Building an entrepreneurial business model: The case of MKM Building Supplies Ltd

Abstract

Adopting the metaphor of a story, the case study explores and offers insight into the creation and operationalization of an innovative business model by an entrepreneurial firm that challenged and disrupted the competitive dynamics of an established industry sector, namely building supplies. The case is focused on MKM Building Supplies Ltd and its co-founder’s entrepreneurial approach to business model innovation in creating a sustainable start-up business model aimed at market disruption. The entrepreneurial business model is operationalized by a strategy of growing, primarily organically, a national network of branches together with the creation, delivery and realization of value in the form of superior service from their hand-picked local managers who are focused on customer relationships and local markets. The firm is both ethical, whereby humanitarian risks are minimized in their global supply chains, and philanthropic, whereby the branches are also committed to supporting their local communities. The case engages students to consider the impact of entrepreneurial business model thinking and innovation and also the local-national-international tensions in global value chains.