A business model describes how a proposed business is to be built around a particular product or service. It is a means of communication between entrepreneurs and investors or between the marketing department and top-level management. A well-designed business model shows not only the product, but the business that needs to be built around it in order to be both profitable and stable. The business model template that Zephram uses has nine components:
- Value Proposition
- Target Market
- Communication Channels
- Value-Creating Activities
- Core Resources
- Key Partnerships
- Cost Structure
- Revenue Structure
- Competitive Strategy
The model is based on the one proposed by Alex Osterwalder. However, it aggregates Osterwalder’s Customer Relationships and Channels into one single element (Communication Channels), and adds a new element (Competitive Strategy), since we feel that this is an essential component in the design of a new business.
Many projects that Zephram carries out are Business Model Innovation projects, in which our clients are looking for ways to stabilise, protect or grow their businesses. We have developed a list of questions for use in our Idea Factory workshops, which help our clients to develop new ideas to achieve these goals.
In the coming months, we will be presenting selected questions from this list. We hope they will be useful to our readers in improving and innovating their own businesses.