Business models are complex, yet utterly important for companies. Fortunately, many of us are football experts, since modern football and business models resemble in many ways. Drawing from this analogy helps us to understand business models and their design.

1. What you can learn from
FOOTBALL about BUSINESS MODELs
photo by Marina del Castell / CC BY 2.0

2. Business Models are complex
but distinguish winning from losing companies and hence are quite important for your
business
by Bernhard Doll @OrangeHills

3. let’s talk about football first
something even guys like me understand

4. “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the
Germans win.“
Gary Lineker (1990)
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5. Define your strategy!
photo by Awaya Legends / CC BY 2.0

6. Winning the game!
by: tiki-taka, short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels, maintaining possession.
controlling the game

7. Consider ext. factors!
photo by Awaya Legends / CC BY 2.0

8. There is an opponent!
Your opponent, weather, supporters, streaker, etc. are external factors that can strongly impact the game!
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9. Choose a pattern!
photo by Awaya Legends / CC BY 2.0

10. A formation is the basic pattern of your team
composition
this pattern serves as a vehicle for applying your strategy on the pitch
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11. Define your lineup!
photo by Awaya Legends / CC BY 2.0

12. 11 variables on the pitch, which are highly
interdependent!
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don’t chose an outstanding winger who is good at crossing, if you picked tiki-taka as strategy and fielded Messi,
Iniesta & Xavi as forwards accordingly
X

13. Preset tactics!
photo by Awaya Legends / CC BY 2.0

14. Be adaptive!
In order to react to certain situations during the match, a basic formation such as 4-4-2 can be exploited in different ways:
forechecking, pressing, switching positions, midfielders pushing up, etc.
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15. Easy, isn’t it?!
photo by Hakan Dahlström / CC BY 2.0

17. choose your strategy
a business model is related to strategy, but NOT the
same
a company's business model is a part of its business'
overall strategy: it is the nuts and bolts behind how the
company plans to achieve its goals
so keep your strategy in mind when designing your
business model and align the two

18. consider ext. factors!
what trends affect your industry?
how do competitors act?
what’s on the governments agenda?
how is the overall economy performing?
what technological trends emerge?
… who or what else affects your business model?

19. choose a pattern
a pattern defines the basic logic of how the building
blocks of your business model play together
every business model should have a significant pattern
St. Gallen identified 55 of such patterns: http://www.bmi-
lab.ch/fileadmin/images/home/StGallen_Business_Model_Navigato
r.pdf
patterns can serve as inspiration when you design your
own business model

20. define your lineup!
based on your pattern and aligned towards your
strategy, you need to think through every single
dimension of a business model
these dimensions are highly-interrelated and have to be
purposefully interwoven in synergetic way (e.g. don’t
offer a premium product to a customer segment with a
low willingness to pay)

21. preset tactics
keep your business model flexible
adapt your business model when the circumstances
change
have a plan regarding how to react to predictable events
(e.g. reactions of your competitors, new legal situations,
etc.)

22. @wikipedia.org; sxc.hu
business models
work like
football

23. got it?!
watch a game and get inspired
photo by Chrystian Cruz / CC BY 2.0