreements that go nowhere	Starting with action, formalizing after proof of value

Power Move

"Evaluate a potential partnership with [company/person]. Score it on value alignment, reach, effort vs. return, and trust. If the score is 11+, draft a cold outreach message proposing a specific small pilot. If below 11, explain why it's not worth pursuing right now."

The agent becomes your head of business development — turning relationships into revenue paths.