(Originally published on Balance3.com.au; last updated September 2024)

See a discussion of this key regenerative business principle here, or listen to the podcast summary here.

Stories of value through product as a service

We don’t buy CDs and DVDS much any more – we stream music and videos instead. Think about all the CDs and DVDs not being made or scratched or scrapped – and the variety of record, DVD and cassette players we no longer use.

AirBNB delivers accommodation WITHOUT owning a single hotel bed.

Examples of product as a service

Car sharing exists in multiple forms. In my home town Melbourne (Aus) I have choices from by-the-hour hire cars like GoGet to community shared car arrangements like CarNextDoor.

Office furniture is now being delivered as a service – FaaS from Ahrend.

Melbourne’s BlueIOT delivers building efficiency as a service.

And businesses can buy renewable energy as a service using a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) instead of going through a technical, expensive process to buy and install solar panels and batteries.

Cooling as a service is developing in all sorts of ways. Cooling covers everything from building air conditioning to commercial freezers. It’s really worth exploring – because that means as equipment ages, you’re not left with ageing plant and equipment.

Sources and design thinking for PaaS

The 1999 best seller Natural Capitalism is free to download by chapter – and Chapter 7 Muda, Service, and Flow is a good introduction.

My manufacturing background is probably showing, but the classic book Lean Solutions by Womack and Jones is a detailed handbook on finding and maximising value. In particular read their discussion of mobility as a service in Chapter 10 Solve My Complete Problem Permanently.

Business innovation strategies based on value and service are increasingly mainstream, with a variety of models and tools on offer, including:

• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Business Model Canvas
• The Lean Startup
• The Performance Economy

Resources and tools for exploring PaaS

The resources now available in the Circular Design Guide – from a collaboration between IDEO and The Ellen Macarthur Foundation include:

• The Service Flip
• Product Redesign Workshop

There are multiple Product as a Service resources from the Circular Economy Toolkit.

Here’s one useful set of guidelines from the international Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program.
https://www.k-cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cooling-as-a-service-Knowledge-brief-6.7.2018_Final_online_v1.pdf

Want a starting point to explore for your best opportunities?

I’ve built a FREE introductory email course that you can subscribe to called The Think Act Regenerate INSIGHTS.