Mywarm - Austria
An Austrian company offering the hydraulic adjustment of heating systems in an automated way. Download the Austria country report with...
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Typologies
Which approach is fit for you?
For many entrepreneurs, the energy transition is a business opportunity. If you are one of them, or if you are thinking about becoming one of them, take some time to reflect on your proposition.
If you are a public principal, facilitating or regulating the energy transition in your country or municipality, you should also reflect on your contribution?
Who are your (potential) users and what value does your offer bring to your users? Who do you collaborate with, and what is your choice of partners based on? Can you improve your business model, to make it more resilient to the dynamics of the market? Can you maybe even improve your own skills?
We have identified four different typologies. They describe the extent to which they are fit to serve the transition. The pushing harder types, the reframing / matching types and the servicing types.
* Of course these profiles are a strong simplification of reality. The purpose of these descriptions is to clarify the patterns and show the opportunities to improve.
Pushing harder
The Pusher very often has a technological background and offers a -more or less- high tech value proposition. Don’t underestimate their indisputable expertise, that would be a real mistake. Pushers have trouble understanding some of their partners aren’t as interested in specs like they are.
Background | specialists like legal, technical.
Thinking in services
The pusher doesn’t think in services. The value proposition is described in specs and features. The customer value journey is not in place. The user isn’t supported during the orientation – or the use phase. The focus is the transaction (output).
Service capabilities
Sensing: 3
Conceptualising: 2
Orchestrating:
Scaling: 1
Context / system
Primarily collaboration and network activities in value chain. No efforts in cross boundary collaboration. Might be a leader in technical issues which should not be overlooked. Due to underdeveloped sensing and conceptualization skills high chances of paradigm conflicts.
Challenge
Start with consumer research.
Business model
The main focus of the business is to increase the sales and minimize the costs. If market uptake is too slow, marketing and sales effort is increased (pushing harder). The choice of partners is based on the traditional value chain.
Cases
Pushing
Smart matcher
Sometimes matchers start their business with a technological push proposition, but when setbacks in scaling their propositions are experienced, they are wiling to adjust their proposition. This leads them to reframe their proposition- using the words that resonate with their users, or even further, becoming a problem solver instead of a seller. The value proposition then is the result an interaction with the user, designing various touchpoints as well as becoming aware of serving a diverse group of users, with a variety of needs.
Service capabilities
Sensing: 8
Conceptualising: 7
Orchestrating: 6
Scaling: 6
Context / system
Entrepreneurs of this type deal with complexity until they encounter their own market boundaries. They tend to engage with partners who can improve their offer, but avoid partnerships that require adjustments in their solutions to deal with context problems. Not likely to take leadership in larger projects. In fact, they expect and need others to take the lead.
Challenge
Lower or remove the barriers that hinder scaling, like new partnerships and development of new innovations.
Business model
The main focus of the business is to increase the sales and minimize the costs. If market uptake is too slow, marketing and sales effort is increased (pushing harder). The choice of partners is based on the traditional value chain.
Cases
Matching
Thinking in services
Key characteristics of this type is to match the orientation-buying process of the users, and very often ends with the transaction.
Serving
Serving the system
These servicing types are the frontrunners in the energy transition market. Their value proposition very often is designed around, or even with the users.
Service capabilities
Sensing: 8
Conceptualising: 7
Orchestrating: 6
Scaling: 6
Context / system
Entrepreneurs of this type are very much aware of the collaboration problems they encounter. They might even put them on the agenda of their local network. However, they don’t think of themselves as frontrunners in the transition agenda. Even more, when they experience setbacks due to their innovative or radical transformative ideas, they will to go back to business as usual, applying a more traditional approach. They lack time, influence, vision and networking skills to do persevere their innovative course.
Challenge
These servicing types are important to engage in transition programs. They could benefit from new partnership or engaging in multidisciplinary teams. These types can be an inspiration to their collaboration partner in programs, supporting them to become more fit to serve.
Business model
The viability of the businessmodel rests on maximising value for the end user, serving the uses to achieve their desired outcomes. The value is stated in outcomes and experience. The focus is to establish and maintain a valuable relation with the user, which implies that activities are aimed to realise this focus. The choice of partners is directed by the customer value journey.
Cases
Thinking in services
This value proposition is serving the end user throughout the complete user journey, starting even before the first orientation steps. The provider establishes a long term relation with the user, offering value and inspiring the user with new innovative value during the use phase.
Changing the system
These are the real pioneers. They show many similarities with the servicing types, but they differ when it comes to their abilities to change or define the system for broader benefits then just their own. These entrepreneurs are capable of delivering business models and services that do contribute to the energy transition. What characterizes these entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial teams (some of these are consortia or energy communities) is first of all that they have a business model that supports their ‘transition supporting’ energy service.
Service capabilities
Sensing: 9
Conceptualising: 9
Orchestrating: 9
Scaling: 9
Transition skills / agency
These savvy entrepreneurs demonstrate a very distinct set of additional capabilities which help them dealing with the system pitfalls other entrepreneurs experience as unsurmountable.
Resources: Intellectual, economical and authoritative resources
Discourses: The ability to create narratives that align various beliefs,, interests, expectations and vision.
Social position: Informal, organisational, institutional
Context / system
Due to their well developed skills this type is a frontrunner in transformative work. They take leadership, even though some of them would rather see someone else taking up this task. They’re comfortable engaging in open ended pilots, even more they initiate new pilots. They act as boundary spanners, establishing new, cross boundary partnerships that might lead to new innovations. A setback is welcomed as a learning experience, although they feel that too large an part of the risk rests on their shoulders.
Challenge
Most institutional entrepreneurs organise the support they need themselves. It is important to identify them, not to loose sight of them, and log their lessons as much as possible.
Transition Business model
These entrepreneurs go beyond creating a service supporting business model, they create a transition supporting business model to deliver a transformative innovation as a service. Viability of the BM rests on maximising value for the end-user as well as other system actors, such as grid operators, policymakers, society at large, the planet, future generations of end-users.. User centeredness is aligned with system (societal/ or transition) centeredness.
Cases
Thinking in... transitions
These are the real pioneers. They show many similarities with the servicing types, but they differ when it comes to their abilities to change or define the system for broader benefits then just their own. These entrepreneurs are capable of delivering business models and services that do contribute to the energy transition. What characterizes these entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial teams (some of these are consortia or energy communities) is first of all that they have a business model that supports their ‘transition supporting’ energy service.
Changng
System
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