6 Proven Patterns That Make Impact Businesses Succeed

Most business models are missing a crucial ingredient.

While they are good for mapping out what you deliver and how you deliver it, they typically overlook the larger impact picture.

I've been interviewing impact founders to dissect their strategies and understand what makes them different than your traditional founder.

And I've found some gold hiding in plain sight.

But first, we need to talk about business models...

The problem with traditional models

​Most business models focus on 3 things:

1. What value you are delivering
   Most likely a product, service, or experience of some kind.
   ​

2. Who you are delivering that value to
   I.e. your ideal customer segments
   ​

3. How you're delivering that value
   ​This can be your distribution channels, pricing strategies, partners, etc.

Of course you can fill out a more comprehensive tool like a Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, or Business Model Kit, but at a minimum you'll need the 3 above.

If you take a look at all of the common business model tools, you'll see one huge omission: impact.

Don't get me wrong, you can build a very impactful business model with the tools above.

BUT...

I'd argue that if impact isn't built into your business model, it will never be a priority in your long term strategy or your day to day decision making.

What isn't defined isn't prioritized.

Sure, there are great companies that happen to do good, but that's different than being truly impact-driven.

The good news?

There are patterns across common business models that make them "impact friendly".

Here are 6 of them.

The patterns of real impact

​Pattern 1: Accessibility

Goal:

The focus around accessibility models aims to deliver value to the widest audience possible, especially those who need it the most.

Models:

• 1 for 1: buy one, donate one to someone in need

  • Example: Bombas Socks donates a pair of socks for every pair that you purchase, as they are the #1 most requested clothing item in homeless shelters.

• Freemium: basic free features, premium paid features

  • Example: Duolingo improves education and literacy worldwide through their free features, as well as using profit to establish community literacy initiatives.

  
  

Pattern 2: Lifespan

Goal:

The focus with these models is to extend the product's life as long as possible through repair, refurbishment, or recycling.

Models:

• Upcycling: transforming waste into valuable products

  • Example: wipwrk is taking old camping gear and turning it into everyday bags, giving potential waste a new life.

• Refurbishment: restoring used products for resale

  • Example: Back Market is turning the refurbished electronics market into a giant, building a $5.7 billion business, and helping the environment.​
    
    

Pattern 3: Efficiency

Goal:

Efficiency can be applied to many things in business, but the goal here is to optimize your resources to minimize waste, whether that's in the production process or your final product.

Models:

• Product as a service: subscribe to use products, not own them

  • Example: MUD Jeans uses a PaaS model to retain more stock, taking the recycling onus away from the consumer and taking demin out of landfill.

• Sharing economy:

  • Example: Lime puts more scooters and bikes on the road for people to share, reducing our second largest emissions contributor (transportation).

  
  

Pattern 4: Collectivity

Goal:

There are power in numbers, collectivity models focus on harnessing community to create impact greater than the sum of it's parts.

Models:

• Crowdfunding: small fundraises from the masses

  • Example: Birchal is making it easier than ever to invest in companies that are doing better for people and planet, no matter what budget you have.

• Cooperatives: owned and operated by the members

  • Example: Organic Valley is a farmer-owned cooperative that shows the big impact that can come from small operations coming together.​
    
    

Pattern 5: Empowerment

Goal:

The focus in these models is to enable others to create positive change, whether that is through training, financing, or access to resources and support.

Models:

• Skill development: tools and training for growth

  • Example: Growing The Grass Roots is providing modern agricultural education to a new wave of Sierra Leone farmers.

• Microfinance:

  • Example: Kiva provides a micro loan platform for you to support people doing good around the world who may not be getting the support they need.

  ​

Pattern 6: Education

Goal:

Education models focus on driving change through awareness and information, making impact more accessible and actionable.

Models:

• Educational content

  • Example: earthed creates video courses on growing food, gardening, and biodiversity to inform a new and healthy global community.

• Sponsored content:

  • Example: ReLauren uses sponsored content to raise awareness for businesses, causes, and initiatives doing good for the world.