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The differences between business managers and product managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a business manager, becoming a product manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product manager has an average salary of $111,729, which is higher than the $83,198 average annual salary of a business manager.
The top three skills for a business manager include customer service, powerpoint and project management. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.
| Business Manager | Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $83,198 | $111,729 |
| Hourly rate | $40.00 | $53.72 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 377,191 | 125,678 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A business manager is responsible for directing the overall operations of the company, ensuring that all employees do their tasks efficiently and accurately. Business managers' duties include developing strategic solutions, evaluating employees' performance, identifying business opportunities to grow, monitoring the company's expenses to meet its budget goals, implementing techniques to boost the company's revenue and profitability, and adhering to the company's legal policies and procedures. A business manager must have excellent leadership and interpersonal skills to supervise daily operations.
A product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.
Business managers and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Manager | Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $83,198 | $111,729 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $145,000 | Between $81,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a business manager and a product manager in terms of educational background:
| Business Manager | Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between business managers' and product managers' demographics:
| Business Manager | Product Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |