From “maintain” to “regenerate”
As a planet and a society, we have reached a point today where it is no longer sufficient in some places to preserve what already exists. In areas such as energy, heating, nutrition, building materials, transportation and many more, we now need approaches that create or restore new, good things and can be rolled out quickly across the board. The drivers for this are becoming increasingly powerful, from louder customer needs, to increasing regulation and incentivization, to lack of resources in key industries.
For companies, this results in three scenarios:
Scenario 1: Do nothing and lose competitiveness sooner or later.
Scenario 2: Implement must-haves, such as regulation, in a minimal way to avoid negative effects, but do not seize new business opportunities.
Scenario 3: Understand changing market conditions as a new game with new cards and seize the opportunities for sustainable growth and increased competitiveness.
The latter scenario is not only relevant for directly affected companies, such as energy suppliers or the automotive industry. Sustainable business models are exciting for almost all companies. Banks can expand their value creation from pure photovoltaic financing to solution providers, installers can become academies against the shortage of skilled workers and energy suppliers can become digital consultants for energy refurbishment. Manufacturing industries can build units to reuse products and recyclables and create a lucrative supply of used parts.
The key is to accurately assess the implications of the drivers on one’s own business and build solutions that are as close as possible to one’s own core value creation and thus to customer solutions. After all, the company’s own customers are the greatest multipliers for real impact. Regenerative business models can resolve the trade-off between sustainability and profitability.
The rate of solar PV expansion must triple from 7GW in 2022 to 22GW in 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
More than 15 million apartments and one- or two-family homes need to be energy retrofitted by 2033.
Global investments in green tech have quadrupled over the past decade. Investments almost doubled from 2021 to 2022 alone.
Sustainable business models through new technologies
The TwinTransformation demands two transformations from companies at the same time. The digital transformation and the sustainability transformation. This also creates new opportunities.
Circular platforms
We are already familiar with second-hand markets such as eBay and Vintage from the B2C sector. These are also becoming increasingly relevant in the B2B context. By intelligently linking manufacturers, recyclers and consumers on platforms, life cycles of products and recyclables can be significantly extended.
Target group “Glamour Greens”
Transparency about product and manufacturing process, a high-quality and digital customer approach, transparent supply chains and a credible vision. These are all starting points that can be used to tap into new target groups with purchasing power and an awareness of sustainability.
Vertical integration
Many companies have capabilities and customer access that are now needed for the big challenges, such as the energy and heating transition. Energy providers can build a business to provide digital advice for municipal heat planning, and housing associations or transportation companies can become providers of charging infrastructure.
ESG software
In the coming years, more and more ESG requirements will become legally binding. The implementation and proof of compliance and reporting can be greatly simplified and automated through the use of software.
Before joining DevelopX in 2021, Armin spent more than 10 years as a manager/principal at the top strategy consultancies Bain & Company and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advising corporations, mid-sized companies and private equity funds on strategic issues and the operational implementation of measures. Armin also looks back on more than five years as Managing Director at Germany’s largest comparison portal CHECK24, where he successfully managed and scaled the property insurance division as well as the insurance center.
Armin holds a PhD from LMU Munich in Capital Markets Research, a Master of Business Research, a Diploma in Business Administration from LMU Munich and a degree from the startup and entrepreneurship school CDTM (Center for Digital Technology and Management) from LMU and TU Munich.
At DevelopX, Armin focuses on optimizing customer-related processes and digital customer journeys. He focuses on the Insurance & InsurTech and Banking & Fintech industries.