---
id: "framework-strategic-steps-void"
type: "framework"
source_timestamps: ["§ Strategic Steps to Tap into the Business Model Void", "§ Step 1. Detect and map it.", "§ Step 2. Build a customer-centric portfolio.", "§ Step 3. Monitor it continuously and time your reaction."]
tags: ["strategy-execution", "playbook"]
related: ["concept-business-model-void", "concept-business-model-portfolio", "framework-origins-of-voids", "entity-netflix", "action-map-workaround-signals", "action-assign-ownership-signals"]
steps: ["\\\"Step 1: Detect friction and workarounds", "then map them to distinct users and their willingness to pay.\\\"", "Step 2: Build a customer-centric portfolio of business models without necessarily replacing legacy models.", "Step 3: Continuously monitor workaround signals as core growth metrics and time your reaction strategically."]
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"
---
# Strategic Steps to Tap into the Business Model Void (3-Step Playbook)

A three-step playbook to identify and close a [[concept-business-model-void]] before competitors do.

**Step 1 — Detect and map it.** Recognize friction (billing exceptions, weird contract structures) and actual workarounds (personal tools for work, unofficial integrations). Map each signal to a distinct user and their proven willingness to pay, to chart the required portfolio. Operationalized in [[action-map-workaround-signals]].

**Step 2 — Build a customer-centric portfolio.** Do not replace legacy models that still work; add to them. Develop a differentiated [[concept-business-model-portfolio]] (e.g., subscriptions + APIs + enterprise), innovated iteratively from workaround signals, treating each model's economics independently. See [[action-retain-legacy-models]] and [[claim-independent-growth-strategies]].

**Step 3 — Monitor continuously and time your reaction.** Assign ownership to workaround signals like a core growth metric (see [[action-assign-ownership-signals]]). Time execution on data — as [[entity-netflix-d9]] did: it tolerated password sharing for growth, then executed paid sharing exactly when subscriber growth declined in Q1 2022.

The hardest unresolved part is the timing threshold — especially for B2B and regulated markets (see [[question-timing-the-reaction]] and [[counter-timing-and-competitor]]). This playbook is the prescriptive complement to the diagnostic [[framework-origins-of-voids]].

**Related:** [[concept-business-model-void]] · [[concept-business-model-portfolio]] · [[entity-netflix-d9]] · [[action-assign-ownership-signals]]