A Business Model that does not work: Pay-what-you-like restaurant

BEIJING: A Biblically-named restaurant in China where patrons can pay whatever they want -- or nothing at all -- has shown that while loving your neighbour may be laudable, it is a risky business model. The "Five Loaves and Two Fish" restaurant, named for the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, has been serving up hot meals and coffee daily to a packed house in Fuzhou since it opened its doors in August.

The city centre eatery is open 24 hours a day and is known for its seafood and local Fujianese cuisine, with specialities including garlic scallops, beef with scallions, and pickled pork. Diners are expected to wash their own dishes after eating and then put whatever money they want to pay into a box. But according to its investors, as many as one fifth of patrons opt to pay nothing, and the restaurant has lost 250,000 yuan ($41,000) since it opened.

"We initially expected the restaurant to stay open for two months, and now it has lasted three. The losses are not unbearable," owner Liu Pengfei, 50, told the state-run China Daily newspaper. Liu said in an October television interview that "what we care about most is not money, but trust" -- but he now plans to encourage patrons who have not been paying to explain their reasons why not. "They can tell me they don't have enough money, that's fine. But paying nothing and saying nothing is totally different," he told the paper."Honesty is the first step to building trust. In my eyes, those who don't pay are sick."

To see in Economic Times of India, click here. The article has responses that there are 2-3 such restaurants in India. Would not mind to starve for a day and then attack them :)

HYSTRA - Hybrid Strategies Consulting

Innovative business models in education, health, agriculture and financial services

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Back after a pretty long hiatus. More to do with organisation dynamics rather than a lack of interest.

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This is an innovative business model framework developed by this consulting organisation called HYSTRA..

To read in detail directly from the HYSTRA website, please click here for the executive summary, and click here for the complete report.

I have also saving the report in Slideshare.net and you can look at that later.

My assciated slideshare account is www.slideshare.net/csisaproject

Scientists as Service Providers: Concept Note

Rural Extension Systems in India, have for long been given many resources and manpower, with the expectation that once adoption takes place, other local farmers will adapt and learn.

The Blog writer argues for an alternative fee based extension system, that will make a difference.

Scientist as a Service Provider

View more documents from Aanand Kumar 

(To read the article in detail on www.slideshare,net, please click here)

FAO and GAIF: Business Models for Small Farmers and SME’s

Small farmers and SMEs are increasingly tied to markets and agro-industries through business linkages and alliances with each other and with other value chain stakeholders. There are many models of business linkages, some driven by producers, some by buyers and some supported by intermediaries including NGOs. 

The business model critically impacts on how value is created, captured or shared by farmers, SMEs and other chain actors. It is therefore important to establish inclusive, equitable and sustainable business models for farmers and SMEs. Factors which influence sustained and equitable inclusion of smaller scale farmers and SMEs are producer organization, market coordination and intermediation, business support and financial services, buyer behaviour, and enabling policies and infrastructure.

This paper was written by Bill Vorley, Mark Lundy and James MacGregor under the guidance of Doyle Baker (FAO) for the Global Agro-Industries Forum, India, April 2008 (www.gaif08.org).

(To read the article on www.fao.org, please click here)

Purdue University: Insights Into New Business Models for Agriculture

Based on research spanning over 30 years, Dr. Michael Boehlje, Professor at Centre for Food and Agricultural Business, Purdue University says that the new business model in agriculture will change the way farmers make decisions.

Multidimensional changes are happening in agriculture. He believes that agriculture is moving from a commodity industry to one with differentiated products. “The produce-and-then-sell mentality of the commodity business is being replaced by the strategy of first asking consumers what attributes they want in their food products, and then creating or manufacturing those attributes in the products,” Dr. Boehlje says.

“Development of a contract market is one example of a new business model,” says Dr. Boehlje. “Contractual arrangements like these have become increasingly popular throughout the United States.”

In Canada, the agriculture industry continues to change at a dramatic pace. Technology is used throughout Canada’s food production system to increase efficiency, improve quality, conserve energy and protect soil and groundwater. Food safety and quality systems, farm and ranch management software and crop and soil monitoring systems have been used on farms for years.

Dr. Boehlje suggests that there are four possible drivers for the rapid consolidation and coordination of the agricultural industry. These include: 1) efficiency gains; 2) risk management; 3) traceability; and 4) response to consumer needs and trends.

He notes that improved information-sharing, trust along the entire chain, the need to understand customers and responsiveness to consumer trends have become quite important.
“We’re seeing lifetime customer valuation, where the buyer and producer maintain a relationship,” says Dr. Boehlje. “A key issue in agribusiness is, how do I develop a relationship, and how do I create value for my customer?”
 

Dr. Boehlje’s research interests include: alternative systems of coordination of the food and industrial product chain; the industrialization of agriculture; and alternative financial and organizational structures for farm and agribusiness firms.

(To read the article in detail on AgChoices (www1.agric.gov.ab.ca) and download his presentation, please click here)

Building a Business Model: Another Framework from Scribd

This framework is from Scribd, arguably one of the best document upload centres on the web.

To see the entire presentation on www.scribd.com, please click here

Business Model Demands Patience

Author and entrepreneur Steve Blank describes the business start-up process as having two phases.

In the first, entrepreneurs learn about their customers and what they want. This can be thought of as a series of experiments with real customers. It eventually leads to a business model that can be used to build a sustainable venture.

Once we learn what our business model needs to be, we can begin the second phase, which includes attracting more and more customers and building a company.

It is essential that we take our time before moving to the second phase to make certain we're building our company around a business model that can lead to successful growth.

(To read the complete article on http://myventurepad.com, it might require a membership. To become a member and read the article, please click here)