Discussion on the business model of one-person business: Thinking about life and career strategies through the Jiugong Grid

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[This article](https://medium.com/@JamesJCLee/%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%BA%E4%BA%8B%E6%A5%AD%E7%9 A%84%E5%95%86%E6%A5%AD%E6%A8%A1%E5%BC%8F%E6%80%9D%E8%80%83-a501ee6ee811) The author is [Li Jun Chen] (https://www.facebook.com/jiunchenlee), founder of [BP Qidian Strategy Studio] (https://www.facebook.com/lightupyourbusiness), has plunged into the world of online entrepreneurship since 2009. He has long been paying attention to the trends in the entrepreneurial circle, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship, business plans, business strategies and business models. Thank you for your permission to publish. I would like to express my gratitude.

It was the afternoon of June 28th, what a hot summer day! It’s really suitable to stay in a coffee shop to blow off the air conditioner and escape the heat. I was lucky enough to make an appointment with my senior Zheng Weiquan (Vista) to discuss the bottlenecks I am currently encountering and exchange some of my recent industry insights.

I have been studying issues related to business strategies and business models of new or successful companies. However, in the big era, we have faced some bottlenecks in growth. Enterprises are no longer the only option for work. Everyone may be an independent profit center in the future. Facing the current situation of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), “realizable” professional capabilities will be a very important issue.

Below, I will briefly share the thinking process that Vista (hereinafter referred to as V Big) guided me:

1. Use Jiugongge to think about the business model of life

After a while of chatting, University V suddenly asked me to take out a pen and draw a nine-square grid on the paper. I couldn’t help but have some doubts in my heart, but I still did as I was told.

First of all, University V asked me to fill in my name in the middle and explain that the original idea came from the author of “Morning Diary” —————[Sato Biography](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/001075 5683?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201707), the other grids are for me to take stock of my current sources of financial income. Through this method, you can help think about your own life business model.

Therefore, I wrote James in the middle of the nine-square grid, and filled in the other eight grids with my current profit model. After some simple thinking, I filled in 3 boxes in one go, namely tutoring, ghostwriting/application and courses.

2. There cannot be only one business model in life.

Big V shared with me: “Most people’s business model may only have one, which is the main job at hand.” After a while, he continued: “Now you have three grids, which feels not bad! But, can you add more?”

Hearing these words made me think for a while, and then I thought of the side projects that I was currently planning—the service projects that can be pivoted—as well as some of the branding strategies that I had thought about. Therefore, I wrote down 2 more feasible business models.

3. Take stock of the fairest currency in life — — time

Next, V University asked me to think about my current business model. What proportion of my time does each of them occupy? And in each project, what things and outputs may be involved, and what proportion of time each takes?

Relatively speaking, this part really requires thinking. Think about what you usually do. Such as running business, thinking about positioning, formulating strategies, writing cases, serving customers, consulting, participating in reading clubs, attending classes, industrial research, etc. I found that because time is fragmented and difficult to measure, I simply wrote down the proportion of various work-related tasks first.

4. The business model of life is based on time and output.

Since investing in research and study accounts for a high proportion of my time, after actually writing down the time proportion, I was surprised to find that there is actually a lot of room for improvement. I can’t help but start thinking, is there any possibility of optimization in the future? However, since the current discussion is mainly about business models, the focus of our conversation is more on whether these learning results can be “realized”?

After all, everyone only has 24 hours of resources. If you can optimize your time, whether it is spent on running a community, working part-time, studying a major, etc., you may have the opportunity to create another business model of your own, or even more possible business models.

5. What is more important than the business model is actually the strategy and execution

Through the Nine-Gong Grid, it actually only takes a short time to write down your own business model and time usage, but the premise is that you must have a life (or career) strategy and execute it according to the planned strategy.

Now let us calm down, take out a pen and paper to draw a nine-square grid, and use business model thinking to find out the business models hidden around us in our lives!

If you also want to discuss your personal career blueprint or Business Model development with Vista, please feel free to [Contact] me (mailto:iamvista@gmail.com)!

★ Photo Credit: unsplash.com

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