Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and SMEs (CENTIM)
Business model development
Ready for your start-up?
Look at the following points to know what you need to build your own start-up.
1. Right motivation
Find out why you would like to start your own start-up. What makes you an entrepreneur? In our Entrepreneur Check you can find out which characteristics you should have.
2. Meaningful idea
What problem does your idea solve? In order to create targeted added value, we help you evaluate your idea in the start-up consultation and check together whether your idea addresses a customer need.
3. Viable business model
Developing a business model can be challenging and there are many factors you need to consider. Below you will find a first introduction to the topic. We also help you to understand and apply the factors of your business model in our start-up consultation.
4. Strong team
A start-up requires a lot of different expertise: that's why it's often helpful to form a team. This way you are well positioned in all areas. You can search for suitable co-founders in the Stellenwerk section "Who is co-founding".
5. Support
Especially with a start-up project, feedback is extremely important. Therefore, get support and feedback early on. We will help you with advice and, if necessary, refer you to our network partners.
What is a business model?
- A business model gives you an overview of the key factors and workings of your business and helps you structure your idea in a meaningful way.
- Your business model also gives you an overview of how you want to make money and what your target group looks like.
- Therefore, the first step is to find out which factors play an important role in the development of a business model and what significance these factors have.
What factors are important for the development of a business model?
By factors, we mean basic considerations about you as an entrepreneur and about your start-up: What makes you special, what is the goal of your start-up, and what are your unique selling points? These points provide a rough framework for developing a business model.
- Motivation/vision: Why do you want to start up?
- Competencies: What competencies do you or does your team have?
- Start-up idea: Which customer need does your idea address?
- Target group: Who is interested in your product or service? To whom do you want to address your offer?
- Market and positioning: How attractive is the market? What competition is there in the market? How do you want to position yourself strategically in the market?
- Sales and marketing: How do you want to attract customers?
- Revenue model: How do you want to earn money? What are your revenues and expenses?
- Resources: What resources do you need? How many employees do you need? How much money do you need? What partnerships will help you?
Pitch-Deck
Business Model Canvas
A tool that helps you to structure and develop your business model is the so-called Business Model Canvas. You break down your business model into eleven key factors, that include values, team, problem-solving capability, and sales and communication channels. For each key factor, you collect your ideas in bullet points. This is how you develop your business model step by step.
