In business today it’s a long haul to the top and being able to stay there can feel like fighting a war. Finding what you may think is a perfect business model these days is no guarantee of succeeding. If only it were that simple. Let’s have a look at a business model comparison and see if there is a ‘perfect’ business model.

(1) Single Level Sales Business Model
Single level sales are typically commission-based with an order taken and shipped to the customer directly from the company. In this business model your income comes from sales you personally produce. Single level sales companies make their revenue through the person-to-person method with the use of telemarketing, direct mail, email campaigns and web traffic.

Advantages:
Single level sales can be an opportunity for you to find fulfillment, your, make your own business decisions, express entrepreneurial talent and gain financial freedom. It also offers an option to those who want to increase their income, or don’t want to have a regular part time or full time job.

Disadvantages:
Even though you are rewarded for your personal sales activity, if sales aren’t good then your revenue isn’t good. You can’t sponsor anyone and revenue comes from only you in commission or bonus.

(2) Multi Level Marketing Business Model
With MLM, also called network marketing, the single level sales business model is used by someone who also sponsors and trains others. An MLM business develops their organizations by building a customer base, or building a downline of people who also build a customer base. People can earn revenue by selling product as well as earn revenue from their downline.

Advantages:
MLM companies account for billions of dollars in yearly sales and are estimated to influence 1 in 3 homes in America. There can be multiple levels of people being paid off of one person’s sales.

Disadvantages:
It is sometimes tricky to find a reputable MLM. New people may be asked to purchase their own training and marketing materials, or to stock a considerable amount of inventory. MLM has gotten a bad reputation.

(3) Franchising Business Model
In business a franchise is when someone agrees to operate a business using the system developed by the system originator. The originator provides detailed training and assistance to start and run the business. The training creates knowledge that would otherwise come from trial and error. With the help of the knowledge provided by the originators of the system, you are able to take your revenue to a level which you might not have been able to.

Advantages:
There are several advantages to the franchising business model. The biggest is that the risk of failure is reduced when the business program has already been proven successful. Fortunes have been made with this business model in almost every field of business.

Disadvantages:
The main disadvantage of franchising can be loss of control. While you can use a system, assistance, training, marketing, you may have to get approval for changes. For these reasons, franchisees and entrepreneurs are very different.

(4) Affiliate Marketing Business Model
Affiliate marketing uses one website to drive traffic to another to promote or sell a product. Some businesses owe much of their success to this type of marketing. When someone buys something on a website, the affiliate is paid a commission of the profit based on per click, per lead or per sale basis.

Advantages:
People like affiliate marketing because, in most cases, it earns revenue with “pay for performance”. As well, the product owner doesn’t incur marketing expenses except the initial setup.

Disadvantages:
A major disadvantage is that your revenue can be quite irregular. You can’t rely on this method as a stable source of income, especially if you are just starting out in marketing.

Having the right business model may hold the key to continued growth and competition. Finding inventive models can help your success with your company. Combining all of these business models can bring out their strengths and reduce their weaknesses.