231 The combination of Blue Ocean Strategy tools and the Business Model Canvas provide a solid foundation upon which to question your business model from value creation, customer, and Cost Structure perspectives. We propose that three different perspec- tives—the Customer Segment perspective, the Value Proposition perspective, and the cost perspective—provide ideal starting points from which to start questioning your business model using the Four Actions Framework. Changes to each starting point then allow you to analyze impacts on other areas of the Business Model Canvas (see also innovation epicenters on p. 138). Identify the highest cost infrastructure elements and evaluate what happens if you eliminate or reduce them. What value elements disappear, and what would you have to create to compensate for their absence? Then, identify infrastructure investments you may want to make and analyze how much value they create. • Which activities, resources, and partnerships have the highest costs? • What happens if you reduce or eliminate some of these cost factors? • How could you replace, using less costly elements, the value lost by reducing or eliminating expensive resources, activities, or partnerships? • What value would be created by planned new investments? Begin the process of transforming your Value Proposition by asking the Four Actions Framework questions. Simultaneously, consider the impact on the cost side and evaluate what elements you need to (or could) change on the value side, such as Channels, Relation- ships, Revenue Streams, and Customer Segments. • What less-valued features or services could be eliminated or reduced? • What features or services could be enhanced or newly created to produce a valuable new customer experience? • What are the cost implications of your changes to the Value Proposition? • How will changes to the Value Proposition affect the customer side of the model? Ask yourself the Four Actions Framework questions about each business model Building Block on the customer side of the Canvas: Channels, Relationships, and Revenue Streams. Analyze what happens to the cost side if you eliminate, reduce, raise, or create value side elements. • Which new Customer Segments could you focus on, and which segments could you possibly reduce or eliminate? • What jobs do new Customer Segments really want to have done? • How do these customers prefer to be reached and what kind of relationship do they expect? • What are the cost implications of serving new Customer Segments? value-side cost-side cost-side Cost Impact Exploration Exploring Value Proposition Impact Exploring Customer Impact ? ?? ? eliminate reduce raise create eliminate reduce raise create eliminate reduce raise create questioning your canvas with the four actions framework bmgen_final.indd 231 6/15/10 5:45 PM