Role

Business Development Specialist

Creates new growth opportunities by outreach, partnerships, and lead qualification.

13 chaptersAbout 3 months15–30 min a day11 skills2 projects
Start this path free →

Chapter 1 is free. No card needed.

Day 1 on the Business Development Specialist path.

What a Business Development Specialist does

Finds and qualifies new customers and partners through outreach and research to grow revenue for a business.

  • Research target markets and build lists of ideal customers and partners
  • Write and send outreach messages by email, phone, and social channels
  • Qualify leads by asking questions and confirming needs, budget, and timing
  • Book meetings and hand off qualified opportunities to sales or founders
  • Track outreach activity and results in a CRM and keep records up to date
  • Coordinate with marketing on campaigns, events, and lead follow-up
  • Negotiate simple partnership terms and set next steps with stakeholders

A day in the life

  1. Review pipeline, reply to messages, and plan outreach targets for the day
  2. Do outreach blocks: calls, emails, and social messages to new prospects
  3. Run discovery calls to qualify needs and schedule next meetings
  4. Update CRM notes, follow up, and share insights with sales and marketing

Tools you will use

CRM: Salesforce, HubSpotSpreadsheets: Excel, Google SheetsEmail outreach: Gmail, OutlookSales engagement: Outreach, SalesloftResearch: LinkedIn, company websitesScheduling: Calendly, Google Calendar

Your plan

Chapter by chapter.

1~1 wk

See what business development specialist work involves

StartFree
2~1 wk

Prospecting and outreach

Skills
31–2 wks

Map new deals a public company could chase

Proof
4~1 wk

Meet people who do business development specialist work

People
5~1 wk

Building relationships

Skills
6~1 wk

Communication and storytelling

Skills
7~1 wk

Handling resistance and setbacks

Skills
8~1 wk

Closing and negotiating

Skills
9~1 wk

Collaboration and adaptability

Skills
101–2 wks

Make difficult-customer playbook with recorded role-plays

Proof
11~1 wk

Practise role interviews

Interview
12~1 wk

Choose a route into business development specialist work

Decide
13on your timeline

Apply for roles

Apply

By the last chapter

This is what you can show.

Things you've made

Opportunity brief and Difficult-customer playbook with recorded role-plays

Skills you can prove

11 skills, each rated on work you actually did.

People you've talked to

4 people who do the job, with a message ready for each.

Questions you can answer

20 interview questions and a mock interview, with feedback.

Credentials

5 credentials compared, so you can pick one, or decide you don't need one. None is required.

Ways in

There is more than one route.

Ways to study

  • Diploma or degree in business, marketing, communications, or economics
  • Short courses in sales, negotiation, and customer discovery
  • Work-based training through internships or apprenticeships in sales teams

How people get their first job

  • Apply for sales development or business development internships
  • Start in inside sales or customer support to learn products and customers
  • Build a small prospect list and run an outreach experiment with tracked results
  • Earn a basic CRM or sales fundamentals certificate and practice with a demo CRM
  • Volunteer to find sponsors or partners for a student club or nonprofit

Life skills on this path: Networking · Job interviews · Job search

How the work is changing

What AI is doing to this role

How AI is changing this role · one of 6 tasks we track

Research target companies and contacts

Sped up a lot

What AI does

AI pulls news, funding rounds, and job changes in seconds.

Still yours

You decide which signals matter and shape your angle.

Reviewed September 2026

In the app · Premium

The rest is in the app

  • How AI affects the other 5 tasks
  • Whether this job is growing or shrinking
  • How hard the first job is to get
  • Similar roles that are easier to get into
  • Updated every month, with sources
See it in the app →

How we rate a job →

Already working

Already a Business Development Specialist?

Plan your move to Senior Business Development Specialist: 9 chapters that end with a strong case for your next review.

Grow in the role →

Other roles in Sales & Customer Success

Account ExecutiveAccount ManagerAI Sales Agent OperatorCustomer Success ManagerCustomer Support SpecialistInside Sales RepresentativeRetail SalespersonSales EngineerSales Operations SpecialistSales RepresentativeTravel Agent

Questions

Questions about this path

How long does it take to become a business development specialist with Welica?

The path is 13 chapters, 3 months at 15 to 30 minutes a day. You can go faster or slower; the plan moves with you.

Do I need a degree?

Not always. Common routes are diploma or degree in business, marketing, communications, or economics, short courses in sales, negotiation, and customer discovery, or work-based training through internships or apprenticeships in sales teams.

What is free?

Chapter 1, See what business development specialist work involves, is free for good. Premium unlocks the rest of the path.

Start the Business Development Specialist path.

Chapter 1 free. About 15 to 30 minutes a day.

Start this path free →

Already have an account? Sign in

Also on iPhone and Android