What is a Business Model?
Business models are a fairly new concept, and a business model differs from a business plan. A business model breaks down the activities, revenue streams, and strategies for customer acquisition into a nine part structure called the "Business Model Canvas." Many of these concepts overlap with a business plan, but business plans cover financial and operational aspects of a business that aren't covered in a business model. Business Models are more commonly used by highly scalable businesses and businesses in industries that change rapidly over time, such as tech businesses. The video below is from Udacity's "How to Build a Startup" course and explains the "Business Model Canvas" in more detail.
Business Model Canvas Worksheets
Strategyzer.com has created free downloadable worksheets for the business model canvas. They also have additional free and paid for resources on their website.
"Business Models for Dummies" in the Gale Virtual Reference Library
Books and eBooks
We have multiple books and ebooks in the Library Catalog on business models and related topics. The popularity of business models, in part, originated from the Minimum Viable Product concept that was outlined by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. You can find pertinent books in the library catalog by keyword searching business model, lean business, value proposition, or lean business.