No Business model, No Business

No Business model, No Business

When I did a live video on pitching tips last week, I talked a bit about identifying market needs and why you are in the best position to solve them. I also talked about creating a business model around the market need you are meeting, and I would like to shed more light on it.

Let’s take a fictional scenario. So, you have decided that by building an application, you can solve people’s money problems helping them to draw a budget and keep to it day after day. You should not have any problem with market entry because this is a need. But how do you intend to make money off this?

How does this translate into profit for you? Even if it does rake in some money, will it be sufficient to keep the business operations going? Will this model be convincing to get an investor to part away with his or her money?

These are some questions that should be answered before you decide to make a business out of it. It is okay to be solving a problem but if it does not translate into cash, then you might as well be running a Not-for-profit organization.

The term business model simply refers to your plan for making a profit. Your business model identifies the products or service, the market, what you hope to have customers pay for it, what percentage of it will go into operations and expenses and what percentage becomes profit. This is not particular to new businesses but even for old companies planning new product launches.

You should factor in startup costs, your financing sources, marketing strategy, sustainability plan, and possible partnerships. Your business could adopt a B2C (Business to consumer) model, a B2B (Business to business) model, a C2B (Consumer to Business) model, or a C2C (Consumer to consumer), but the party receiving the service or product should be willing to pay for it.

Another thing your business model should do is to anticipate trends and that is why it is an ongoing process even for existing businesses. Today’s world is a lot more dynamic than we could ever have imagined, and your plans for making a profit could easily become outdated as soon as another business launches with a better option. Factor all of that in while drafting and updating your business model.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the service you are offering for a fee becomes the same service another Company offers pro-bono or as a value-added service for customers who subscribe to their products? You could be out of business in the twinkle of an eye.

Also try to envisage challenges that could come up for your business in terms of government policies, cultural challenges, and the likes. Trust me, an investor is more likely to take you more seriously if you have factored in all the possible challenges and addressed them in advance, than if you have merely glossed over them in the hope that they never show up.