What Is a Revenue Stream?
A revenue stream is simply a source of income for a business or individual. There are many different kinds of revenue streams but they mostly fall under 2 categories: the sale of products and the provision of services.
Many businesses have multiple revenue streams while others are confined to having only one. Retail businesses often have many different streams of revenue from their various products whereas service-based businesses usually have to rely on a single revenue stream from the service they sell.
Types Of Revenue Streams
A few of the most common types of revenue streams in the modern business world include:
- Asset Sale: This is simply the revenue generated from the sale of products or other kinds of assets
- Services: This is revenue earned from the provision of services directly to customers, the government, or other businesses.
- Advertising: This refers to the income that a business earns from running ads on its websites and other channels.
- Licensing: Businesses that have retained legal ownership of their content impose a fee for anyone who needs to use the copyrighted content or patented ideas in technology and other fields.
- Subscriptions: Some businesses use a subscription model that allows customers to use their services regularly by paying subscription fees. This model translates to relatively stable and predictable revenue.
- Lending, leasing, or renting: A company can decide to lease, lend, or rent out properties, or assets to other businesses or customers, in turn, making an income. This income can be regular or one-off.