We help you sketching out your business model in any style you would like to have. See here the example of Sellaband. Why is it so important to visualize your model? Sketching a model transforms it into a persistent object and a conceptual anchor to which discussions can always return. This is critical, because it shifts discourse from the abstract towards the concrete and greatly improves the quality of the debate. Typically, if you aim to improve an existing business model, visually depicting it will unearth logical gaps and facilitate their discussion. Similarly, if you are designing a completely new business model, drawing it will allow you to easily discuss different options by adding, removing or moving pictures around.

The benefits of visualization

Drawings can be more powerful than Post-it notes because people react more strongly to images than words. Pictures deliver messages instantly. Simple drawings can express ideas that otherwise require many words. Let’s examine four processes improved by visual thinking:

1. Understand the essence. The Business Model Canvas serves as a visual grammar. By sketching out all the elements of the Canvas you immediately give viewers the bigger picture. Understanding a business model requires not only knowing the compositional elements, but also grasping the interdependencies between elements.
2. Enhance dialogue. You improve the dialogue by visualizing your model as a collective reference point. The business model canvas then serves as a shared language resulting in joint understanding.
3. Explore ideas. The canvas is like an artist’s canvas. It triggers ideas. And… provides the opportunity to play with the model and start the discussion.
4. Improve communication. When it comes to communicating a business model, a picture is truly worth a thousand words. A BM visual is the best way to create a company wide understanding. In fact, a way to sell the model internally and externally.

We do visualization for you! in 7 steps

Visualization of the business model is a very important step in our methodology. We see our clients ask us more and more to make that work. Also online. We help you visualize your business model in 7 steps:

1. Send us your Business Model (BM) in post-its, or written text
2. We will challenge you on your BM composition through ‘live’ discussion (skype)
3. We sketch your BM building blocks and their relationships in the style you like!
4. BM is sent to you for discussion
5. Edits are done if any on sketches and relationships
6. Coloring is done if any and re-sent for approval
7. On color approval and full payment final files will be sent.

If you need help on your business model to be visualized in any style, please contact us by skype, phone or email.

* source: Business Model Generation

understand. And people love to talk about it.

I often use Nespresso in our training courses and client strategy workshops. But what is so special about the Nespresso model? I think that people do not realize that it took Nespresso 30 years to get where it is now. Their patent was registered in 1976 and it was launched internationally in 1991. George Cloony – very strong connected to the brand – was hired in 2006. For me there are on a high level 2 elements of the business model that are remarkable.

1. Nespresso uses different channels to distribute to their clients. Except for the easiest channel: the supermarket. Where nowadays we see supermarkets are becoming more powerful than the production companies such as Unilever and Proctor & Gamble, Nespresso is able to pass the supermarket channel.

2. Nespresso knows everything about his clients. Amazing. They connect you through their Nespresso club and they make it work. An example I experienced myself. I got a second hand machine from one of my clients and I tried to order cups. A callcenter called me and registered all my information. “What is your machine ID?” they asked. “Mmm… that is not your machine isn’t it? It is from 72dpi! Wow! Last month I bought my own machine as the other broke down finally. Their service in the shop was excellent. I took home a huge pack of all kind of coffee flavors. Yesterday I got a phone call from Nespresso club. “How are you, do you like our product?”. Yes I said but at the moment I try to drink the less favorite blends. “No problem” she said. “Just serve it to your guests!”  ”And… can I help you with ordering the new blends then?” Fantastic. This is service in optima forma. I love it. That’s why I love to use this example. A lot to learn from Nespresso.

Do you want to read more about this case study? On page 236 of Business Model Generation you can read all details and their next business model!

The visualization was made by Xplane.

Alex Osterwalder gave a 7 minutes presentation at Emerce Day in The Netherlands. See for yourself. He will do a bit longer workshop (188 minutes) on 13th of October in the Netherlands @ Nyenrode University, Breukelen.

At that time Alex focused with his Arvetica firm on the private banking industry in Switzerland. “If there is enough interest, I might consider coming over to Holland” Alex said.  And yes there was… In no-time we had a workshop full of interested and experienced business modelers from all over the world: New York, Istanbul, Turkey and the Netherlands. 

After the workshop in Amsterdam April 22nd me and the participants asked Alex “When will you start working on your book…?” And Alex had to admit that it was about the time. At the end of the summer Alex decided to fully focus on the book. With full mental support of Yves Pigneur. We started to look for producers, designers and financing. More and more we concluded the book needed to be very special. We also needed to find a way to work together… or not. On October 27th we had a session together in Lausanne, Switzerland. We drew our visioning stories together. What would our future be like with or without a business model (book)? After a lovely dinner at Alex family home, we continued our brainstorming and came up with an action plan. 

A special business model for the book

What is a business model book without an innovative and sound business model? That sucks! So we came with a special model. No publisher, no financing but a co-created book by people who want to be part of our journey. In december 2008 we started the Business Model Hub (www.businessmodelhub.com) where people could subscribe after a payment of 24 USD. They get access to the content, can comment on design and their name is printed in the book. After a couple of months we saw the number of members rising and so the subscription did as well. The last participant paid 243 USD.

Design thinking and business modeling

Alan Smith from The Movement joined a workshop of Alex last year. After Alex put a post on his blog about finding the right designer for the book, Alan responded immediately. We met together with Alex this year in London. For us it was immediately clear Alan could take design-wise the book to the next level. We were impressed from the start. And Alan kept his promise. The book is an amazing beautiful result of not design only but a very meaningful way of combining design thinking in management books. “I want to create a cook-book for management” Alan said meaning you want to make the recipe as soon as you open the book. 

Prototyping of the book…

Part of Alex’ philosophy on business model innovation is design thinking. Prototyping is all about creating the options for your business model and shaping it as best as you can. On June 19th Alex launched the unfinished version of the book. 200 versions were printed for the participants. And.. it was a disaster. The pages were printed in the wrong order and the quality was not acceptable. “Prototyping is very meaningful!” Alex and Alan said. 

A friend brought me into contact with Maarten Modderman. He immediately said that our special book deserves a better printing and finishing. He came with a book that has no “back”. The book is glued and sewed and that’s it. The book then feels like a workbook, if you open it on your desk it stays open all the time. More beautiful is even the finishing. A manually glued cardboard black printed cover resulting in a 1,2 kg book.

At the moment we are connecting our website www.businessmodelgeneration.com with an e-fulfillment center so shipment will be fully automated. Then the books will be shipped in the week of september 26th. The first print run contains 5.000 books of which already 1.500 are sold through our site.

The final book launch at Nyenrode University

 Alex will come to The Netherlands – where it all started – on October 13th to run a workshop on business modeling… And… to present the book! You can subscribe through the website of Focus Conferences (contact: KristelVeerman at veerman@focusconferences.nl). Our blog readers will get a special price for Alex workshop incl. the book € 395.- 

Life after the launch?

So is there any life after the launch? Alex is happy that he finished the book. But there is more to come. Speeches, a new platform, white papers, tools for business modeling, workshops and so on… And for me? I found it fantastic applying Alex’ methodology in combination with visual thinking for clients. Improving our methodology and creating products for business modelers. And the book – not even shipped – brings me into contact with wonderful people all over the world. For me the journey just started. With an amazing team: Alex, Yves, Alan, Tim and our Hub! Looking forward continuing the journey…

Ouke could not imagine he was the only one trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Would it be an idea to visualize the business model? Ouke contacted Sellaband owner Johan Vosmeijer to arrange a meeting to explore their business model. I (Patrick) joined Ouke and together with Johan we put the post-it notes in the Business Model Canvas. Interesting. We understood the business model is a Multi Sided Platform. This means that Sellaband brings together two or more distinct but interdependent groups of customers. Such platforms are only of value if the other group of customers is also present (source: Business Model Generation book by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur). In this case the Believers, Artists and Music Buyers. Johan got excited about the results of the session and said: “I would love to put the visualized model in my room so I do not need to explain it all the time.”

Together with Wouter Boog (JAM) we worked on the visualisation of the model. We translated the Business Model Canvas with post-it notes to visuals. According to the visual design process JAM developed, we first understand what the several elements are. Then we try to understand their relationship. The Canvas helps as the 9 building blocks are put in the right order. By means of several discussions and feedback Wouter drew the first version.

Ouke and I went back to meet Sellaband with a big poster drawn by Wouter. Now we had a meeting with Sellabands’ General Manager Dagmar Heijmans. We put the poster on the table and started a discussion. Can you explain us your business model? Are there things missing? We had a very interesting discussion how Sellaband is working on his business model from the start, creating various prototypes, learning by doing. But what is the advantage of this visual? “Let’s bring the other colleagues to the table” Ouke said. Dagmar invited his colleagues and the discussion started again. “Wow!”, one of the new colleagues said. “Now I know exactly how Sellaband is making their money.” “Very powerful tool!” We concluded that Sellaband now has a common language when it comes to their business model. 

We concluded ourselves that the model of Sellaband is a very good example of how a complex business model at first sight can be easily explained through visualization with the canvas. The Sellaband model now serves as a case study in the Business Model Generation book that will be released in September 2009.  You can read all about it in the book.

But  where have we seen strong decrease in revenue  before? CD-sales? In the music industry? Where established firms like e.g Warner was outperformed by newcomers with new business models like Sellaband? In the car industry? In the airline industry where Ryanair and Easyjet rule the market nowadays? 

What should Notaries do nowadays… ?  I think they should understand that they can not change the market but rather themselves should adjust to the changes. Why? Clients do not see the added value of their services as contracts are available on the Internet. Their services are not transparent. Why paying € 1.400 for setting up a company? Or € 1.200 for wedding papers?  Can Notaries do something about it? YES they CAN! Take off their sunglasses and do BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION! 

Take a look at the practices in the other regions, Estonia for example. Looking at Estonia would not be your first thought. However, we can learn a lot from them. The idea is to facilitate the entrepreneur in boosting the economy (not the Notaries bank account). For setting up a business you have 2 options: 1) through the Internet (if no notary is required) and option 2: at Notary office. And do you know what the second option costs you? Depending on the number of parties involved and the transaction volume you pay for a BV (Dutch Limited Company) only € 70! 

Being served by an Estonian Notary feels like flying Easyjet. A different model. No over the top offices, no staff overload, no Notary with Mont Blanc pencils but just a beautiful designed office where you can shop for a Notary signature in only 20 minutes. By the way in the public computer corner you can pay your bill online. Pick up and delivery of papers on the next day. Wow Dutch Notaries… what about that?

During our session together with Twenty Twenty – Minnemijn Smit en Foris Croon – we explored different models. Strange. People are still afraid that they are not able to reload their accu. But how many fuel stations do we have near our home? Do we have the opportunity to get fuel at home? No! So? Afraid to do something environmental friendly? And what about the models? Freemium? Charge for accu’s only? A subscription or lease?

Anyway, I don’t care. My next car is a QWIC!

Great conferences, high energy, great speakers and dito audience. Do you see all the stickies on the participants? We did a physical tagging exercise. A must for every event! And… the book is ready for sale.

The day started with a vision on Business Models by Alex Osterwalder, where are we today and what do we need to do in the near future to make Business Models work for us! He also assessed with the audience what works and doesn’t work with the Business Model Canvas. Then an interview was held with the book team incl. Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, Tim Clark, Alex Osterwalder and Patrick van der Pijl. A beautiful video was shot by Fish-eye click here. 

In the Business Model Carousel, real life practices on business model implementation were presented amongst others DSM by Bas van Oosterhout, Seats2meet.com by Marielle Sijgers and National Archive by Harry Verwayen. 

Collectors item! Finally the BOOK arrived! A courier brought the fresh prints from the print house. We printed a limited edition of 200 copies in black and white. BUT, what happened?!@# The book pages were not printed the way Alan designed it. Now the effect of strong relation between left and right hand print is gone… Lessons learned on prototyping! The book will be launched in September and can be pre-ordered with 25% discount here. 

In order to stimulate the interactivity with the audience we were tagging each other with stickers (see pictures) and Sendsteps used their technology to welcome people through SMS and also to ask them questions during the session. Answers were send by SMS and the results were broadcasted on screen. Amazing!

But how do you communicate something difficult such as a business model? Mike Overdijk (JAM) first explained us the Visual Design Process. How you make a design out of a white paper? (greenfield). And then it all started! Jan Selen motived people to start drawing… Mike instructed the participants to interview each other and draw a business model. You can see the results here in the picture.

In the afternoon Tim Clark (entrepreneur, author, editor) took us on a journey to show the cultural impact on business models and especially in Japan where he has worked many years. Alan Smith (designer The Movement) showed us principles of Design thinking which plays an important role in the book. 

Are we able to explain the success of the Hub and our community per today? And what is needed and wanted in the near future? How can we succeed? Martijn Pater (Fronteer Strategy), showed us the guiding principles of co-creation and how the Hub meets these criteria. Amazing! Then we were brainstorming with the participants on the needs and wants… 

“Great energy! very good line up of speakers, promising book! and the network of people here was very interesting! thanks for that! were some of the feedback we got from last Friday. Thanks to all participants! the book team, Marielle, Bas, Martijn, Hylke (our student), 3M (for materials), Tim, Alan, Yves, Alex, JAM, Fish-eye and see you next year!