Fine-tuning the business model to put relationships first
Improving key elements of the business model to strengthening the value proposition while bringing the right people through the door.
Challenge
The team of design strategist, from the Design MBA at the California College of the Arts, presented a proposal to assess and collaboratively iterate HUB Oakland' business model. We used design thinking and lean methodologies to evaluate how the HUB creates, delivers and capture value through their business model.
Client
HUB Oakland is a community of change-makers. It is an Innovative business incubator, and co-working space aimed to facilitate community development through social entrepreneurship and collaboration. HUB Oakland is part of a growing network of more than 50 Hubs across the globe offering the space, the community, and the global platform to support social innovators.
The company cultivates, supports and connect purpose-driven individuals as they pioneer solutions for a sustainable and equitable world.
Process
In dozens of interviews with current HUB Bay Area customers, potential HUB Oakland customers, and HUB administrators in both Oakland and San Francisco, we discovered a core insight that drove the work our team conducted with HUB Oakland:
The HUB financial model is centered on capturing value from the space; yet HUB customers see high value on the access to the community, their support, and the knowledge the HUB provides; not the co-working space per se.
After mapping the current business model, our team presented alternative adjustments to the business model based on insights gained from primary research with stakeholders and during business strategy sessions with HUB Oakland' founding team.
Value
Establishing a strong understanding of the promise (value proposition), creating a solid relationship with customers, setting clear expectations, ritualizing cultural practices with potential and existing customers, and defining focused product offerings to targeted customer segments will ensure HUB Oakland creates the type of community their business model needs. Their customers are key to the value propositions, and therefore, they will create value for other clients and enable creative revenue generating opportunities independent of the constraints of physical space.
Outcome
Business model report - including recommendations and opportunities to create greater value for HUB Oakland's customers.
/// Contact me if you are interested in obtaining additional information or viewing materials developed for this project.
Consulting DMBA Team:
Isaac Buwembo, Graham Gardner, M. Paula Navia, Mariana Quiroga and Robin Waldroup.