It takes Money to Make Money – The Question Is, How Much?

There is a great deal of debate whether there is any truth to the old adage, “It takes money to make money.”

If you are a promoter of get rich quick, pyramid schemes or a realtor engaged in the sale of site un-seen, beach front property or multi acre, mountainside retreats, the folks who provide you your initial “business development training” would have you believe it will not cost you one thin dime (at least of your own money) to make your fortune.

On the other hand, if you were a well-heeled, Fortune 500 company, or even a middle-tier supplier or manufacturer of repair parts or components intent upon expanding lagging sales in this ever-challenging market, you would normally be expected to follow a more conventional business development (BD) strategy.

The conventional BD strategy is to put more money into flagging business development efforts by hiring more people, engaging in more conferences, attending more trade shows and in general exercising a shotgun approach to expanding sales under the belief that if some BD effort is good, more BD effort is better. It is generally an all-consuming strategy, involving a great many resources (time, effort, managing, and mentoring to name a few), with a potentially limited return. In other words, by default you subscribe to the “It takes money to make money” philosophy. Since you apparently embrace the theory that to grow, investment is necessary, the logical question that should then follow is, “How much money does it [should it] take?”

“Remind people that profit is the difference between revenue and expense. This makes you look smart.”

Scott Adams


As someone who has run several major business development organizations, I am well aware of the overhead and “waste” of resources inherently associated with these BD teams. I say inherent because this “waste” is not due at all to the members of the organization, but more so due to the intrinsic cost associated with permanent employees, their benefits, and the cost of the bureaucracy to manage them. Traditionally this has been the way organizations have pursued business:  growing people from within; using internal assets; pursuing any and all “leads” and “opportunities” (generally translated to mean everyone on the team attending every trade show and conference – together), rather than focusing on specific targets, or “following the money.” In other words, doing it the way we have always done it.

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Mark Twain


There is however a different way to approach augmenting your BD efforts; instead of bringing on board a new, un-proven, permanent hire who will be more expensive and take longer to train to be productive, you could hire a professional, experienced, and proven BD consultant on a contract basis.

A BD consultant will work directly for you, without the associated overhead and incidental costs. Capable of being focused completely on prospective customers and markets, a BD consultant will adapt and work within the marketing and business development systems in place, but should you require, is flexible enough to examine your specific situation and create a program that takes advantage of the strengths you’ve already worked to establish.

Put another way, they will tailor their efforts to maximize the current sales/marketing/administrative activities already in place within your office. Their initial focus is on determining which prospects should be contacted and what markets should be focused on in order to bring in new business to your company. All of this work will be performed more efficiently and at a lower cost than bringing on permanent employees. There is no “waste” in either time or talent, and your company pays for results not simply for attendance.

There are additional advantages to be gained from bringing a proven, professional BD consultant on board -cross-pollination of ideas and an external perspective on your business.  This allows an opportunity for external analysis and the potential for change and growth. The ability of the BD consultant to bring to the table an extensive networking capability only further “sweetens” the professional relationship.

The business development environment is changing. Opportunities, while still out there, require a whole new skill set to pursue successfully; that skill set may either not be fully present in your organization or may require reinforcing. Bringing on board a BD consultant will help you capture those elusive opportunities. It will also readily assist you in answering the question of how much money it takes to make money

You can take that to the bank!

“The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.”

Ayn Rand