Leading by Example: Value Proposition, Income Stream and Customer Iteration

In Leading by Example I offered my first ideas on how and why I was planning to generate stable income from this work.  This was the table to summarize how I would do it. Note that by “Cells” I mean, individuals, remember that I’m thinking on how we would work if we were cells of the earth.

Goal timeframe	Income goals per year		Income goals per month		Cells required if contributing
	20% per year. Personal	100% py. Platform	20%per month. Personal	100% pm. Platform	$100	$150	$200
Jun-12	$    30,000.00	$   150,000.00	$          2,500.00	$  12,500.00	125	$          83.33	62.5
Dec-12	$    60,000.00	$   300,000.00	$          5,000.00	$  25,000.00	250	$       166.67	125
Jun-13	$    90,000.00	$   450,000.00	$          7,500.00	$  37,500.00	375	$       250.00	187.5
Dec-13	$  120,000.00	$   600,000.00	$        10,000.00	$  50,000.00	500	$       333.33	250

In this table I had established that everybody would pay AUD$100 to participate. 80% of financial contributions to support the community and %20 towards my personal income. By then, “everybody” was composed of entrepreneurs on one side, and those looking for meaningful work on the other. After a very interesting talk to my friends Vinko and Colette Grgic from Arribaa, they made me realize that if those looking for meaningful workers were to put all their energy and participate actively in the platform to help entrepreneurs to make their dreams real, charging them AUD$100 a month didn’t seem too fair, nor inviting for them. Yes they would learn lots, but they were also putting a lot of effort. They also introduced a new factor that I had been rather reluctant to consider: Investing. The argument was that, if the platform allows entrepreneurs to develop their idea, by the time they are ready to implement, they should know how much official currency they would need in order to proceed with this stage. Therefore, it would be great, if entrepreneurs had access within the same community, to potential financial investors.

With this feedback, the “Cells ofthe Earth” business model changed almost completely. Here it is, the expression of that change. You will also see this feedback applied in the Canvas soon.

Business Model Iteration 1

With this change, a few concepts I was working with were transformed too. One consideration is that I am not aiming at AUD$120k per year by 2013 anymore, and another one is that I will make myself and my role subject to being replaced in the organization. Maybe the latter was obvious for some, but I didn't have that idea in my mind. I am not sure how often entrepreneurs put themselves in the "you can fire me from my own enterprise if needed" kind of position. The reason behind this idea is that whatever the income I will be getting from this enterprise everyone should have the opportunity to be there plus, I can't pretend that my ideas and work will be relevant forever. 

Therefore, I don't see the income as a personal earning anymore, but as an organizational one. Whoever is in whatever the position I am/will be, let's say leading position, is making personal use of that money so that the organization runs smoothly thanks to his/her work, as opposed to seeing it as personal income because "I've worked so hard on this!!". It's like if the organization is telling me "Look, here...we have budgeted AUD$60k per year to cover your basic+ needs, so that you can invest yourself in this project completely without worrying about money...we need you to deliver, we are taking away the "How will I pay the bills" worry from you. You still can create more income on top of that through your work if you want to, but we cover the basic+ needs, which we hope will allow you to enjoy life without financial pressures". As opposed to "here, I need you to do this and that, and I will pay you X to do it". It seems to be the same but to my brain it makes a big difference. This income would be a liberating tool and investment from the organization, rather than a reward...oh, and yes, the new financial goal is AUD$60k a year because I'm not including my husband at this stage anymore. I have other plans now with him...soon to comment on that too. 

Thoughts are more than welcome