A common misconception in entrepreneurship is that a successful business comes from the ideas of unique products. Many believe that if you have one great idea which nobody has thought of before that you'll be able to make tonnes of cash with the world at your feet. 

Of course, the Entrepreneurship-as-a-Great-Idea notion makes for a great story, but it's only useful as a story, and often the story falls into the fantasy genre. 

When business owners rely on this fantasy as opposed to reality, they are likely to fail. The truth as to what makes any product good is not the idea or what the product is, but instead how it is positioned and executed. Entrepreneurial positioning refers not to the competitive nature of niche-finding of strategic management, but instead about finding the correct business model. 

A business model refers to the rationale of how an enterprise develops, delivers and captures value. Simply put, it's how your business makes money. Included in this, is determining what your product or service is, who your target customers are, and ultimately what your value proposition is. Business owners need to create compelling stories but also need sound numbers to show that the story makes sense financially. 

We think it's notably helpful for entrepreneurs to consider the business model in terms of product, customer and value. It is a continual thought process which should lead to determining what the product on offer is, the best customer for it, and how much they value it. 

These factors are interconnected, perhaps even interdependent, which makes it almost impossible to figure out all three without revisiting the first. 

A great business model means that all three factors are meticulously aligned. You know your product on offer, which should almost perfectly align with your target market you have identified, as these are the people who place the highest value on your product. Moreover, your product needs to offer precisely what they desire, not more or less. Having these factors in place will mean your business will have a great chance at success. However, you're more than likely to fail if you have a sloppy business model. 

It's imperative to have a good business model; let's take a look at four questions you need to consider to improve your model.

1. Who can you serve? 

While this does not sound like a question that is easy for someone who wants to be their own boss, to answer, it should. The real boss in your startup is your customer, as they are the ones who decide to buy your product or not.  The next question to consider after this is, whom can you serve best? Forget about what your product entails, where you're located or whether you can offer 24/7 customer service. What type of client is best served by what you can offer? 

2. How can you serve your customer? 

You've probably already come up with an idea for a product, perhaps even an entire business, but we recommend scrapping that idea. It won't succeed unless you put your customer and the epicentre first and determine how you can serve them. This means developing and crafting your product or service, which corresponds with precisely what they would value owning or using.  Don't overthink this; more features does not mean more value, instead focus on targeting the highest-valued feature. 

3. What value are you offering? 

Value is not a rand amount but instead measured by customer satisfaction from using your product or service. Of course, we know that this means that value could be purely subjective. That's just how the cookie crumbles. Whether a customer likes a product or not has nothing to do with how it was produced or what materials were utilised. It's all about the experience the customer has when using it, and when they purchase it, they expect that experience. Furthermore, they are willing to pay a price based on that experience. The better the experience and value of your product, the higher the price.

4. Are you doing it for the customer? 

Probably the toughest question of the lot, as it requires that entrepreneurs think hard about what isn't but could be while imagining themselves in someone else's shoes. Unless you've already determined who your customer is, and what product they value you simply cannot answer this question. For example, consider apparent small tweaks which can lead to enormous value for the customer, like when Netflix transitioned their offering from mail-order DVDs to online streaming. 

Conclusion.

A robust business model at its core is about understanding that your business is your customer base, and thus you need to cater to them. To successfully do this, you need to identify who they are and what they want. What are their biggest needs and wants? What problems do they face? What can you and your business do to make their lives easier? It's never about meeting them halfway but giving them a full experience which they genuinely value, one they can't resist. It's your job as the entrepreneur to figure out what this is to thrive.