En overordnet beskrivelse af midler og metoder, som en virksomhed anvender til at tjene penge. Med en forretningsplan kan man betragte virksomheden som et system, hvis vigtigste opgave er at tjene penge til at overleve og vokse. Definitionen på business model er mange - her et uddrag:

Osterwalder & Pigneur: “A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.”

Morris et al.: “A business model is a concise representation of how an interrelated set of decision variables in the areas of venture strategy, architecture, and economics are addressed to create sustainable competitive advantage in defined markets.”

Teece: “In short, a business model defines how the enterprise creates and delivers value to customers, and then converts payments received to profits.”