Lesson plan · Understanding Businesses · Lesson 7
Business Models
Subscriptions, marketplaces, advertising, licensing, and more.
- 45 minutes
- Grades 9–12
- Intermediate
- Activity: small groups
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Define a business model
- Compare subscription, marketplace, advertising, licensing, and one-time sale models
- Identify the key risk in each model
Materials
- Slide deck and a projector
- Worksheet (one per student)
- Exit ticket slips (bottom of the worksheet)
Standards
- National Standards for Personal Financial Education (2021)
- Builds business and economics understanding beyond the six topic areas.
- Texas TEKS §113.76 Personal Financial Literacy and Economics
- (1) The student understands the fundamental concepts of economics.
- (5) The student discusses the opportunities available for entrepreneurship.
Topic-level alignment by FLC. How we map standards
Background reading
The official sources this lesson is based on.
- Plan your business (opens in a new tab) · sba.gov
- How to Read a 10-K/10-Q (opens in a new tab) · investor.gov
45-minute agenda
0–5 min
Warm-up
Post: “Name three apps you use for free. How do you think each one makes money?”
Teacher note: Most rely on advertising, subscriptions for extra features, or taking a cut of sales.
5–17 min
Direct instruction
Present the lesson slides. Make sure students leave with these points:
- Business model = how a company makes money.
- Subscriptions → watch cancellations. Marketplaces → need both sides.
- Advertising → you're the audience being sold.
- Same product, different model, different risks.
Use the “See it” slide (Common business models) to make the idea visual.
17–22 min
Worked example
Walk through “Three ways to sell music” on the slides. Pause before the result and ask students to predict it.
22–32 min
Model Match
Format: small groups · 10 minutes
- Give groups eight business cards: a video streaming service, a ride-share app, a free social media app, a video game sold once, a music publisher earning from songs used in ads, a gym membership, an online marketplace for used clothes, a printer company that sells ink.
- Groups name each business model and the biggest risk for it.
- Each group presents one card and the class challenges or agrees.
What to look for: Streaming and gym: subscription (cancellations). Ride-share and used clothes: marketplace (needs both sides). Social media: advertising (users and advertisers leaving). Video game: one-time sale (needs new hits). Music: licensing. Printer and ink: sell the device, profit on refills.
32–37 min
Check for understanding
Use the question slides — or run them as a Four Corners game. Questions:
- What business model is this?
- What model is this?
- For a subscription business, keeping existing customers is usually just as important as finding new ones.
37–42 min
Discussion
- Pick an app you use for free. How does it make money?
- Would you start a subscription business or a marketplace? Why?
42–45 min
Exit ticket
Prompt: What is a business model?
Differentiation
Common misconception
“If an app is free, nobody is paying.” Usually advertisers or premium users are paying — and the free users' attention is what's sold.
Support
Post a reference chart with each model and a one-line definition.
Extension
Pick one business and describe how it could switch to a different model. What would change about its risks?
Homework or make-up work
Students can complete the full interactive lesson — including its knowledge check — at learnwithflc.org/courses/understanding-businesses/business-models. No account needed; progress saves on their device.