Newsletter No. 11 | Built to Last | Assessing Your Business Model | Learnings from My Projects

In business, growth requires grit. But it’s worth asking—are your efforts going toward a business model that’s truly sustainable?

Today, I’ll share insights on what makes a business model worth the effort—whether this is your current model or one that you are seeking to build—and discuss my experience with a client squeezing every last bit of potential out of their core while exploring new growth avenues. Read on to see if your model is worth the investment and how a balanced, strategic approach can help you build something that lasts.

What exactly is a business model?

A business model is the formula for creating and capturing value. It answers four fundamental questions:

1 | What is your value proposition?

2 | Who is your target customer?

3 | How will you deliver that value?

4 | Why is it profitable?

One Insight from Me

Building (or rebuilding) any business takes significant effort. For SMEs especially, it’s essential to ensure the business model is worth that investment before diving in. Many entrepreneurs start with passion, only to realize later the limitations of their model. The same applies to established companies pursuing innovation; they often prioritize doing over planning. Instead, a conscious, strategic approach avoids wasted resources, focusing efforts on a model that fuels sustainable growth.

So, what should you consider?

I’m currently reading Exponential Organizations, which outlines a framework for evaluating a business model’s scalability and growth potential. While exponential growth may not be the goal for every company, these principles provide a valuable perspective for assessing whether a model is worth the investment:

• Market Alignment – Is your model targeting a growing market? Markets on the rise amplify your efforts, so aligning with a powerful market wave is essential.
• Profitable Customers – Are you solving a meaningful problem that customers value enough to pay a premium for? This fuels profitable relationships.
• Scalability – Can your model support rapid growth? Scalable models, according to Exponential Organizations, often include:
  • Purpose-Driven Vision – Companies like TED and Waze thrive on bold missions that expand reach and impact.
  • Asset-Light Scaling – Think Airbnb or Uber, which scaled with minimal physical assets. Could you leverage existing resources or networks?
  • Data-Driven Insights – Scalable businesses constantly improve using data from every interaction.
• Outperformance – Are you solving the problem better than anyone else? To build a model worth striving for, you need to leverage your unique edge.
• Built for Change – The best business models adapt over time, growing with the market rather than against it.

A personal insight into business model innovation learning

Since 2021, I’ve been working with a mental health clinic that, at first glance, seemed ideally positioned for growth—the demand for mental health services is increasingly rising, and countless startups are emerging with digital therapeutics and tech-driven solutions. Lots of potential, right?

Yet, the clinic’s position has unique challenges. While they consistently outperform traditional competitors with operational efficiency and high-quality care, profitability is constrained by regulated tariffs, and their model isn’t asset-light. Growth is possible, but capturing this potential while staying true to their mission and strengths is no simple task.

Initially, my intuition was to explore digital solutions, as so many others in the sector were doing. But with a clinic rooted in evidence-based care, a traditional setup, and a team not inclined toward tech, a digital pivot didn’t align. So, what do you do when the obvious direction doesn’t fit?

Rather than chasing trends, we shifted our focus to strategically expanding into complementary tariff classes. By evolving within their core competencies, the clinic can increase its value sustainably without losing sight of what makes them unique. This shift—though significant—positions them to leverage their strengths, improve profitability, attract top talent, and secure a scalable path forward.

As you can see, even with criteria to guide us, finding the right growth path for a specific company is rarely straightforward. It requires deep internal analysis and a strong understanding of external market opportunities. This journey has been a process of continuous learning, and we’re still in it.

Ultimately, I believe that’s what innovation is all about—learning. Learning fuels growth, personally and organizationally. To stay competitive, your speed of learning must outpace the rate of change in the market.

One Question for You

How well does your current business model measure up to the Exponential Organizations criteria?

One Opportunity for Us

If you’re feeling the need for a business model assessment or support on the innovation front, I can help. I also am currently building a student pool to add valuable, cost-effective resources to innovation projects, giving you access to fresh perspectives and dedicated support.