While I do not personally know Chris Guillebeau, I know people that know people (HAHA). Seriously though, Chris recently released his new book The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future. The premise of this book is that microbusiness is the current business model to pursue.

Wow! If that isn’t at the core of ansleyRDgroup and the Ansley Family Plan, than I don’t know what is.

Business Models

Chris points out within the first few pages of the book that there exists three types of business models.

Business model number one is old-school: An inventor gets an idea and persuades the bank to lend her money for growing operation, or a company spins off a division to create another company. Most corporations traded on the stock market fit this category. Business model number two is the investment-driven startup, which is typically focused on venture capital, buyouts, advertising, and market share.

Obviously each of these models have their respective strengths and weaknesses. But I am of the opinion, as is Chris, that there is a third model that is much better suited for many of you! Especially those in devloping regions of the world.

Now, this isn’t to say that ansleyRDgroup’s audience only fits business model three. No, in fact some of our client base fall within business model one or two but the strengths of model one and two are also its achiles heal!

Old-school business models, when an inventor gets idea or a company spins off due to borrowed money, and investment-driven startups are not structured to allow individuals to succeed. Granted a few people at the top get nice paychecks and bonuses, but the averge person is not empowered to flourish, do meaningful work, and carve out the future they want for themselves.

The third, yet not new, business model that Chris higlights, which is the focus of The $100 Startup is that of microbusinesses. Micro business is often started without investment capital from the outside, without employees, and sometimes without a clear path of how it will work.

Most often than not the business launches quickly, without waiting for permission from a board or manager. Market testing happens on the fly. “Are customers buying?” If the answer is yes, good. If no, what can we do differently?

Out with the new, in with the old

I mention this third model is not new becuase it has been around since the idea of an economy ever came about.

Think of an agrarian society. Go back even further than that to hunter gatherer groups. One person, had more of something, and traded it for something else. One person did not say to the next, “I will loan you 20 head of cattle and I get 50% of the offspring until my 20 head of cattle are returned” in order to jumpstart an economy (whether personal or societal).

The initial guy that had the idea of raising cattle, or grain, or building widgets; did it by rounding up all the cattle, or sowing the seeds on his own, or by hand crafting the components and subassemblies from raw materials themselves in order to produce the finished goods.

The first businesses reinvented the way their owners lived. The owners did what they loved, and it created a new future for them.

Microbusiness starts with you

You are it. You are our clients. You are those whom our clients serve around the world. You are the agents of change. You are the agents of creating a future for yourself wherein you get to do what you love doing and make a living while doing it.

What is your involvement with microbusiness?

Have you started one? Have you supported one?

What can you do, today, to create a new future for yourself and your family?

Jason loves listening to music from all over the world. An international speaker and entrepreneur himself, Jason focuses on helping startups, new business owners and established businesses build their organizations and change their lives so that they can positively impact their world. Jason has worked with numerous businesses, both globally and locally to change their trajectory. He and his wife, Stacey, now own and run four companies. They built their primary business and holding company, ansleyRDgroup, a full service business development concierge, coaching, and consultancy from the ground up; in hopes of creating something bigger and longer lasting than themselves.