以下內容摘自埃德·麥克勞克林和維恩·里德克爾的新書《目的即利潤》（Purpose Is Profit），其中詳盡描述了麥克勞克林辭去高管職務，創立一家蓬勃發展的新公司，并最終被《財富》100強公司收購的過程。作為一位連續創業者，麥克勞克林目前是房地產和投資公司Blue Sunsets創始人兼首席執行官，該公司總部設在康涅狄格州達里恩鎮。

確立收入模式的關鍵一步是決定貴公司收入的類型和來源。收入類型包括產品銷售收入、服務費、廣告費、數據訪問費、授權費或傭金。

每一種收入都可以有多個來源。比如說，服務收入的來源可以多種多樣，具體取決于客戶類型和所屬領域，后者包括在線、移動、消費者、企業、機構或政府。此外，每個收入領域都可以跨越多種來源。比如說，企業銷售可以包括大客戶、主要客戶、垂直市場、地區、合作伙伴和一次性銷售。

我們公司的收入模式相當簡單。我們向企業提供不動產投資組合管理和交易管理服務?？蛻艟吞囟ㄙY源或交易向我們支付手續費或傭金。隨著公司的成長以及服務的延伸，我們建立了一套更復雜的費用結構來對應客戶使用的服務類型。

你怎樣確立收入模式結構？

- 你是否會提供服務或產品，直接從客戶那里獲得銷售收入？

- 貴公司是否會充當中間人，幫助買賣雙方走到一起，然后收取相應的服務費，或者按其交易額收取傭金？

- 貴公司是否會發布內容或者建立在線社區，然后對內容或社區訪問者收費？

- 你是否會提供內容或在線社區收費，并從瞄準貴公司受眾或用戶的廣告主那里獲得收入？

- 你是否會通過允許他人使用自己的產品來收取授權費？

- 你是否會收集數據并向營銷人員收取數據訪問費嗎？

- 貴公司會綜合采用多種收入模式嗎？

確定貴公司的收入類型和來源是實現利潤的第一步。

產品定價：你的產品要多少錢？

定價的途徑是確立收入模式，并充分考慮自己的競爭地位以及理想的利潤目標。各種收入模式很可能都有可供研究的市場基準，這有助于你確立有競爭力的價格。

基于以前公司的銷售經驗，我對房地產服務的傳統定價模式有深刻的理解。通過聚合不動產投資組合管理和交易服務，我知道自己可以覆蓋成本，并通過以量為基礎的侵略性定價在競爭中獲勝。如果你很了解自己的行業，你或許也可以這樣做。

你需要考慮如下問題：

- 你會建立一種嶄新的定價模式嗎？

- 你的價格會和傳統基準保持一致嗎？

- 你的價格會有競爭力嗎？

- 你會銷售優質產品，進而可以確立高于競爭對手的價格嗎？還是會進行低價競爭呢？

- 你應該通過簡單加成定價來覆蓋單位成本嗎？

- 如果你是內容供應商，你推出的那種廣告的主流費用是多少？

- 如果你是數據供應商，營銷人員一般會為訪問類似信息付多少錢呢？

- 你的價格會覆蓋成本并為實現合理利潤留下空間嗎？

弄清自己的基本收入模式和定價后，你就可以估算自己會有多少客戶，每位客戶可能帶來多少銷售額，以及你實現這些銷售額的頻率，是每天？每周？每月？還是每年？綜合考慮下來，你就可以通過這些信息來預測自己的總收入。

生產和經銷：創造、生產以及向客戶交付產品，需要花費多少成本？

就一件制成品而言，你需要全盤考慮并量化自己在原材料、勞動力、機器、庫存和經銷方面的需求。對服務型企業來說，你需要量化服務實施成本，包括人員、差率費、響應時間和績效報告。

由于我的公司是一家服務型企業，我們關心的是銷售額和提供服務的成本。在拿出意向書和盡職調查報告前，我們不存在生產成本。我們的產品主要由客戶管理、數據管理、市場信息和談判技巧組成。我們的費用非常類似于傳統咨詢公司，而且我們的大多數員工都在客戶的總部現場辦公。

另一方面，制造和經銷企業在精確計算生產成本方面會遇到更大的挑戰。要點在于建立完整的生產成本模型，以確保自己考慮到了所有主要成本。

估算生產成本時大家要考慮的因素包括：

- 原型成本

- 你怎樣制作原型或樣品來確?？蛻纛A購？

- 制作原型或樣品需要多少錢？

- 生產成本

- 量化生產所需的原料、勞動力和設備的類型、數量和來源。

- 初步估算生產所需的原料、勞動力和設備的成本。

- 就自行生產還是外包生產做出決定。

如果是自行生產，

- 你的原材料成本是多少？

- 你的勞動力成本是多少？

- 你的設備成本是多少？

- 你的設施成本是多少？

- 你的經銷成本是多少？

- 你生產產品需要多長時間？

- 你的總單位生產成本是多少？

-如果是外包生產，誰將為你生產？要花多少錢？需要多長時間？

通過權衡二者的定量和定性收益，最終決定是自行生產還是外包。

對制造型企業來說，準確計算生產成本以及所需時間是建立可盈利商業模式的關鍵所在。請記住，這只是一個高度概括的介紹，目的是幫助大家起步。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：詹妮

The following is an excerpt from Ed McLaughlin and Wyn Lydecker’s new book The Purpose Is Profit (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2016), which recounts how, after quitting his high-level corporate job, McLaughlin started a thriving business that was eventually acquired by a Fortune 100 company. A serial entrepreneur, McLaughlin is the founder and CEO of Blue Sunsets, a real estate and investment firm based in Darien, Connecticut.

A key step in developing your revenue model is determining the types and sources of revenue your business will generate. Revenue types include product sales, service fees, advertising sales, data access fees, license fees, and/or commissions.

Each type of revenue generated can come from a multitude of sources. For example, sources of revenue from service sales can vary depending on customer type and category, including online, mobile, consumer, corporate, institutional, and/or government. Additionally, each category can expand into multiple sources. For example, the corporate sales category can include major accounts, named accounts, vertical markets, geographic territories, partnerships, and one-off sales.

My business had a pretty simple revenue model. We sold real estate portfolio management and transaction management services to corporations. Our customers paid us fees for dedicated resources and commissions on transactions. As the business evolved and our service lines expanded, we developed a more complex fee structure suited to the types of services our customers consumed.

How will you structure your revenue model?

— Will you collect sales revenue directly from customers in exchange for the service or product?

— Will your business act as an intermediary, helping to bring buyers and sellers together and collecting a fee for the service or a commission on the resulting sale?

— Will your business be a publisher of content or the creator of an online community that charges for access to the content or community?

— Will you provide content or community for free and collect revenues from advertisers who want to target your readers or users?

— Will you give permission for your product to be used in exchange for a license fee?

— Will you be a collector of data and charge fees to marketers for access to that information?

— Will your business use a combination of these revenue models?

Determining the types and sources of revenue your business will generate is the first step toward realizing a profit.

Product pricing: What will you charge for your product?

Determine your price by selecting your revenue model while factoring in your competitive positioning and your ideal profit target. Each type of revenue model will most likely have market benchmarks you can research to help you price competitively.

From my previous corporate sales experience, I had a firm understanding of traditional pricing models for real estate services. By aggregating portfolio and transaction services through a single source, I knew I could cover my costs and beat the competition with aggressive volume-based pricing. If you know your industry, you may be able to do the same.

Consider the following questions:

— Will you be developing a radical new pricing model?

— Will your price be aligned with traditional benchmarks?

— Will your price be competitive?

— Will you be selling a premium product, enabling you to charge more than your competitors, or will you undercut the competition?

— Should you use a simple markup to cover your unit costs?

— If you are a content provider, what are the prevailing rates for the type of advertising you are selling?

— If you are a provider of data, what do marketers typically pay for access to similar information?

— Will your price cover your cost and leave room for a reasonable profit?

Once you can explain the basic revenue model and your pricing, you can estimate how many customers you expect to have, how many sales you’ll likely make to each one, and how often you will make those sales—daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. Taken together, this information will enable you to project your total revenue.

Production and distribution: What will it take to create, manufacture, and deliver your product to your customers?

For a manufactured product, you will need to think through and quantify your requirements for raw materials, labor, machinery, inventory, and distribution. For a service business, you will need to quantify your service fulfillment costs including staffing, travel costs, response times, and performance reporting.

Since my business was a service business, we were concerned about sales and service delivery costs. Beyond the production of proposals and due-diligence binders, we did not have a manufacturing cost. The key components of our product were account management, data management, market knowledge, and negotiation skills. My company’s expenses were very similar to a traditional consulting business, with most of our employees situated on-site at our customers’ headquarters.

On the other hand, a manufacturing and distribution business has a more significant challenge in accurately estimating production costs. It will be important to develop a thorough production cost model to ensure you have considered all of the major costs.

Some of the factors you will need to address to estimate production costs include the following:

— Prototype costs

— How will you create a prototype or samples to help you secure preorders?

— How much will it cost to create a prototype or sample products?

— Production costs

— Quantify the type, amount, and source of materials, labor, and equipment needed to manufacture your product.

— Generate a preliminary estimate of costs for materials, labor, and/or equipment needed for your product.

— Determine whether you will make your product or outsource its production.

If you make your product,

— What are your raw material costs?

— What are your labor costs?

— What are your equipment costs?

— What are your facilities costs?

— What are your distribution costs?

— How long will it take to manufacture your product?

— What is the total unit production cost of your product?

— If you outsource, who will make your product, how much will it cost, and how long will it take?

Finalize the make vs. buy decision by weighing the quantitative and qualitative benefits of each.

Determining accurate production costs and time frames for a manufacturing business is critical to the development of a profitable and reliable business model. Please keep in mind that this is merely a high-level outline designed to get you started.