Business Models For Dummies

Introduction

I’ve enjoyed the privilege of working with hundreds of business leaders, from both big and small companies, on an intimate level. These business leaders have shared their hopes and dreams, successes and failures, and the inner workings of their businesses with me.

Through the course of these interactions I came to discover there wasn’t necessarily a correlation between education, intelligence, or hard work and success of the businesses. I found many successful business owners who were quite lazy. I found high school dropouts who created highly successful businesses. I also found intelligent, well-educated, and hard-working business leaders who failed to translate these qualities into business success.

I asked myself, “If these traits aren’t the foundation of business success, what is?” The answer is the business model. Education, intelligence, and hard work are all applied to a business model. Applying these qualities to a weak or failing business model is like throwing good money after bad in the stock market.

After the realization that the strength of the business model is at the core of a business’s success, I began to focus on this vital area. After years spent collecting real-world case studies, I created both a business model framework and a business model evaluation tool. I share both of these items with you in this book.

By the end of this book, I hope you’ll agree that I have demonstrated the importance of your business model as well as provided you with ...