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A good business is always based on a good concept. We shape a concept into a plan and then realize that plan through execution. Out of the three: concept, plan, and execution, which one do you think a common business model framework is intended for? Most likely, it is a plan since a business model by definition is a kind of plan where the core business components are chosen and then organized. However, to make a business successful, all three domains must be in harmony:

• a good business concept
• a plan to shape a concept
• an execution to realize a plan

A business plan only shapes an existing concept, it does not beautify an unattractive concept nor does it improve a lousy execution capability. As an example, let’s compare a good business concept to a gemstone. The actual gemstone is the business concept, the jewelry design is the business plan, and the craftsmanship of the gemstone is the business execution.

Design disciplines of Business Model Zen

Although the main goal of Business Model Zen was to integrate the three basic principles to make a successful business, what makes this model truly unique is its fundamental concept. Let’s take a closer look at what that is.

Concept Stage

- Take a customer-centric approach to business
- Take the Customer–Problem–Solution–Market perspective
 

A concept begins with customers at the heart of a business. Putting yourself into their shoes and their glasses, not yours as a provider, may allow you to snatch it. No wonder, customer observation gains growing focus in marketing simply because customers' feedback potential needs, when discovered, mean clear success in differentiation.
Product augmentation, which is provider-centric, does not help to drive success like it used to. A customer-centric view is not always a success magnet for a business either. It usually requires ideation to be articulated into the shape of a Customer-Problem-Solution-Market. Such an approach has a clear advantage: It makes it easier to modify things as you go along with the business. This framework of the Customer-Problem-Solution-Market is probably the most important foundation for Business Model Zen.

Plan Stage

- Simplify it into a single page
- Assess the strategic components
 

It takes no more than a single page, not a full-blown business plan, to write out one’s core business strategy and plan(s). Companies recently point out that bulky reports often impact the business efficiency and the time to market. Some of them allow one page or oral report only. Business model canvas variants also help to simplify the core business components into a single page.
Also important is to sustain a strategic focus within simplicity. Shaping a concept into a plan alone can hardly achieve the goal of planning. It also requires the measures to review and diagnose the process, from a strategic point of view, so concepts have due feedback.

Execution Stage

- Measure the gap between a business concept and its reality
- Establish a loop learning mechanism
 

We need an effective framework that can help feedback to the concept and plans the knowledge that is acquired during the business executions, e.g. the gap between a concept and its reality, its root cause, etc. No concept is born to be a success. No plan can be made perfect either. Only execution may prove concepts and complement plans through practices. Accordingly, an ‘execution study book’ comes as important as a business plan. (But we all know that no company carries such a handbook.)
Business Model Zen also plays the role of the execution study book. Business execution should be fed back to the original concept and plan so that a loop execution mechanism of correcting the concept and revising the business plan is made complete.

Ending (Business Success) Stage

- Eliminate the gap between market and solution
- Secure the integrity among concept, plan, and execution
 

Succeeding in business does not mean achieving the financial targets given in a business plan. These numbers must employ inaccurate assumptions thus make no valid metric to measure success in most cases. In fact, the success of a business lies where the gap between a real market and a company’s solution disappears. It also means migrating from early adopters to an early majority market.
In a majority market, concept, plan, and execution should be perfectly harmonized with due integrity. A loop learning mechanism as well should run on the wheel without a hitch.A market exists where a concept to solve customers’ important problems is correct. There come along profits too. This is how you measure the success of a business, where profits are only a byproduct. On the contrary, profit alone cannot be viewed as a success, for a profitable business that lacks due integrity fails to enter a majority market and is vulnerable to a crisis at any time.