The Business Model of Start-Up—Structure and Consequences

A start-up already at its origin has to solve the crucial existential condition that is a viable business model. The purpose of the research is to deepen and expand the knowledge about the structure of the start-up business model and its impact on entrepreneurial performance. Field research was carried out in three stages over one and a half years. The source of knowledge about the studied start-ups has been the personal experience recorded in the questionnaire. Start-ups are small closed communities that do not sufficiently shape external partnerships, cannot reach the customers, although they can identify them well enough, try to improve the business model blocks but they do not pay attention to their coordination and perceive the monetization in a simplified way. The impact of the business model on start-up performance has been confirmed but the internal blocks affect business performance unambiguously over the three stages of the research. The best conversion of users to customers and subsequently to revenues are distinctive for the start-ups with their own simple distribution channel and partners who are experienced distributors. The lessons learned can directly improve the results of start-ups when their incompleteness and imperfection will be substituted by appropriate partners. Start-ups provide a space for the new jobs and the self-realization of ambitious people with a sense of service for society. Empirical research on start-ups identifies their weaknesses and possibilities to increase their entrepreneurial performance.