---
id: "concept-business-model-void"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["¶4", "§ The Origins of Business Model Voids", "§ Strategic Steps to Tap into the Business Model Void"]
tags: ["monetization", "strategy-gap", "value-capture"]
related: ["concept-customer-workaround", "framework-origins-of-voids", "framework-strategic-steps-void", "claim-tech-shifts-accelerate-voids"]
definition: "The monetization gap that opens when existing business models fail to match how customers want to access, use, and pay for products."
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-tier2-09-customer-workarounds"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/what-customer-workarounds-can-reveal-about-your-business-model"
sourceTitle: "What Customer Workarounds Can Reveal About Your Business Model"
---
# Business Model Void

The **business model void** is the monetization gap that opens when a company's existing business models fail to match how customers actually want to *access, use, and pay for* products. The void is created when the official offering is misaligned with the customer's operational reality.

The canonical example is [[entity-michelin]]: in 2000 it shifted to selling tire performance per kilometer, but failed to realize customers wanted tire performance connected to broader fleet variables like fuel consumption and routing. That mismatch opened a void that stayed open for nearly two decades.

A void remains open until the incumbent adapts its model, or until a competitor (or the customers themselves) steps in to fill it. Spotting the void is difficult; closing it before a competitor does is the ultimate strategic challenge. The void is detected through [[concept-customer-workaround]] signals, and it is filled by building a [[concept-business-model-portfolio]].

Two frameworks structure how to think about it: [[framework-origins-of-voids]] (how a void emerges and closes over time) and [[framework-strategic-steps-void]] (the three-step playbook to tap into it). Voids open faster during technological shifts — see [[claim-tech-shifts-accelerate-voids]] and [[entity-agentic-ai-d5]].

**Related:** [[concept-customer-workaround]] · [[concept-shadow-business-model]] · [[framework-origins-of-voids]] · [[framework-strategic-steps-void]]


## Related across articles
- [[concept-ai-driven-tam-expansion]]
- [[prereq-downward-sloping-demand]]