We asked Capital Ideas members how they found the right business model for them. Here’s what members of our community of business owners helping business owners had to say:
Conrad Erbes, founder of CE Group of Companies Inc.
“Research! Research! Research! Know your market and your target audience and determine the best ways to get in front of those people/organizations. What is your competition doing to engage customers? Digital mediums work for most business interactions, but people still very much like the human contact of a phone call, meeting or an ‘old school’ handwritten letter.”
— Conrad Erbes, founder of CE Group of Companies Inc.
“When choosing a right model for your business, you must first decide the size of your ‘finished’ company. Each new member added to the firm increases the complexity exponentially. Ask yourself: ‘What does this exponential complexity do for the business’s value, revenue and net income?’ Knowing the size of your finished company will determine the right business model for you. If you reach your ultimate size and decide to grow more, a new business model may be required.”
— Norbert Lemermeyer, founder of Architecture+Business
“The obvious thing is to take a business course. If you know you will be taking over a family business or starting one it sure helps. However, sometimes you have a vision or a dream and need to act on it right away. Finding a successful business close to what you want to do and then tweaking that model to what works for you is also good sense. The old adage applies: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel just make it better. If you choose an industry that is already established and has pioneered a method, it’s good sense to use their knowledge so you don’t have to repeat mistakes already solved.”
— Suzan Burtic, president of Legends Limousine
“Experimentation.”
— Michael Sadler, founder of Access The Flock
“The best advice I give my clients who are concerned about what business model to adopt is to choose something that while robust still allows for adaptability. There is no longer a ‘one size fits all’ mould and it should not be surprising that along with technology, the types of corporate structure used to house businesses have also advanced.”
— Laura M. Schuler, general counsel and owner of Schuler Law Group
John Pucylo, owner of The Vision Gallery
“For me the right business model fit came from my experiences working in different clinics. I was able to observe what worked and what didn’t prior to owning my own business. When the time came to venture out on my own, I drew from all of my experiences and picked the ones I felt worked the best.”
— John Pucylo, owner of The Vision Gallery
“Business models need now more than ever to be very fluid and adaptable. This means, validation needs to be super quick, and you need to constantly assess the market, your competitors, new innovations and your customer needs on a weekly basis. Be flexible and make your business processes agile so you can adapt when you need to.”
— Ashif Mawji, president and co-CEO of Trust Science
“My company has gone through a huge transition. When we looked at our business model and the ever-changing marketing landscape and made decisions to grow our business into new areas, we assessed the business model and the overall fit going forward. I think looking at your core business performance and looking at ways to grow or vertically package clients with new offerings are great ways to look at your overall business model and see if there is a great fit with new endeavours or the new updated business model. When you see difficulty in strategies to grow or expand, you tend to see where the challenges are in your current business model.
— Edward Langer, managing partner at ThinkTANK Advertising
Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business.
The above answers are in response to a question posed by Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business. Here’s his take:
“In my experience, the most successful entrepreneurs are not those who just have a good business idea but also have designed a business model that will fit the market and opportunity just right. The skill of designing that business model is what differentiates many successful entrepreneurs from those who face bigger challenges. Choose your business model carefully and be ready to change it quickly to suit your market, the competition and your needs.”
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This article was produced by Capital Ideas, a product of Postmedia Labs, in collaboration with ATB Business.
