Business models – How to manage the time dimension

Considering the ever-changing business world we are living in, understanding business models and defining new ones are the new business-as-usual activities. We are seeing a series of rapidly growing startups with business models evolving around new technologies and use cases. To adapt to this fast moving business environment, creating solid reference points for measuring progress is increasingly important. 

When it comes to business models, there are many different ways to depict the model and its constituent components. One well-known method is the business canvas structure, in which we are able to define the key pillars of a business model including cost structure, revenue streams, customer segments, key activities, key resources, partners, channels and value propositions. These pillars enable us to define different key parts of the business and also enable us to see how they interact and if there is anything out of place in the model. When you put them on a page, it gives you a bird’s-eye view of what the business is doing or what it aims to do.

In many business model studies, there is one critical element that is often overlooked, which is the time dimension. Whether you are creating a new business model structure from scratch or updating an existing one, the time dimension is often considered an implicit variable in the model, which will be addressed in subsequent periods depending on market developments. However, in today’s fast changing environment, it is important to focus on the time dimension and address it as a separate variable affecting how the business model evolves.