Claim to Be the Uber of X. Enliven Your Company With the Right Analogy. Give your startup some inspiration by modeling it after a successful enterprise. This will help you explain your business to outsiders and provide insights for future direction.

By Miles Jennings

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Except for the embarrassing whirring of the one laptop in the room without a solid state drive, the room is completely quiet. The first slide pops up and a company logo is animated with light for a second, invoking a fish's wet back glinting in the sun as it struggles against a line. The pitch is on.

"Picking a present for your girlfriend is hard, right?" the presenter begins. Two people in the room wince and exchange glances with the lone woman in the room. A few people nod in agreement.

"And you always wait until the last second, right?" he continues. "Well, worry no more. UGift.ly buys presents for you and brings them right to your door -- all through a simple smartphone app. You just connect your Facebook friends, tap a button and the perfect present will be delivered in a few hours."

"But I don't understand," says an investor, who, in his irresponsible youth, was editor of the Harvard Crimson. "How do you make money?"

"Oh, simple .We're like Uber for gift giving," the presenter replies.

Related: 'We're the Uber of X!'

There's a collective sigh in the room and quite a few smiles. The next slide shows a cartoon lightbulb that's immediately understood. All is right in the world.

Everyone these days uses analogies to describe a business model. A stadium could be filled with the founders of startups who have used Uber to create a business analogy (Uber for pizza, Uber for flowers and Uber for dates). And this is for good reason: Invoking Uber calls to mind all that's beyond cool. Uber summons with a tap, a future that is convenient, polished and without pain. It's no wonder that it's now also a massive cliché among startups.

That doesn't mean that invoking another company as a business model is wrong or trite. Picking the right analogy isn't just for informing weary venture capitalists. Choosing the right analogy can inform an entrepreneur's choices and decisions and opens up up new ideas.

In a Harvard Business Review article "How Strategists Really Think: Tapping the Power of Analogy," authors Giovanni Gavetti and Jan W. Rivkin wrote that analogies are "imperfect but useful. The challenge is to get the most out of them.

The right analogy frees an entrepreneur from being trapped within his or her own industry for inspiration. Instead of sticking an analogy into a slide presentation and forgetting it, try bringing it deep inside the business strategy in these areas:

Related: 6 Great Business Models to Consider for a Startup

1. Revenue.

How does the model company make money? Look beyond its stated products to see how it earns money through partnerships and third-party integrations. The real revenue sources may be very different than the consumer-facing products.

2. Key metrics.

What key indicators does the model use to forecast and plan against? Uber might consider number of app downloads or drivers or the average cost of the ride. How do these translate to the new startup's market?

3. Content.

How does the model company market itself and generate search traffic? How does it engage its audience?

It's easy to figure out a company's content strategy because this is mostly public. Can this strategy be applied to the new startup being launched?

4. Hiring.

The business being followed as a model can give an idea about the most important hire to make when scaling up the startup effectively. Does that business rely on heavy customer support or lots of salespeople in the field? Use this example to hire proactively based on a similar pattern of operational growth.

5. Exit.

The model company is likely years if not a decade ahead of the new startup. When did it take outside capital and how did it plan its rounds of investment? Was there an exit by the founders? Who is that company's potential buyers and who might be potential buyers of the new startup? The capitalization strategy may mirror that of the model company.

The analogy picked may dictate the future of the startup so pick carefully. But after finding that great model that resonates, be sure to make the most of it. Use the analogy to build a new business wisely and fulfill its ultimate purpose.

Related: 3 Things Entrepreneurs Must Do to Keep Their Business Model Relevant

Wavy Line
Miles Jennings

Founder & COO of Recruiter.com

Miles Jennings is an entrepreneur, founder and COO of Recruiter.com, an AI-powered hiring platform offering on-demand recruiting solutions to employers of all sizes.

Editor's Pick

A Leader's Most Powerful Tool Is Executive Capital. Here's What It Is — and How to Earn It.
Lock
One Man's Casual Side Hustle Became an International Phenomenon — And It's on Track to See $15 Million in Revenue This Year
Lock
3 Reasons to Keep Posting on LinkedIn, Even If Nobody Is Engaging With You
Why a Strong Chief Financial Officer Is Crucial for Your Franchise — and What to Look for When Hiring One

Related Topics

Business News

More Americans Are Retiring Abroad, Without a Massive Nest Egg — Here's How They Made the Leap

About 450,000 people received their social security benefits outside the U.S. at the end of 2021, up from 307,000 in 2008, according to the Social Security Administration.

Business News

7 of the 10 Most Expensive Cities to Live in the U.S. Are in One State

A new report by U.S. News found that San Diego is the most expensive city to live in for 2023-2024, followed by Los Angeles. New York City didn't even rank in the top 10.

Business News

'The Mattresses Are As Thick as The Width of a Hand.' And 5 Other Things to Know About Elizabeth Holmes' Prison.

Inside the walls of Federal Prison Camp Bryan, Texas, where the fallen Silicon Valley star is serving an 11-year sentence.

Growing a Business

The Best Way to Run a Business Meeting

All too often, meetings run longer than they should and fail to keep attendees engaged. Here's how to run a meeting the right way.

Fundraising

Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don'ts of Video Conferencing

As more and more businesses go remote, these are ways to be more effective and efficient on conference calls.

Business News

Woman Ties the Knot at White Castle Almost 30 Years After the Chain Gave Her Free Food as a Homeless Teen

Jamie West was just 12 years old when she ran away from the foster care system.