If you want to earn an average salary of $90,301 per year, you can try working as a Business Developer. With a job growth rate of 8%, you are also given a chance to further your career after some time.

With enough experience and years of working, you can be an Account Manager, a Regional Sales Manager, and a National Sales Manager after beginning as a Business Developer.

As a Business Developer, you will conduct in-depth business analysis and craft different strategies to help businesses grow and raise brand awareness. You will identify areas that need to be improved and come up with new ideas to strengthen your client base.

As a Business Developer, you are expected to be creative, have great interpersonal skills, and possess excellent organizational skills. When you have these skills, there is a big chance that you will land the job and do well in the field.

What Does a Business Developer Do

There are certain skills that many business developers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, interpersonal skills and organizational skills.

Learn more about what a Business Developer does

How To Become a Business Developer

If you're interested in becoming a business developer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 72.1% of business developers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.7% of business developers have master's degrees. Even though most business developers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Business Developer

Business Developer Career Paths

Average Salary for a Business Developer

Business Developers in America make an average salary of $101,635 per year or $49 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $156,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $66,000 per year.
Average Business Developer Salary
$101,635 Yearly
$48.86 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Business Developer

The role of a business developer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general business developer responsibilities:

  • Responsibilitiesinclude, but are not limited, to the following: develop
  • Will set the vision and strategy of how we execute within respective automotive vertical market segment by managing the key segment value propositions. Monitor
  • O prospect in the local marketplace for new furniture opportunities o develop local business relationships with various influencers (a/d community, commercial real estate brokers, moving companies, etc.) In order to identify potential opportunities early o manage the day to day relationship with existing clients for which the account executive, furniture is assigned o lead the development of creative

There are several types of business developer, including:

Business Development Manager

Role:

A business development manager is responsible for making sure their team or staff is regularly receiving opportunities for enhancing their skills and knowledge. Since a lot of people apply for a job where they'll be able to grow, many businesses hire a business development manager to figure out how to present such opportunities to employees.

These managers are known as people persons because the majority of their day is spent talking with people. The business development manager position isn't for newbies. In addition to needing a bachelor's, or even a master's, degree, you need a bit of experience under your belt. Once you've got all that and nailed down your communication skills, then you're ready to venture into the business development manager role.
  • Average Salary: $100,769
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Business Consultant

Role:

Business consultants analyze the processes and efficiency of a company. They identify potential problems and design business strategies for tackling them. They create business plans, increasing the potential of the company, and advise on the most cost-effective ways to achieve realistic business goals.

Business consultants work in a variety of sectors from healthcare to manufacturing, human resources, or financing. They do, however, tend to specialize in one area or another. Often they are self-employed, providing their services to a number of different clients, or they might be permanent employees at a firm. Either way, their job is essentially to listen and understand the company's particular needs.

Starting a consultancy business seems like an attractive solution to many who prefer to be their own bosses. Charging more for your services than you think you should as a freelance consultant gives you credibility and generates trust in your clients toward your services. That is one ground rule that will not be very painful to stick to, right?
  • Average Salary: $87,214
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Business Development Representative

Role:

Business development representatives are tasked with the development of a business or a company's customer base. This means that they tend to the customers' needs and make sure that the customers are happy and satisfied with the company's performance. They need to have a wide knowledge of their project in order to be able to communicate their value to the customers.

Good communication, organizational, and writing skills are highly important to succeed as a business development representative; having a high level of self-confidence is also part of the job. Earning $35.00 per hour or $73,000 a year is one of the perks of venturing into the field.

They mostly major in Business, with Marketing coming in at second place. The most common degree level for a business development representative is bachelor's degree, and one can apply for the job with a high school diploma as well.

  • Average Salary: $47,240
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Business Developer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active business developer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where business developers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Business Developer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California6,398$128,440
2Texas3,891$85,934
3Ohio3,545$99,124
4New York2,989$113,429
5Georgia2,664$101,063
6Minnesota2,448$91,763
7Illinois2,393$95,477
8Florida2,331$73,363
9Michigan2,319$88,603
10Washington1,952$124,124
11Indiana1,869$101,647
12Missouri1,820$79,905
13Massachusetts1,817$101,486
14Pennsylvania1,716$105,807
15Virginia1,690$93,632
16Tennessee1,689$88,380
17Wisconsin1,679$99,469
18Colorado1,658$89,615
19North Carolina1,619$96,366
20New Jersey1,513$95,795
21Kentucky1,124$110,912
22Alabama1,113$77,638
23South Carolina1,099$81,328
24Kansas1,065$85,626
25Oregon1,030$124,371
26Iowa1,003$98,490
27Arizona958$95,089
28Maryland909$114,011
29Arkansas836$88,331
30Louisiana836$74,234
31Nebraska786$94,109
32Nevada785$108,339
33Oklahoma686$83,738
34New Mexico617$95,306
35Utah610$101,310
36Connecticut549$105,179
37Mississippi406$80,504
38West Virginia356$88,762
39Maine355$85,695
40South Dakota320$93,059
41Montana320$86,208
42Idaho301$101,882
43New Hampshire273$102,287
44Rhode Island258$97,973
45North Dakota241$82,446
46Alaska224$107,135
47Delaware224$108,390
48Hawaii187$63,223
49Vermont184$91,278
50Wyoming135$93,935

Business Developer Education

Business Developer Majors

34.6 %

Business Developer Degrees

Bachelors

72.1 %

Masters

12.7 %

Associate

8.9 %

Top Colleges for Business Developers

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Biology
Marketing
Psychology

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Education
Electrical Engineering
Communication

3. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Biology
Psychology
Liberal Arts

4. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Liberal Arts
Biology
Psychology
Accounting

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Finance
Business
Economics

6. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Biology
Education
Economics

7. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Liberal Arts
Business
Psychology

8. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Business
Political Science
Economics
Finance

9. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Political Science
Public Relations
Psychology
Business

10. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Business
Economics
Liberal Arts
Communication

Top Skills For a Business Developer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.5% of business developers listed healthcare on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and interpersonal skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Business Developer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Business Developer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Business Developer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Business Developer Demographics

Business Developer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
66%
Female
Female
34%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among business developers, 34.2% of them are women, while 65.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among business developers is White, which makes up 70.4% of all business developers.

  • The most common foreign language among business developers is Spanish at 42.4%.

Online Courses For Business Developer That You May Like

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Best States For a Business Developer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a business developer. The best states for people in this position are California, Oregon, Washington, and Maryland. Business developers make the most in California with an average salary of $128,440. Whereas in Oregon and Washington, they would average $124,371 and $124,124, respectively. While business developers would only make an average of $114,011 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Nevada

Total Business Developer Jobs: 785
Highest 10% Earn:
$173,000
Location Quotient:
1.61

2. Kentucky

Total Business Developer Jobs: 1,124
Highest 10% Earn:
$173,000
Location Quotient:
1.31

3. Washington

Total Business Developer Jobs: 1,952
Highest 10% Earn:
$196,000
Location Quotient:
1.15
Full List Of Best States For Business Developers

How Do Business Developer Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Business Developer Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ business developers and discovered their number of business developer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Amazon was the best, especially with an average salary of $153,702. Lamar Advertising follows up with an average salary of $59,710, and then comes Lockheed Martin with an average of $88,414. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a business developer. The employers include AECOM, World Fuel Services, and University of Washington

Most Common Employers For Business Developer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Apple$169,943$81.7031
2Amazon$153,702$73.90284
3Hewlett Packard Enterprise$129,588$62.3032
4Staples Business Advantage$123,558$59.4032
5Dell$111,073$53.4033
6AT&T$108,179$52.0130
7Salesforce$106,882$51.3927
8Boeing$99,402$47.7922
9Siemens$98,198$47.2125
10Northrop Grumman$97,745$46.9934

Business Developer Videos