Knowing your business model gives direction

When you fly for a living - it's the best job in the world....until you get laid off, or displaced and have to juggle flying with the "real" world of paying bills.

In creating an additional source of income, it can be daunting to decide what to do, what to create, which opportunities to pursue.

Most businesses, and investments for that matter, can be tucked neatly into one of four business models.

Knowing which category your idea fits will provide guidance, to pinpoint your direction as to how to capture opportunity, minimize risks and avoid threats.

This is the part they don't teach you in basic flight school (which fits nicely in a B2C business model).

The four business models are:

1. B2C - business to consumer. This is the most common businesses module, where a business sells to a consumer. Basically anything you buy either in a store, or on line, say household supplies, light bulbs, clothing, entertainment (anything from Target or Home Depot!) fits in this category.

2. B2B - business to business. This model provides products or services to another business, and sometimes that product or service is then resold to a consumer.

3. C2B - Consumer to business. This business model supports individuals selling good and services to companies. Recent "freelance" portals like Fiverr, or Elance, allow individuals to sell businesses mostly services like creating logos or designing websites.

4 C2C - Consumer to consumer. This business model links consumers to sell good and services to other consumers. Online businesses like Craigslist and eBay were the recent online forerunners in this business model. Etsy is a more recent newcomer to the marketplace, where artisans create sometimes personalized products to sell to end-users.

Knowing which category you want to pursue will launch your Flight Path to Success by creating a customer profile, building a business or investment around your strengths and goals and pursuing a sales path to profitability.

Which model speaks to your goals and strengths and tell us why in the comments below!