Innovation Sprints & Business Model Design
Short, fixed-length sprints that turn a vague idea into something testable, and a business model you can check the arithmetic on before committing.
Overview
New ideas usually die of vagueness. They stay a slide for a year because nobody can say exactly what would have to be true for them to work, so nobody can test them.
A sprint forces the question. Two to five weeks, fixed scope, ending with something a real customer can react to and an explicit list of the assumptions the idea depends on, ranked by how badly a wrong answer would hurt.
Who this is for
- Teams with an idea that has been discussed for months without moving
- Companies exploring a new revenue line alongside the existing business
- Leadership choosing between several opportunities with no basis to compare them
How we approach innovation sprints & business model design
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Assumption mapping
What has to be true for this to work, ranked by risk. The riskiest assumption is what the sprint should test, not the easiest.
Business model design
Who pays, how much, how often, and what it costs to serve. Written as arithmetic you can argue with rather than a narrative.
Rapid prototyping
Something concrete enough for a customer to react to. A landing page, a clickable flow or a manual service behind a form, depending on the question.
Customer testing
Real conversations with people in the target segment. Reactions to something specific beat opinions about something hypothetical.
Viability check
Unit economics at plausible scale, including the cost to serve. Ideas that only work at implausible volume are worth knowing about early.
Go or stop recommendation
A clear position with the reasoning, including what would change our mind. Stop is a legitimate and cheap outcome.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Frame
Agree the question the sprint answers and what evidence would settle it. Half the value of a sprint is in this step.
Build
Prototype the smallest thing that produces a real reaction. Days, not months, and deliberately disposable.
Test
Put it in front of the target segment and record what they do as well as what they say. The two often differ.
Decide
Findings, business model arithmetic and a recommendation, with the assumptions that remain untested clearly flagged.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
Months of debate, ended
A fixed timebox and a real prototype settle arguments that circulating documents never will.
Cheap failure
Finding out in five weeks that an idea does not work is a good outcome, and vastly cheaper than the alternative.
Comparable options
Several ideas run through the same process can actually be compared, which a pile of business cases cannot.
A team that can repeat it
Your people take part throughout, so the method stays after we leave.
Common questions about Innovation Sprints & Business Model Design
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
How long is a sprint?
Two weeks for a focused question, up to five when a working prototype and a business model are both needed. Longer than that and it stops being a sprint.
How much of our team's time does it need?
A core group of three or four people for roughly half their week, plus a decision maker available at the start and the end. Sprints fail when the decision maker is absent.
What if the answer is that the idea does not work?
That is a successful sprint. It cost weeks instead of a year, and the assumption map usually points at a nearby variant worth testing next.
Do you build the product afterwards?
If it goes ahead, we can. The prototype is deliberately throwaway, so a build is a separate piece of work with its own scope.
Thinking about Innovation Sprints & Business Model Design?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
Innovation Sprints & Business Model Design usually sits alongside other work in Strategy & Consulting. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.