Embrace business model fidelity
Don't expect to nail your startup's design in one go
Hello founders!
Do you obsess over your product? Probably. Especially first-time founders overly obsess about the product.
They are aware of making many iterations to make it great.
Not a bad attitude. However…
The solution is just one of the many elements in a business. And often, those other elements can count on much less attention.
Designing your business model in one go doesn’t work
Usually, the founder is aware of those elements and wants to quickly fix
Revenue model
Cost structure
Sales channels
etc.
And then go back to solely iterating on the product. This attitude is harmful.
You don’t know all the necessary things to finalise your these business model elements yet.
Your business model needs continuous attention
Either you postpone designing these elements for too long, or you falsely believe you are done after designing it one time.
Think in terms of fidelity
A way of avoiding the ‘design once and for all’ attitude is to think in terms of fidelity.
When prototyping products, designers like to speak of fidelity.
Fidelity: the level of detail and realism of a prototype, which can range from low to high
You can apply this to business models: What is a low fidelity business model?
Ask yourself: What is the low-fidelity version of this?
How can fidelity thinking influence our business model design?
Don’t try to make everything perfect from the start.
Start simple. Think in sketches. Some examples:
