Chapter 21 8. Six of the Top 10 Surveys: Models in China

As Darwin observed in his writings, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those that respond most readily to change." As far as the alternation of Chinese business models is concerned, such a discussion is almost the same. Introduction to the topic: A simple definition - the entanglement of different models - the commercial application of biological principles Before we start exploring this topic, we must clarify a concept. What exactly is a business model? According to the definition of economics, a business model refers to a complete product, service and information flow system, including each participant and their role in it, as well as the potential benefits of each participant and the corresponding sources and methods of income .

Such a definition may confuse us. In fact, the true meaning of a business model is very simple. In a word, the so-called business model is the way or method a company wants to make money. For example, dairy companies make money by selling milk, Internet companies make money from click-through rates, communication companies make money by collecting user fees, and retail companies make money by selling goods and providing warehousing. It can be said that as long as there is profit , the business model also exists. When we have a clear understanding of this concept, we can start our exploration. Let us see what kind of story has happened in the land of China in the past ten years, the seemingly complex but simple concept of business model .

In the past ten years, almost every senior manager still remembers the brainwashing of various business models. The business model is the key to a company's success in the competition. Almost no one doubts it. However, regarding its core logic of value creation, its model route, its key point selection, and its core competitiveness, With a certain business model, where is the future of the enterprise, and what are the short-term and long-term goals? It can be said that almost every business operator and every economist has their own set of theories to say. It is precisely because of the diversity of business models that many debates have arisen. Almost everyone believes that their own business model is the most ideal and can help companies make money. With this belief, many companies that have already made money economists frequently promote their own business models in the media, while those economists who are accustomed to criticizing, while checking for others' doubts and filling in the gaps, they lose no time in carrying private affairs. At every opportunity, try to sell your plan to realize your business dream.

Therefore, what we have seen in the past ten years is that almost every business model, whether it has been tested in practice or not, will inevitably become the target of everyone.And in this process of criticizing and being criticized, the more the controversy reaches the peak, the more business models will be thrown out. In the past ten years, there have been four or five business models that have become popular in China, such as the "razor model" that was once all the rage, the "store model" that was once praised and is still the mainstream cognition until today, etc.

The so-called "razor model" refers to selling basic products at extremely low sales prices, even at a loss, and selling related consumables or services at very expensive prices, while the so-called "store model" means It is to open a store in a place with potential consumer groups and win consumers by displaying its products or services. In fact, a common sense that everyone understands is that there is no absolute good or bad in this world. The success of any business model does not lie in how clever it is, but only because it is applied in It is just the right time and the right occasion; conversely, the failure of any business model does not mean that it is useless, just because this model just cannot be accepted by consumers.

For example, EBAY, which has been very successful in the international e-commerce industry, is no match for Alibaba’s Taobao in China. This does not mean that EBAY itself failed, but because the vast number of small and medium-sized enterprises in China need a company with relatively low operating costs. low sales platform, and Taobao just can meet their needs. Nevertheless, we still want to say that the success of a business model is both accidental and inevitable. No matter what kind of core and external form a business model has, the following three elements must be complied with. These three elements are: must provide a unique core value, a complete mechanism that is difficult to imitate, and down-to-earth practical operations.

It seems that these three elements seem to be lacking, but this is the commonality contained in all successful business models. The good news is that we have become less and less concerned about this entanglement. In the minds of Chinese business operators, the only important thing now is the efficiency and speed of enterprise growth, and in the process of this growth, no matter what kind of business model is used, it is just to enable enterprises to obtain greater benefits , to avoid greater risks, and this has become a recognized theorem. No matter what model is adopted, its purpose is nothing more than one, that is to obtain more profits in the competition.

The survival and prosperity of an enterprise depends to a large extent on whether it has core competitiveness, whether it has unique advantages and capabilities, which is a necessary condition for an enterprise to surpass its competitors. In addition, any change in the business model is nothing more than a footnote to this core competitiveness. 30 years of wind and thunder, 30 years of integration and transformation, the evolution from planned economy to market economy, the transition from public enterprises to modern enterprise system, the transition from iron rice bowl to professional manager system, from the word economy to every one of us In a familiar process, we are moving step by step towards a more realistic level.

As Darwin observed in his writings, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those that respond most readily to change." As far as the alternation of Chinese business models is concerned, such a discussion is almost the same.