Business Concepts

The module The Product is a combined module. The 2 parts deal with concept development and business concept.

Concept development

Good ideas do not just fall out of the sky.

They are a logical convergence of various aspects, such as trends and developments, but also (deep) insight into people, and of course of looking and thinking differently. So how do you do it?

Even a very good idea, seemingly seamlessly following trends and developments and meeting people’s needs or solving a problem, is not guaranteed to be successful. So before you put all your time, money and energy into creating and launching a new product or service, it is wise to validate it; to test whether it is indeed as good and wanted by the target audience as you think. By doing so, you can gain valuable insights and refine your idea/concept, thus increasing its chances of success.

In this first part of the module, you will be challenged to gather insights and challenge assumptions so that you can generate unique and promising ideas with an open mind. Now, and in the future.

Opportunities in the market are used to devise and develop new concepts. These opportunities are the starting point of this module. You are going to translate those opportunities, through a variety of creative techniques, into innovative concepts.

You are going to start thinking about the value you want to create, in what way. You are going to look at what value is, what types of values there are and how you can influence and combine them.

You are going to study target groups (and their wants and needs) in different ways and work with different techniques to put yourself in a creative mindset and more easily generate ideas for innovative concepts. Then you will validate your preliminary concepts: establish whether there is a need for it, whether it is feasible and whether it ‘makes sense’.

Business concept

In concept development, you are looking for new insights with which to create value for the customer. But, of course, you also want to create value for yourself or your employer. What does it deliver? And a great concept doesn’t sell itself. Or does it?

To make your concept pay off, you have to start thinking and acting business-like. You have to market your concept: where, with which message, through which channels, with which means? And how are you going to earn from the concept, what should your concept cost? In other words, you need a business model, and a revenue model.

And what about your potential competitors. They’re not sitting still either. So you will also need to understand which parties are fishing in the same pond. And how will you distinguish yourself from these competitors?

Another theme that companies cannot ignore is sustainable business. What does this entail? Creating social impact, ecological/environmental entrepreneurship, ethical entrepreneurship … these are some sub-topics that belong to this theme. And who are you doing this for?

You will delve into business models; what elements do they consist of, how do you ensure coherence between the elements? Because we want to keep thinking ‘out-of-the-box’ (creating a business model is also a creative process), we are going to analyze business models of both ‘ordinary’ successful companies and successful and less successful companies.You will delve into what it means when we say a business is ‘profitable’ and into how to ensure

that a business is profitable and stays profitable.That has to do with costs and revenues, of course, but also with operations, long-term thinking and scalability.

You are going to look at how you can give sustainability a place in your business model.
Then, armed with your knowledge about business models and profitability, you will start working with revenue models.What types of earning models are there?How can you think out-of-the-box with regard to a revenue model?

Duration
20 weeks

Start date
January 29, 2025

End date
June 10, 2025

Lesson times
1 evening per week (Wednesdays), online via Teams

Investment
€ 1,700 (excluding any books)

Sign up
Would you like more information or to register please send an email to academy@vvcs.nl