Management Consulting vs Business Development

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, business development is typically a regular business function within an organization with a strong focus on sales (opportunities).
• Moreover, there are very few similarities to consulting, and career growth as well as exit opportunities can be more considered like for any other business function, i.e. you might become a “senior business developer” and “head of business development” over time and your exit will most likely be in a business development or sales-related role somewhere else.
• Lastly, I would advise you to reach out to professionals of both occupations and find out in more detail on your own.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

It's two vastly different roles.

I worked both in consulting for McKinsey and in biz dev for a scale-up.

Consulting

• You will work on many fast-paced and short strategic projects across various industries and contexts. Typical project length is around 8-12 weeks
• You will also travel a lot as projects are usually in a different city or even country. You will see a lot of cool stuff in a very short amount of time. Biggest upside for me
• You will work in small teams (EM+2 is the standard model), often collaborating with the client's internal teams
• Offers a fast-paced, diverse career path with opportunities for rapid advancement and exposure to various industries
• Salaries are much higher than in biz dev and the career trajectory is much faster and more rigid (entry to partner is possible within a few years if you are good)
• You will mainly work on the theory part (strategies, plans, etc) but implementation is still mainly done by the client

Biz dev

• Involves identifying growth opportunities, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions specific to the company, with a focus on long-term business growth
• You have several projects/responsibilities at the same time and complete ownership of them. The projects themselves are longer-lasting
• In that sense, it's much more stable and travel is limited, yet also a much slower environment. Things take ages to get done compared to consulting. Biggest downside for me personally
• Typically offers a more stable, company-specific career with a focus on deepening expertise within one industry or company
• You are more directly involved in decision-making and implementation

I enjoyed both roles for different reasons but would not have wanted to miss consulting, whereas biz dev I could have done without.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,

Florian