Wikipedia: East India Company's Business Model

The East India Company led British colonisation efforts in the Indian sub-continent. It is interesting to note their business model.

The business model of the East IndiaCompany was a shift in technology, where they used ships not caravans, thusavoiding having to pay fortified towns along the route home.

To protect them from pirates and other nations, the British Navy became a world power,and the business model of the East India Company included setting up coloniesand installing governors. While the East India Company is defunct, it'sfamilies are still some of the most powerful in the world - they just changedtheir business model from one corporation to many.

It is important toremember that their wealth came from a monopoly given by Queen of England -1 on 31 December, 1600. Monopoly is a major business model (patents give one a "royalty" fora number of years, so the price is what the market will bear). In the case ofthe East India Company, most profits came from opium and caffeine (tea),tobacco, alcohol, firearms and slaves & slavery-based industries, which isan interesting commentary on its business model based on cravings and control.

(For reading the discussion on http://en.wikipedia.org, please click here)
(For reading on the East India Company on http://en.wikipedia.org, please click here)

Cartoon Series 6: Your Attitude REALLY Counts

A perfect business model (on paper) can fail perfectly. 

Final Success is the result of you and your soft factors

(treat your customer as a actual KING, rather than a necessary evil)

 

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Cartoon Series 5: Less Discussions - More Actions

Stop needless, endless, fruitless, aimless discussions

(the market is the biggest teacher - Roll it >> Fix it >> Scale it)

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Cartoon Series 4: Continuous Innovation or Death

Business Models cannot survive without continuous innovations
(the innovations can be micro, small or large)

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Cartoon Series 3: Short Term or Continuous

Business Models can be a one time occurence or continuous and sustainable.

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Cartoon Series 2: Clarity Is So Important

Business Model requires careful understanding and execution

(otherwise the GIGO data rule applies: Garbage in Garbage Out !

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Cartoon Series 1: Simplicity is Thy Name

Business Models have to be very simple to be easily understood

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Wikipedia: Oldest Business Models - Creators Vs Convertors

Oldest and most basic business model

Long before people settled down for commerce, business was conducted by wandering nomads who met in camps and exchanged goods, either through barter or using mediums of exchange such as gold or rare seashells.

Their business models included barter or other medium of exchange. They could be both wealth creation and wealth conversion. 

For example, nomads converted solar energy to human wealth: The sun caused grass to grow. They captured and domesticated sheep, cattle, horses and other grass-eating animals, thus creating wealth based on "chattel". Wealth conversion occurs when other nomads figured out that if they rode on horses with weapons, they could steal chattel. From this came gangs, then armies, then nation-states based on fortified towns.  

The farmer who then grows crops creates wealth (using sun, rain and soil). The soldier is a wealth converter, he does not actually generate wealth. His utility is that he comes from a fortified town and says to the farmer "If you give me some food, I will protect you from that other soldier from that other town who wants to steal your food" . 

Even in the modern age, the classification applies:

• Microsoft's business model is value creation if seen as a shift in technology. If seen a defacto monopoly business model, it is a wealth conversion model too.
• McDonalds business model is a wealth creator as it organised an unorganised sector. However it is also an operative "externalising" business model where it makes profits while medical insurance must be paid to cover the cost of disease produced by such a highly processed food diet, which again is a wealth conversion model.   

(For reading the discussion on http://en.wikipedia.org, please click here)

IFC and FINO: A Business Model to Serve Underbanked Rural and Semi Urban Populations

Mumbai-basedFinancial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO)

Drivers for FINOs’ inclusive business models

• Marketopportunity for technology that enables financial institutions to serve morethan 600 million under-banked Indians cost-effectively
• Mission toenable greater financial inclusion among the under-banked populations
• Financialinstitutions can reduce costs, increase efficiency and productivity, improve transparency,and reach a larger population including those in more remote settings

Product/ Services offered by FINO

FINO builds andimplements technologies that enable financial institutions to serve under-bankedpopulations. FINO offers a suite of products to banking, microfinance,insurance and government clients serving primarily rural and semi-urban regions as shown below:

Results of FINOs’ inclusive business model

• Operatingrevenue growth of 140% since 2006 (34% CAGR from 2006-2009)
• Client base of20 MFIs, 14 banks, 7 government entities, and 4 insurance agencies
• As of early2010, over 12 million individuals in 21 states had access to credit andnon-credit related services including loans, payments, remittances, savings,insurance and government subsidies

IFC’s role and value-add

• Early-stage financing ($2.8million) to fill funding gap and technical assistance.
• Helped FINO to spin off and encouraged banksand MFIs to adopt its technology
• Technical assistance grant ($1 million in 2007) to support pilot projects andtraining programs. As a result, FINO conducted 872 training workshopswere conducted for 8,002 participants across India.
• Helped FINO conduct several pilotsincluding one for a mobile application in Andhra Pradesh, during which FINOenrolled 1.7 million families below the poverty line in a cashless healthinsurance coverage program.

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

IFC and Jain Irrigation: Inclusive Business Models

Centered aroundagriculture, JISL’s business model makes almost a full circle through the valuechain. The company provides farmers with micro-irrigation systems (MIS), seeds,and other inputs to produce more and better crops and then purchases fruits andvegetables through its food processing division, which processes them and sellsthem to export and domestic markets. In this way, Jain’s inclusive businessreaches farmers as both consumers and producers.

 

RESULTS OF JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS’INCLUSIVE BUSINESS MODEL

• Ensured market and increased income by $300-400 peracre for onion farmers
• Increase in net incomes by $100to $1,000 per acre due to efficiency gains
• Estimated reduction of 500 million cubic meters ofwater per year as compared to floodirrigation
• 35,000 tons of onions procured from 1,800contract farmers in 2008, of which 90% are small farmers

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