Business Development Audit – Stage 1: Business Model

Stage 1- Business Model

LISTEN TO STAGE TWO

Stage 1- Business Model

Peter Jubb, TC Group Consultant

The 7-Stage Business Development Audit has been designed to take business owners of SMEs in the Construction & Built Environment on a journey to offer better value to their clients, whilst satisfying the needs of their business.

Business Development is both a strategic and operational activity; it requires a process – just like architects who follow the RIBA Plan of Work Stages to design and deliver projects.

Why start the 7-stage process with your business model?

Every business development and marketing activity needs a hook or an alignment to a common purpose, i.e. the business model. Without which, it’s easy to become consumed in just doing things, without questioning whether they’re relevant.

During my 35 years of working with business owners in the Built Environment, it’s sometimes difficult for them to grasp the essence of what a business model is. It’s much easier – and more familiar – to describe the services you offer and who your clients are, but more exacting to define your model.

Three core questions to ask yourselves as business owners in defining your business model:

1. Why do we do what we do?
2. Who do we want to provide our service or product to, and why?
3. What is our formula for providing our services/what value does this give the client/does it stand out from competitors?

As an example, I’ve worked with an SME cost consultancy in the Built Environment. Their business model is to work within sectors with multi-site operations, where the value they provide their clients is identifying how they can use their assets in a sustainable and cost-effective way for the long-term.

All business development and marketing activities are focused on maintaining and developing relationships with existing clients who fit their business model, which generates referrals, bringing new clients into the business.

As a business owner, how’d you describe your version of this in a sentence or two?

At TC Group we have developed a ‘toolkit’ of support for each stage of the Business Development Audit process. For example, in Stage 1 Business Model, we focus on:

1. How to define your Business Model
2. Validating your Business Model
3. Adapting your Business Model

This process enables a foundation to be built, leading to the creation of a business development and marketing plan in a structured and coherent way. This results in your team and resources being deployed to best effect, getting the desired return on investment.

LISTEN TO STAGE TWO

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