Myth – creating a business model is simple. Fill out an “expert-defined” business category using standard business model definitions. Problem solved.

Reality – business models are too complex to solve as just a set of categories and, even the brightest business minds can’t consider the interplay involved.

What L4 Frameworks Do

L4 Frameworks help people take a fresh look at their business and build a new business model using a Workbook. The Workbook and resources show you how to create business models using a 4-part Framework methodology.

For a Business Model, you need a structured process to understand the effect that two or more things have on each other. This needs to be at the front of analysis rather than subconscious examination.

A management model is not a process; it is a system. The best model to change is a model built for changeability in the first place – for us, that means a framework. New business environments are highly volatile; therefore, any base model must be highly adaptable to this volatility. A new model is not responding to an old model; it responds to a new environment. Therefore, the general business goal of any change of model is to do something differently. The issue is how a model fits its current or planned business objectives – it must first meet the current goals, have an appropriate current model, and then create a new view. Frameworks are designed to be a system of proper structures that can change from defining what is to what should and can be as the business changes.

The Workbook allows you to build those structures. Four levels of model frameworks with four stages to obtain business solutions. However, each of the four levels builds on the knowledge from the previous level. Each level of the Framework provides sufficient to create a business model appropriate for increasing levels of business sophistication.

Click here for sample pages, a copy of the first Chapter – Level 1 Normative Frameworks or a copy of the complete Level 4 Frameworks Workbook.

Level 1 – Normative

Understand the real business the business is in.

For many, Level 1 Normative Frameworks using normative rules will be sufficient to sort through ideas without the constriction of trying to make sense of existing organizational charts or process flow charts. Level 1 tried and true “rules” work for many businesses. Use them to get started. The “rules” associated with business questions and their answers allow you to build (with the aid of the structural Framework) an initial business model. The most common use of a Normative Framework is developing a realistic version of an existing business.

Level 2 – Logical

A basis for deciding the efficiency of your business.

Logical Frameworks say that there may not be” rules” to employ, but there are inferences that you can make if you follow the steps of the method for the Framework. Logic rests on assumptions that may not correspond to anything in the real world, but they are a reasonable way of thinking about or understanding something. Logic is the systematic study of valid inference. Whereas in the previous section on Normative Frameworks, we show how the “rules” built up over time define what is going on in a business, Logical Frameworks rely on valid inference.

Level 3 – Rational

Stay effective.

Level 3 Rational Frameworks and logical frameworks have quite separate roles. The fundamental challenge to management is not to stay the same; instead, it is to remain effective – which means being able to change when circumstances have changed. Strategy and innovation are fundamentally rational, not logical. Level 3 (Rational) is when we look for “white space,” which means “a place where a company might have room to maneuver in a crowded playing field” or where there’s no competition. Perhaps an entirely new market or gaps in existing markets or product lines.

Level 4 – Intelligent

Different contexts, different contents.

In the last stage of Frameworks, we talk about semantic relations between concepts in a network (in our case, a network comprised of frameworks). Level 4 Intelligent Frameworks are about strategic change, which can be revolutionary or evolutionary — choosing and implementing the new strategy. What is our context (or what other contexts can provide insight into this context)? An Intelligent Framework is best understood as a set of related concepts but with context as the prominent feature.

Click here for sample pages, a copy of the first Chapter – Level 1 Normative Frameworks or a copy of the Level 4 Frameworks Workbook.

How We Can Help

When we talk of four levels of Business Modeling, we understand and address all the following:

You know things are bad, but you aren’t sure exactly what the problem is yet. You might see the problem’s area, but you aren’t sure what the problem is. Business is just not right.

Problem-Aware. You know the problem but aren’t exactly sure what to do about it. You see the need to be more efficient and have done enough research to become aware you have a problem, but you are not yet sure of your options.

Solution-Aware. You know what you are doing wrong and what the solution might be, but you aren’t yet sure what the best option is to pursue a solution. But how to choose?

Opportunity-Aware. You know about the opportunity to be entrepreneurial or innovative but lack the methodology to get it right. You are looking for help but have not yet decided where you will get that help.

Pain points?

Process. Not understanding the process of going from where you are to where you want to be.

Obstacle. You want to do something, but there is a perceived obstacle in your way.

Time. You want to do things faster or within a specific time frame.

Money. You want to do it but do not want it to cost much.

Let us remove the pain points.

Here at Level 4 Frameworks, we deal with all levels of awareness and your pain points in building new business environments.

Let us show you how you can get a better understanding.

Follow the Framework steps and forget obstacles.

This process is fast.

You are your own consultant – it’s only the cost of the Workbook.

Russell Ackoff said it best when he suggested that “a good deal of the corporate planning he had observed is like a ritual rain dance; it has no effect on the weather that follows, but those who engage in it think it does.”

Moreover, it seemed to him that “much of the advice and instruction related to corporate planning is directed at improving the dancing, not the weather.” This is especially true when defining a new or improved business model.

Most approaches talk about the need for a business model to be more innovative and/or more entrepreneurial. More innovative or entrepreneurial than what? Most businesses don’t have a good picture of their business! Yes, they have a set of financial books and make some money, but knowing their business, its structure, and how it can be changed or improved is a significant and increasingly puzzling task.

And yet, businesses have been around and practiced for hundreds of years. Why then can’t we do a better job of improvement? How can we avoid “dance” steps and plan the right moves? How can we create an honest, truthful picture of our business: a picture we can use to start improving?

A Business Framework can do that.

Business frameworks describe an organization’s organizational processes or management structure to achieve a particular goal or innovation.

Who runs your business? You do, the supplier, not your customers. Agreed, you do not have a business unless you get orders, but you, the supplier, must have an organization to respond to a product or service request. Therefore, the supplier must decide what form this business framework model should look like.

L4 Frameworks do that.

Business processes exist within a business framework – implicit or explicit. All businesses have such a framework – L4 Frameworks show how to construct and work with business frameworks,

We provide the methods to build Business Frameworks.

Click on Workbook to download Sample Pages, a free copy of the first chapter (Level 1 Normative), or a full version of the Level 4 Frameworks Workbook.

Where To Find Us

We are located in Toronto, Canada.

Our Business:
126 Rose Park Drive
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1R5

1-416-440-2831
info@l4frameworks.com

Business Models

Creating a Business Model – is not Logical

A good deal of the corporate planning I have observed is like a ritual rain dance; it has no effect on the weather that follows, but those who engage in it think it does. Moreover, it seems to me that much of the advice and instruction related to corporate planning is directed at improving …

Logical frameworks (models) are simply concepts within which we attempt to validate and confirm our ideas.

Abstract Business frameworks describe the organization or management structure an organization might develop to achieve a particular goal or innovation. Level 4 Frameworks provide a business framework where people and business partners can work efficiently and effectively, individually and collectively, and succeed for mutual benefit. Business (be it the business of commerce or government) is …

L4 – A FRAMEWORK TO VIEW YOUR BUSINESS