The Business Model Navigator: 55 Models That Will Revolutionise Your Business

by Oliver Gassmann, Karolin Frankenberger, Michaela Csik

A strong business model is the bedrock to business success. But all too often we fail to adapt, clinging to outdated models that are no longer delivering the results we need. The brains behind The Business Model Navigator have discovered that just 55 business models are responsible for 90% of the world's most successful businesses. These 55 models – from the Add-On model used by Ryanair to the Subscription model used by Spotify – provide the blueprints you need to revolutionise your business and drive powerful change. As well as providing a practical framework for adapting and innovating your business model, this book also includes each of the 55 models in a quick-read format that “An excellent toolkit for developing your business model . ” Dr Heinz Derenbach, CEO, Bosch Software Innovations

Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Management, Nonfiction, Startup, Finance, Buisness

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Pavel Annenkov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Сейчас для создания успешного бизнеса не так важен сам товар или услуга, как бизнес-модель компании, с помощью которой вы будете зарабатывать прибыль. 90% всех компаний используют одну из 55 бизнес-моделей или комбинацию из них. Никогда не поздно сменить бизнес-модель работы своей компании на более прибыльную. И лучше начинать экспериментировать, когда в бизнесе всё хорошо. В книге детально разбирается каждая из 55 моделей для бизнеса. Множество примеров и чек-листов для разработки.

[Sergei_kalinin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Бизнес-модели: 55 лучших шаблонов" - книга, которая и восхитила, и разочаровала. Идея хороша: авторы решили ответить на вопрос, как вообще можно изменить бизнес, чтобы стать лидером рынка. Они изучили истории успеха лучших компаний XX-XXI века и выделили КФУ (ключевые факторы успеха) в виде "шаблонов".
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Как изменить бизнес-модель? Ответить ИНАЧЕ на четыре вопроса: Кто наш клиент? Что мы продаём? Как формируем ценностное предложение? Как создается прибыль? Бизнес-модель = кто + что + как + почему.
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В рамках одного "шаблона" возможно изменение 2-4 элементов модели. Например, "шаблон" успеха eBay (аукцион вещей) и Google (аукцион рекламы) основан на элементах "что" и "почему". Инновационность в том, что клиенты сами определяют максимальную ставку товара/услуги (шаблон №3)
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Понравилось: авторы предлагают игру. Все бизнес-шаблоны выписываются на карточки. Вытаскиваешь наугад и пытаешься применить шаблон к своему бизнесу (в сочетании с подходом дизайн-мышления). Можно нагенерить много интересных идей!
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Не понравилось: актуально для большого и среднего бизнеса и практически бесполезно для малого 😞 . Цена смены бизнес-шаблона слишком велика.
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Вывод: неплохая книга по стратегическому менеджменту. Но книга по сути дайджест уже известных и ранее описанных в бизнес-литературе "историй успеха". Книга применима как тренажер для студентов/стартаперов, но вряд ли методика подойдет для реальных страт.сессий.

[Jose Papo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent reference book containing 55 different business model patterns like Add-on, subscription, razor and blades and many others. The book starts with an explanation of what is a business model and then goes on to give a sample process to develop new ideas for business model creation or change. But the meat of the book and the most useful is really the 55 business model patterns catalogued and described. Highly recommended to have fresh ideas about business model implementation.

[Mohamed E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe a key feature of this book - and why anyone contemplating starting their own business should consider reading it - is the authors' subscription to the necessity of trial and error when it comes to building a business model.

While business models are broken down differently in this book than the way Osterwalder does in Business Model Generation 'BMG' (I prefer the latter) this book would be a good one to read after finishing BMG.

Thee analysis of some of the business model patterns were quite intelligent: the second part of the book was more than just a 55-item list.

Finally, if you have read Dorf and Blank's Startup Owner's Manual 'SOM' (you definitely should) and their methodology for Customer Development through trial and error - business model shifts and pivots - you will find this book offers a lighter version of some of the concepts in SOM, easier to read and while abstract conpared the Manual, it's complementary to it.

In a nut shell, I don't think I would have found it superb on a stand alone basis, but I found it valuable after and because of reading BMG and SOM.

[Annasnova · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for a business strategy course. Well-written, includes 55 business models and practical instructions on how to run a workshop to use the provided examples as springboards for innovation. Many of the models felt self-evident and at times repetitive but the point of the book is to highlight how businesses who successfully innovated in the past used a combination of these business models to create something unique to them. More resources here: https://bmilab.com/resources

[Eugene · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you thinking of your business model

nice collection of business models with great introduction into business model innovation. though i would question classification of some business but anyway it is the best book yet i saw if you want to think about your business model and how you may apply models from other industries.

[Raphael Donaire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary
"The Business Model Navigator" by Oliver Gassmann, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik is an insightful and practical guide for business model innovation. The book is structured into three parts:

- Understanding Business Models: it introduces the concept of a business model, emphasizing its importance in the current business climate. The book elaborates on the need for businesses to innovate their models to stay competitive.

- 55 Business Model Patterns: this section is the book's core, presenting 55 distinct business model patterns identified through research. Each pattern is explained in detail, providing a comprehensive understanding of how they have been successfully applied in various industries. Examples include "Freemium," "Crowdsourcing," and "Subscription," each illustrating a unique approach to creating and capturing value.

- Applying Business Model Innovation: the final part guides readers on how to use these patterns in practice. It offers a step-by-step approach to innovating a company’s business model, including case studies and practical tips.

The book stands out for its empirical foundation, drawing on extensive research and real-world examples. It challenges traditional business thinking by advocating for the creative recombination of existing ideas and concepts from different industries. The authors present a systematic approach to business model innovation, making it accessible to practitioners and managers alike.

In conclusion, the book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to understand and implement innovative business models. It combines theoretical insights with practical tools, making it a must-read for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and managers aiming to navigate the complex landscape of modern business.

Main dimensions
The book describes a business model as a specific configuration of four main dimensions:

- Who: this dimension refers to the business's target audience or customer base. It focuses on identifying and understanding the needs and characteristics of the customers the business aims to serve.

- What: this aspect involves defining the value proposition of the business. It details the products or services the business offers and how these offerings meet the needs or solve the problems of the targeted customer base.

- How: this dimension is concerned with the operational aspects of the business. It encompasses the processes, activities, resources, and capabilities required to deliver the value proposition effectively.

- Why: this final dimension addresses the financial viability of the business model. It involves understanding the cost structures, revenue streams, and the overall mechanism through which the business generates profit.

Examples
- Self-Service Business Model (IKEA and McDonald's): IKEA's business model revolutionized the furniture industry by introducing flat-pack furniture, which customers assemble. This approach significantly reduced IKEA's distribution and production costs, allowing the company to offer products at competitive prices. Similarly, McDonald's, a fast-food restaurant chain, is another notable example of the self-service model. McDonald's provides a standardized menu across 119 countries, allowing for operational efficiency and scalability​​.

- Cross-Selling Business Model (Shell and KFC): The concept of cross-selling is well illustrated by the partnership between Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and Shell petrol stations. Initially, a KFC franchise opened a restaurant in a Shell station, leading to the idea of selling food alongside fuel. This concept was so successful that Shell began to apply cross-selling across its business, significantly increasing profits​​.

- Aikido Business Model (Cirque du Soleil and Swatch): The Aikido model is exemplified by companies like Cirque du Soleil and Swatch. Cirque du Soleil redefined the traditional circus by eliminating costly animal performances and star artists, combining opera, ballet, theater, and street performance with classical circus arts. This approach created a new form of entertainment experience. On the other hand, Swatch challenged the traditional luxury watch industry by offering high-quality watches at lower prices, appealing to a fashion-conscious market and influencing consumer behavior to own multiple watches​​.

What is Business Model Innovation?
Business model innovation is reconfiguring at least two dimensions: who, what, how, and why. This reconfiguration must effectively 'create value and capture value' for a company. The essence of business model innovation lies in creatively reimagining these dimensions to develop new ways of operating and competing in the market.

Critique
- Applicability challenges for small enterprises: specific business models outlined in the book may appear overly intricate or excessive for small businesses. The complexity and scope of some models need to align better with the limited resources and scale of smaller companies.

- Variability in company examples: the book's focus on examples from successful companies could be more balanced, which could diminish its applicability and relevance across diverse industries. A more consistent approach in illustrating examples could enhance its universal utility.

- Limited exploration of unsuccessful models: a notable omission in the book is the need for an in-depth analysis of failed business models. Including detailed case studies of failures could provide a more balanced view and valuable lessons for avoiding similar pitfalls.

- Industry-specific limitations: some business models presented may only be universally applicable or relevant to some businesses. This industry-specific focus might limit the book's usefulness for specific sectors that operate under different dynamics.

- Underemphasis on sustainability: The book needs to adequately address how to integrate sustainability into business models for long-term viability. In today's increasingly eco-conscious market, incorporating detailed strategies for sustainability is crucial for future-proofing businesses.

[Đoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

My respect for the authors and the way they squeezed so much content on the small number of pages.
Straight to the point and very "reader-friendly", the presented matters are easy to understand even for people, who don't have too much previous knowledge in the field of business models.
It's a must-read for everyone, who want's to work with business models or create a organisation.
The presented creative way of nurturing innovation by making team brainstormings with the 55 presented models also works very good. In a matter of only 2-3 hours my team was able to generate ideas, previously not imaginable for us.
Important: The above mentioned technique can be used as well for business model innovation, as also simply for innovating the value proposition or specific blocks of an existing business model!

Good luck when innovating!

[Sergii Khlivnenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

55 бізнес-моделей описують чотири речі: цільових клієнтів, продукт для продажу, спосіб створення товару/послуги та підхід до створення доходу. Ці 4 виміри - хто, що, як, чому - дозволяють зрозуміти принципи побудові майже всіх компаній: від звичайних до величних.
Крім того автор описує алгоритм вибору оптимальної бізнес-моделі через дивергентне і ковергентне мислення в цільовій групі.

[Harry Harman]

the customer (Who?), the value proposition (What?), the value chain (How?) and the profit mechanism (Why?)

Strong companies such as Agfa, AEG, American Airlines, Lehman Brothers, DEC, Grundig, Loewe, Nakamichi, Nixdorf Computer, Motorola, Nokia, Takefuji, Triumph and Kodak suddenly disappear from prominence

business model innovation carries a greater potential for success than mere product or process innovation

we present in the form of a ‘magic triangle’

how to create and capture value.

Performance-based contracting

past successes can easily block new ideas.

‘not invented here’ syndrome

Michael Dell hit the nail on the head when he said: ‘You have to innovate when times are good’.

1990s. Illegal online file sharing with no regard for copyright spread like wildfire. But instead of acknowledging that MP3 technology was revolutionising the music industry, the companies got involved in legal wrangles with new market entrants such as Napster. It took Apple’s introduction of a legal music downloading service to make the big five realise that the dominant industry logic was now wide open

Crash Recorder makes a 30-second record of lateral and longitudinal accelerations and the date and time of the occurrence.

Steve Jobs didn’t invent the iPod all by himself. Tony Fadell, an external IT freelancer, developed the idea of the iPod and iTunes and approached Apple with it. Afterwards, a team of 35 people created the first prototype under Apple’s guidance. The team was made up of employees of Apple, design firm IDEO, Connectix, General Magic, WebTV, and Philips. The consortia of Wolfson, Toshiba, and Texas Instruments took charge of the technical design of the portal player and earned $15 on every iPod sold.

An analysis of some 40,000 patents showed that the technical problems found in various industries could be solved with the use of a limited number of elementary principles.

Salesforce revolutionised its industry’s business model by becoming the first software business to provide a Subscriptionbased service instead of selling licences for a lump sum.

people from outside your branch of industry will be included since long-standing employees often do not see the forest for the trees.

‘Problem solving involves not only the search for alternatives but the search for the problems themselves’.

[Boni Aditya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book disappointed me. I was expecting how to create a business model from scratch. I was expecting to engineer a business model to be exact, but alas, this book does not teach you how to do it. Instead the author leaves the task to our discretion and to a trial and error method of picking and choosing one of the 55 business models or a mix of them according to the requirements. The author put this very succinctly in the part 3 of the book, while they mention the guidelines to implement business model innovation in your company/corporation. The part 1 of the book adds little or no value, while the crux of the book lies in part 2, which contains the 55 business models. Unfortunately you are familiar with all of these business models by now, as you have read about them, seem them in youtube videos or you have been a part of any one of these business models already. The only value addition provided by the authors is to create a table of all these 55 business models, which can be seen at the end of part 2 or part 3, which sums up the book in its entirety. I am not a big fan of such bibles, a bible is a book that contains everything and anything about a particular subject, in a lexicographic fashion, i.e. without any rhyme, reason or order, except that all of them belong to a common theme, there is no other reason for them to be put in that order. I have had bad experiences with bibles, early on in my life, when I read, microsoft word bible and microsoft excel bible. Reference books and Bibles are precisely the wrong way to learn about any new topic, they kill the joy of learning about anything new. This book successfully eliminates any remnant of enthusiasm that you might have left about business models. This book puts in zero effort to engage you, the author had zero users in mind while they were writing this book. A book is written for the reader, not because you want to put in a lot of stuff in alphabetical order from various hbr articles and blog posts. I am not sure how the authors have decided to compile the list of 50+ business models and expect us to learn or derive a pattern from random business models put together. I will have to try to get the design of business models from other books!

[Tri Dung Tran · Rating 4 out of 5]

90 percent of all business model innovations simply recombine existing ideas and concepts from other industries! The Business Model Navigator introduces 55 successful business model patterns, which can serve as blueprints for any business model innovation effort. Additional tools are available at: www.bmi-lab.ch

A business model provides a holistic picture of how a company creates and captures value by defining the Who, the What, the How, and the Why of a business. Innovating a business model means changing at least two of those dimensions.

One of the key challenges of business model innovation is to overcome the dominant firm and industry logic.

The Business Model Navigator helps you to successfully structure the path towards an innovative business model and guides you through the process.

Recombination and creative imitation of 55 business model patterns are powerful tool to break out of the box and generate ideas for new business models.

Change management is a key success factor in any business model innovation project – identifying barriers and enablers is crucial for implementing a business model innovation.

https://vebimo.wordpress.com/2020/02/...

[YOGESWARAN S.P.MUNIANDI · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe the book is like a is a compass that guides you through the turbulent waters of modern entrepreneurship. This book is a treasure trove of insights, a road map, and an inspiration all rolled into one.

In this exciting guide, the author leads us through the labyrinth of business models that may revolutionise and reinvigorate our organisations. The breadth and depth of this book's exploration of its 55 models is quite remarkable. From time-tested classics to cutting-edge innovations, all are presented with crystal clarity and illustrated with relevant real-world instances.

This book has excellent content organisation. The business models are categorised according to user requirements, allowing for the improvement of already established models in order to test out new income opportunities or be ready for a change.

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just embarking on your business journey, "The Business Model Navigator" is a user-friendly companion. It speaks to you in a language that anyone can understand, without compromising on the richness of its content.

[Daniela D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a brilliant book. Perhaps a bit long on the revising, ideating and implementing of the business model (and including too many things a manager reading this book would already know from experience of running products in their own organization), but otherwise insightful. I disagree with some of the 60 business models, like the luxury and target the poor ones: they seem to be too broad and not really providing a very specific and useful way to think about business models imho, and feel like the authors were scraping for more types/labels. The variety of examples of companies implementing the different models is quite impressive, and it's absolutely worth reading the book if you are looking for inspiration.

[Jamila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly readable (although sometimes repetitive) overview of different business models. The first few chapters were tougher to get through when reading casually, but would likely be a helpful guide when trying to come up with new business models. Clear explanations and examples of each of the 55 business models were illuminating. The tips for implementation/managing business model innovation were quite valuable too.

[Esteban · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting content of this book is the compendium of 55 business model patterns. Other than that the books is simply a summary of other more successful and better known frameworks for innovation like Lean Startup or Customer Development.

I'd say it is a nice introductory book to these topics but it is far from comprehensive or deep. I'd say it would be a better investment to buy the deck of cards that the book also promotes if one wants access to the 55 business model patterns.

[Alistair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good questions to pose if you are considering a particular business model, but don't waste your time reading it cover-to-cover. The advice is "Use Design Thinking" to implement it. And some general gripping about working as a business consultant. The examples are largely German focused. Best for companies that already have solid revenue rather than starting out, though maybe its helpful to see where you fit in the spectrum.

[Mohamed Yehia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visualisation becomes key in the business world today. The idea of the book is to collect the visual aids of management and configure them in a coherent matter, with a brief description of each one.

The result was an interesting easy to read book that can be of help for many people. I totally recommend it.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The hardcopy's diagrams have wordings that are too small to be read. Perhaps it was printed from the Kindle version and the hardcopy was just an afterthought.

The fonts aside, the books contains a chapter of instruction of how to use a catalogue of 55 models for readers to form their own strategies.

[Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek is interessant voor de beschrijving van de diverse mogelijke business modellen. Inspirerend, ook al is er teveel overlap en is het onderliggende conceptuele model ambiguë (misschien een vertaalprobleem)

Het stuk voor en na de business modellen is weinig intéressant en vooral gericht op externe consultants.

[Aaron von Conta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cant decide whether the gluing of the book is just really terrible, or if they forgot to glue it at all. Some of the pages just fell out by them getting turned. The content is otherwise quite nice - see the other reviews.

N.B.: Refers to the first edition by Pearson Education Limited. I believe there is a second edition now. Maybe they found the glue again since ...

[Jacek Bartczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Titles such as "business model aggregator" or "business situations navigator" would reflect better content of this book. Some business models presented in the book aren't business models for me.

Descriptions of business models are rather broad than deep. A good introduction to the business world. If you expect business model's tips like in "Getting to plan B" - keep looking elsewhere

[nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good quick read

Most of the models will seem obvious but I am sure you will be surprised to see some that you may not be familiar with.
I felt like some of the models were forcing issues but overall it’s a good read

[Sergey Nikonorov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Почему 5 звезд?
- применимость. даны методики, каждая модель описана. бери и применяй, ищи свой вариант.
- доступность. во время чтения сделал множество заметок с идеями, так как сама подача располагает к размышлению.
- актуальность. чтение совпало с решаемыми задачами.

[Ibrahim]

Good.

Highly recommended, especially for start up young founders.

[Mohamed Osman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic to the point exposition on how businesses make money. Your mind just wonders on all the thing you can do with each business model it shows.

[Moritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book just recently, a massive good read and it brings you up to date, about what moves the economy these days.

[Stanley Ip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book extracts and summaries business models from lots of industries and recommends some interesting ways to have a group discussion with your business development team.

[Nick Sokol · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read if you want to start and run your own businesses.

[Sven Emmrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting approach, not very helpful to me personally