So you want to start your own business – and you’ve got an idea. Where do you go from here?

Kim Saxton, clinical associate professor of marketing, explains one important issue is deciding whether you want to build what’s called a “lifestyle” business (or small business) or whether you want to focus on expanding into a scalable business.

“If you want to earn an income, a small business is a great way to go. You’re your own boss; you find your own customers, and you’re selling customers one on one,” explained Saxton. “Remember, the opportunity for growth isn’t very high because it’s all dependent on you. But you also don’t need any money, or you’ll only need a limited amount of money.”

On the other end of the spectrum, you may want to look into starting a “scalable business.” You’ll create something that could multiply revenue with little incremental cost.

“To remove yourself from your small business, you need a business model. There are more than a dozen types of business models you can choose from—for example, a subscription business, leasing products, selling partial ownership, bundling products and services and even “pay as you go,” like a retail store or e-commerce business, and the list goes on,” said Saxton.

Saxton points to The Limited as an example. The company shut all its retail stores, leaving its website open. Amazon’s business model was e-commerce, and now, it’s adding physical stores. In some of those retail stores, there are no checkout lines as your smartphone tracks what you bought and charges you automatically.

“Business models can evolve and change over time, and there isn’t one set way of doing something. It’s all about evolving to better serve your customers’ wants and needs,” explained Saxton. “Take Uber, which is a whole new business model for a taxi. Other companies saw that Uber was successful, and now, there are others who are modeling their businesses after Uber. Uber, in return, is thinking about partnering with companies to share data, which is a whole new business model.”