Business ecosystem is an important concept in strategy.

Why?

That’s because being part of an ecosystem encourages both innovation and growth.

(1) It helps create new value propositions;
(2) It’s a springboard for reaching more customers.

In this article, you’ll learn how you can implement the concept of ecosystem into your business model.

What’s a business ecosystem?

Let me first explain what business ecosystem means.

Business ecosystem is the idea that a business—like any animal—is part of a broader system.

James F. Moore coined the term “business ecosystem” in an HBR article, Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition.

Since 2008, an increasing number of technology ventures have been revolutionising the financial industry.

This is what I called in 2013 the “FinTech Revolution”.

In this article, I focus on the reasons for this revolution from a strategy and innovation perspective.

I also listed some of the best FinTech ideas. These are great examples of disruptive ideas that have now become significant providers of financial services.

A Change of Paradigm

The internet has allowed an innovative jump to occur in many industries. Customers have now an easy, very affordable access to books (e.g. Amazon), furniture (Made.com), TV (Netflix), education (Coursera.org), media (YouTube)…

Social network. Marketplace. SaaS. These buzzwords are no longer synonyms of massive business opportunities.

The gold rush has already happened.

But a new business model has emerged.

Market-networks are hybrid animals: part social network, part marketplace, part SaaS. [1]

• It’s a social network. Professionals use profile pages to showcase their work and demonstrate their credibility. They also connect with each other and build relationships.
• It’s a marketplace. Professionals come online together to find other parties with whom they can do business.
• It’s a SaaS tool. Professionals use the tools on the top of the marketplace to negotiate, do the job, or manage the paperwork.