The existence and development of a business model in a company is vital to its development and success.

As part of the PROBM2: Understanding and Developing Business Models in the Globalization Era project, a survey was conducted related to business models and whether entrepreneurs from Poland, Malta, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, Romania and Italy are aware of their existence and whether they use them.  The results of this survey are quite interesting and a brief summary of them is developed below.

The survey has shown that entrepreneurs generally know what it is and how important it is to the success of the company, but only half of them have heard of the Business Model Canvas. Much of the sample has shown that it greatly appreciates the existence of a one, as it can reduce the obstacles that arise in a company. However, it seemed to be divided on whether it helps to improve the company’s position in the market, which was recorded in numbers with almost half of the sample companies using it.

Almost all respondents agreed with the following statements:

• the development of one is crucial towards contributing to the success of a company (50% totally agree, 44,44% agree);
• the use of a good business model improves the situation of an enterprise/organisation on the market (43,64% totally agree, 52,73% agree);
• the increase in knowledge on business models reduce barriers to starting or/and improving own company(32,73% totally agree, 60% agree).

The sample responded with 76.36% that it considers the Development Plan to be the most important benefit of the model.

As the Business Model Canvas (BMC) is considered to be the easiest and most popular tool for creating a business model, there is a need to increase awareness and teach entrepreneurs how to use the Business Model Canvas, because only 43.64% of respondents knew what the BMC is, and 38,64% of entrepreneurs that did not use business model in their companies admitted that they didn’t know how to use it.

The main objective of the ProBM 2 project is to increase the skills and knowledge of adult educators and training providers in teaching the concept. Acquired knowledge and skills will directly contribute to the design and use of an optimal business model by the beneficiaries (entrepreneurs, prospective entrepreneurs, company owners, managers) in their present or future enterprises.

For more details on the results of the survey you can refer to the attached: https://ied.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Comparative-Report-O1-ProBM-2.pdf