Which is the best business model?
Lots of clients ask me that. The usual answer is ‘How long is a piece of string?’ It depends on what you are doing, how well you execute, the market, competition and so on and on.
Dig a little deeper and we can start to give some answers. As part of the business model innovation process that I use we will come up with multiple potential business models for a client.
How to chose the best one? One of the problems we’ve had in the past is how the highest paid person in the room has an outsized impact on the decision making process. Seniority can reflect decision making capability – but not necessarily.
To take account of this bias I use an algorithmic decision making tool called N2D (Need to Decisions) developed by Subsector
What we can do with it is to look at each business model and assess the impact that they have on the users or consumers we are trying to change and how effective we are at doing so.
This process makes it very clear where we should prioritise our efforts – and thus heklps us to answer – which is the best business model.
Most organisations are struggling to keep up in a rapidly changing world. CEO’s, Founders and Leadership Teams need to make rapid investment decisions about transformation, innovation, communication and technology in response to increasingly complex customer needs.
Phil Dearson
What is the N2D Method?
The N2D Method® is a Decision Model or Judgement Protocol. It provides evidence of customer needs, the degree to which your organisation is meeting these needs and an evaluated set of initiatives that will deliver the greatest impact.
N2D stands for Needs To Decision. The N2D Method focuses on:
- the needs of the people you care about most (e.g. customers, prospects, citizens, staff, etc)
- how serving those needs helps your organisation to achieve its objectives
- clearly revealing which business initiatives should be prioritised
- flexible application across a range of use cases
At the heart of the The N2D Method is the NeedRank™ algorithm that has been in continuous refinement for over 20 years. It interprets the data we give it, in order to deliver a clear set of priorities.
Business Model Innovation and N2D
Here’s an interview I did with Subsector about Using N2D for Business Model Generation

