--- name: green-business-model-innovator description: "Evaluates an existing business model through a sustainability lens and generates 6 sustainable business model alternatives across proven archetypes (servitization, circularity, green premium, carbon-linked products, sustainable financing, supply chain differentiation), each mapped to a full business model canvas with revenue logic, emissions impact, and a phased transition path. Use when a company wants to build new revenue from sustainability, respond to decarbonization pressure, or turn ESG commitments into commercially viable business models." argument-hint: "[industry] [current-model]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # Green Business Model Innovator ## Purpose Diagnose where an existing business model creates environmental cost and captured-but-unmonetized sustainability value, then generate 6 sustainable business model alternatives — each mapped to a full business model canvas with revenue logic and a phased transition path — so leadership can turn ESG commitments into commercially defensible growth rather than compliance overhead. ## When to Use Invoke this skill when the user asks to: - Build new revenue streams tied to sustainability or decarbonization - Evaluate whether the current business model is exposed to climate, regulatory, or resource risk - Explore servitization, circular, or product-as-a-service models - Respond to customer or investor pressure to prove ESG has a commercial case - Design green premium, carbon offset, take-back, or sustainable financing offerings - Turn a sustainability strategy into concrete business model options for a board or investment committee ## Inputs Required Before starting, collect: - **Industry/sector**: The market the company operates in - **Current business model**: How the company makes money today — core offering, primary revenue mechanism, main customers - **Value chain position**: Manufacturer / distributor / retailer / service provider / platform / integrated - **Sustainability drivers**: What's forcing this — regulation, customer demand, investor pressure, cost, brand, voluntary commitment - **Existing sustainability assets**: Anything already in place — recycled inputs, take-back schemes, renewable operations, carbon data, certifications - **Strategic constraints**: Capital available, risk appetite, time horizon, non-negotiables (e.g., can't cannibalize core product) - **Target outcome**: New revenue, margin defense, risk reduction, brand differentiation, or compliance readiness If sustainability drivers or constraints are missing, assume moderate regulatory and customer pressure with a 3-year horizon, and state the assumption. ## Instructions ### Step 1: Diagnose the Current Model Through a Sustainability Lens Map the existing business model against the 9 canvas blocks and flag each for sustainability exposure and opportunity: - **Value propositions**: Where is value linear/extractive vs. regenerative? - **Revenue streams**: One-time sale vs. recurring? Does the company make more money the more resources the customer consumes? - **Key resources & activities**: Which are carbon-, water-, or waste-intensive? - **Customer relationships & channels**: Where does the company lose contact with the product post-sale (and lose recovery value)? - **Cost structure**: Which costs are exposed to carbon pricing, resource scarcity, or compliance? Output a short diagnosis naming the **top 3 sustainability liabilities** and the **top 2 unmonetized sustainability assets** in the current model. ### Step 2: Generate 6 Sustainable Business Model Alternatives Generate one option per archetype below. For each, provide a named concept, a one-line thesis, and a compressed business model canvas covering: value proposition, primary customer, revenue mechanism, key change to resources/activities, and cost/margin implication. **Archetype 1 — Servitization / Product-as-a-Service** Shift from selling units to selling outcomes, access, or performance. Revenue becomes recurring; incentives align toward durability and efficiency. - Define what is now sold (outcome/uptime/access) instead of the product - Specify who retains ownership of the asset and what that unlocks (maintenance, resale, reuse) - Name the emissions/waste reduction this structurally creates **Archetype 2 — Circularity / Take-Back & Remanufacture** Close the loop: recover, refurbish, remanufacture, or recycle products to recapture material value. - Define the recovery mechanism (deposit, trade-in, subscription return) - Identify the second revenue stream from recovered material or refurbished units - State the virgin-material or waste reduction **Archetype 3 — Green Premium / Verified Sustainable Line** Create a differentiated offering priced on verified environmental attributes for a willing-to-pay segment. - Define the specific, provable attribute (not vague "eco-friendly") - Identify the certification or measurement that makes the claim defensible - State the price premium logic and the segment that pays it **Archetype 4 — Carbon-Linked Products & Services** Monetize decarbonization directly — offset bundling, carbon-as-a-feature, emissions reduction services, or removal credits. - Define the carbon product (avoided, reduced, or removed emissions) - Specify the verification and additionality logic (avoid greenwashing exposure) - Identify the buyer and the pricing basis **Archetype 5 — Sustainable Financing & Enablement** Reduce the customer's upfront barrier to green adoption through financing, leasing, guarantees, or performance contracts (e.g., energy savings shared). - Define the financial structure that shifts capex to opex or shares savings - Identify who carries the risk and how the company earns from it - State how this expands the addressable market **Archetype 6 — Sustainable Supply Chain Differentiation** Turn a lower-impact, more transparent, or more resilient supply chain into a sold advantage (traceability, Scope 3 reduction-as-a-service, resilience premiums). - Define the supply chain capability being monetized (traceability, verified low-carbon inputs, resilience) - Identify the customer who values it enough to pay or commit - State the competitive moat this creates ### Step 3: Score and Rank the Options Rate each of the 6 options on a 1–5 scale across four dimensions: - **Revenue potential**: Size and durability of the new stream - **Emissions/impact reduction**: Structural, not marginal - **Feasibility**: Fit with current capital, capability, and constraints - **Defensibility**: How hard to copy Present as a comparison table with a total score and a one-line "best-fit" note per option. ### Step 4: Recommend and Sequence Select the strongest 1–2 options given the stated constraints. For the top recommendation, provide a **phased transition path**: - **Phase 1 (0–6 months)**: Pilot scope, one segment, what to prove - **Phase 2 (6–18 months)**: Scale conditions, capability builds, partnerships - **Phase 3 (18+ months)**: Full-model integration and how the core model evolves alongside it - Name the **primary risk** and the **kill criterion** for the pilot ## Output Format - **Structure**: Current-model diagnosis → 6 archetype options (canvas per option) → scoring table → recommendation with phased path - **Length**: 1,100–1,500 words - **Format**: Structured document with compressed canvases as labeled bullets, plus one comparison table - **Sections**: Sustainability Diagnosis → 6 Business Model Alternatives → Scoring & Ranking Table → Recommendation & Transition Path - **Tone**: Strategy advisor to an executive committee — commercially rigorous, decision-ready, skeptical of greenwashing and unsupported willingness-to-pay claims ## Quality Checklist Before delivering output, verify: - [ ] Diagnosis names the top 3 liabilities and top 2 unmonetized assets specifically — not generic ESG statements - [ ] All 6 archetype options are present, each with a full compressed canvas (value prop, customer, revenue mechanism, resource/activity change, margin implication) - [ ] Every option specifies a concrete revenue mechanism — not just "customers will value sustainability" - [ ] Carbon-linked and green premium options include a defensibility/verification note to avoid greenwashing exposure - [ ] The scoring table rates all 6 options across all 4 dimensions with numeric totals - [ ] The recommendation includes a 3-phase path with a named kill criterion for the pilot ## Notes - Servitization and circular models tend to score highest on structural impact because they change the revenue incentive itself — the company profits from using less, not selling more. - Green premium models often fail on willingness-to-pay; pressure-test the segment and require a defensible, measurable attribute before recommending. - The strongest recommendations usually run the new model alongside the core model at first rather than replacing it — sequence for proof, not for purity. - If the company has strong existing carbon data or take-back infrastructure, weight feasibility toward the archetype that reuses those assets. --- ## How to use this skill This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills) Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register. **Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:** 1. 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