Initiative · Problem
Developing a new business model
The old model pays for the new one. For now.
Designing, testing and launching a new or changed business model, from market insight and offer to price and financial plan.
The situation
“Our business model won't carry us much longer.”
The core business still runs. But margins are shrinking, customers are drifting to digital or cheaper offers, and one product after another is becoming interchangeable.
There's no shortage of ideas: in the strategy paper, in sales, in management's heads. None of them gets properly tested. Day-to-day business eats up the week, and after all, it still pays the salaries.
Where it often goes wrong.
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Validated at the desk
The idea wins people over in the presentation and the spreadsheet. Nobody asked whether anyone would pay for it before the budget was released.
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New business, old rules
The new business has to pass the same approvals, budget rounds and KPIs as the core. Measured that way, every beginning looks weak and gets stopped too early.
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Price comes last
Product or platform is built before anyone checks what customers will pay for. Then the price doesn't fit the cost structure, and the model never pays off.
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All eggs in one basket
A single new model gets the entire budget, with no checkpoints. If it fails, there's no money left for a second attempt.
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Losing sight of the core
All attention goes to the new, and the old business shrinks faster than planned. Yet it's the old business that is meant to fund the change.
Which disciplines work together here.
5 of 13 disciplines, one team, one point of contact. Every service has a clear role, and you decide which ones we take on.
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D04 Consulting
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Shows where today's model is under pressure and designs alternatives with value and revenue logic.
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Prepares the decision on which option takes priority and what the core business must contribute.
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Determines willingness to pay for the new offer and sets price model and terms.
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D01 Business Development
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Examines where demand and competition are shifting and where there's room for something new.
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Tests new offers with real customers before a large budget is committed.
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D11 Finance & Accounting
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Calculates when the new model breaks even and how long the old must fund it.
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D10 Product Development & Engineering
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Turns the new offer, where it needs a physical product, into roadmap and requirements.
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D09 IT & Digital
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Builds the first usable version of a digital offer, so real use decides, not assumptions.
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You decide the scope.
Often the first step is an honest review of what still carries today's model. If there's already an idea, we test it in the market first. We can also go the whole way with you, from first draft to first invoice.
Good questions. Straight answers.
Do we really need a new business model?
Not always. Often the problem lies in price, sales or offer, and the old model carries on after a few corrections. Then it's more a case of stalled growth.
A new model only makes sense once fixing the old one is no longer enough. That's what we check first.
Do we have to question our core business?
No, but you should look at it honestly. The core business funds the change and brings customers, brand and know-how the new one can build on.
The new model often grows alongside the old one and takes over step by step.
Will you test the idea before we spend big?
Yes, that's exactly the point. Customer conversations, a paid pilot or a pre-order show whether anyone really pays. Only then does budget go into product, technology or marketing.
Do you also develop the product or software?
Yes. We build software and digital products ourselves. For physical products, we plan and steer development, while workshops and manufacturers from our network build prototypes and handle production.
If it's mainly about a new product rather than a new model, developing new products fits.
Doesn't a change like this take years?
Not until the first solid results. A first market test is ready far sooner than a new product.
The full change takes longer, depending on industry and starting point. That's why we move in steps, and after each one you decide whether to continue.
Proof first. Contract second.
In the free Initiative Check, we listen for 45 minutes and ask the questions that usually only come up after the contract is signed. Then you get a short written assessment: what we see, how we would go about it and roughly what it would take.
No obligation. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Or write to us at hello@intoops.com.