Abstract

Exploring a Business Model As a Measure of Performance

As applied to Zion Organic Roots Limited

Conroy Everton Julian

Business models can be used as a good measure of the overall performance of a small firm.
Business model as a measure of performance came out of a qualitative research on the
operations of Zion Organic Roots. In the research, using a single case study method,
information from a purposeful sample of four respondents from the executives of the firm was
analyzed to determine its operating business model.
The framework for determining Zion Organic Roots’ business model was designed by merging
the main concepts from two models. The first model essentially dissects nine building blocks
which make up a business model as seen in the operational structure of the firm. The second
deals with the classification of business models according to what rights are being sold and the
types of assets involved. The merging of both models allows for a clear description of what the
business does and how it earns revenue from its current trading method. The data for
determining the business model were obtained from primary and secondary sources which
when analyzed, led to the findings that Zion Organic Roots has a “Creator Business Model,”
selling physical assets with the rights of ownership of that asset being traded as opposed to
rights to merely use the asset. To aid the analysis, key business exogenous factors were
identified and classified as enablers and obstacles to business performance in Jamaica.
It has been recommended that the company could improve its performance by investing more
resources into its main revenue streams but maintaining its current business model. The firm
could also change its business model, firstly by developing a new revenue stream which it then
incorporates as a “spinoff” company with a completely new business model, essentially selling
the right to use assets.
Keywords: Conroy Everton Julian; Business models as determined by structure, types of assets
and rights being traded; Osterwalder and Weil et al’s fundamental solutions

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