Any business should build a solid foundation to ensure future success. It is important to formulate a strategy and conduct research to ensure higher rate for success. Our business model should run like a well-oiled machine. Many owners think that business model and business plan are identical, but it isn’t true. Business plan is more formal document and it includes market assessments, competitive analysis and financial information. On the other hand, business model is briefer and it can be consisted of only a single page with diagrams and some text. The information should summarize our technological identity, marketing advantages, primary products/services and other essential things. The model should quickly offer description of our capabilities and market responsibilities. The model is the core of the business itself and it demonstrates what the business can do and can offer to the market. It should define any partnership that may exist within the business. It means that potential partners can see that their relationships with us can be profitable.
We need to know things that set our business apart from others in the market. We need to show what our business can provide to the public. This questions needs to be addressed when we formulate a business model. Our business should be an asset to the society and the public must get an overall good value. There are risks that we need to consider and they could be related to wasted effort, money and time. A business model needs to directly define how and where our business can receive money from clients and customers. It must draw the line as to how we receive money from clients and customers. The model directly shows how products flow from manufacturers/suppliers/ sellers to the business and then to the customers or clients. However, a business model shouldn’t be too straightforward and boring. It should define what’s unique about a business and there must be a Wow Factor that can make people interested. Clients and customers will know what they are paying for and what will they get for their money. For this reason, the model should locate and define the target market. Target customers must be genuinely interested in our products, which cause them to seek out our products and services actively.
Once we have defined the target market, we should be able to our marketing strategy into place. The strategy must cater to the needs of the community, both within a physical geographical area or online. Due to the technological advances, marketing and sales techniques are now at an entirely new level. With few clicks of a button, promotions and mass marketing messages can be sent to many people. Successful businesspeople have successfully used social networks, such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook by establishing an online community related to their products. Marketing don’t have to be performed through more traditional ways, because modern techniques can help us reach many more people in a short amount of time at greater geographical area.