Defining business models in the arts sector
Most arts leaders who say ‘We need a new business model’ have no idea what a business model actually is. Let's break it down.
Your business model is made of four interconnected elements:
Your Value Proposition shapes how Resources are allocated,
which defines what Processes are possible,
which leads to your Profit Formula—
locking in which activities will drive revenue.
If your foundation is shaky, the whole model wobbles: Your resource allocation, processes, and profit formula lock you into activities that only reinforce irrelevance—at scale.
This wobble is everywhere in the arts sector. Most arts org business models are built on:
The product not the purpose.
The what not the why.
The output not the outcome.
What's missing? The connection between the value proposition and what the customer values.
But it's not your fault. Most arts organizations are still running on a business model built in the 1950s. And business models are sticky:
Without a hard reset, a business model protects the status quo. By design.
Even when it’s no longer working.
Even when the world has changed.
Arts orgs are being pulled backward by their outdated models just when they need to leap forward.
Here's the point:
You can’t retrofit relevance. You have to build for it. And it starts with the foundation: your value proposition.
An aligned value proposition starts with the value consumers care about: Not what you make. What you make possible. Get it right, and you’ve reset the entire system:
Your resources flow where they actually matter.
Your processes support relevance, rather than status quo.
Your business model stops clinging to the past—and starts funding the future.
Ready to fix that foundation? Download a free copy of The Value Proposition Playbook.
