A Guide To Finding Your Business Model

A company’s business model is a representation of its core business practices, and part of a comprehensive business strategy. Business models offer details about the structure of an organization and how it works internally.

The model will also offer information on products and services, basic business processes, infrastructure, customer retention, acquisition strategies and your intended customer base.

There are many new and innovative business models being introduced into the marketplace, showing you don’t have to follow a traditional model to succeed, but by starting with a model that is understood, you can use your ingenuity and add a spin to make your business stand out.

These are only a few, but by asking yourself the following questions you will be able to decide which business model will be best for you.

• “Who is your target customer?”
• “How will you generate revenue?”
• “How will you reach potential customers, convert them to paying customers, and keep them paying?”

Direct Sales Model

A business’s own employees demonstrate and sell their products directly to the end consumer. This stands in contrast to retail marketing, where a business sells its products in large volumes to distributors and stores rather than directly to end consumers.

Franchise Business Model

Franchising is the practice of the right to use a firm’s business model and brand for a prescribed period of time.

Subscription Business Model

A customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers but is now used by many businesses and websites. Rather than selling products individually, a subscription sells periodic (monthly or yearly or seasonal) use or access to a product or service.

Freemium Business Model

The word freemium is a combination of the words free and premium. It describes a business model in which you give a core product away for free to a large group of users and sell premium products to a smaller fraction of this user base.

Add-On Business Model

This model is based on a core product/service that is competitively priced, with lots of paid add-ons to increase customer retention and revenue.