Breaktrough = Creatoor; Innovative Business Concepts

Discover the power of innovative business ideas and concepts.
M.Sc. Tomaz KORELC,MBA
A manual for creating STRATEGIC BREAKTHROUGHS
BREAK-
THROUGH!

Make a decision! People who succeed

"I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in
my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26
times,I’ve been trusted to take the game
winning shot and missed.
I’ve failed over and over and over again in
my life.
And that is why
I succeeded.”
Make a decision today.
Michael Jordan
the best basketball player of
all times
Decide!

4
M.Sc. Tomaz KORELC, MBA
info@creatoor.com 01 620 33 10 www.creatoor.com
Think For A Moment...
with your precious,
unique and unrepeatable life?
What are you going to do with your precious,
unique and unrepeatable company?
In your life, you have only
3,153,600,000 seconds.
Every second counts.
Make a decision today.
Decide.
Step out from the crowd and become someone.
What are you going to do

6
inspire you...
Let this book

Creatoor Mastermind
We think and act
REALISING YOUR GOALS.
Team
© CREATOOR, 4-5 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4BX, United Kingdom
Leskoškova cesta 9E, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
ORIGINALLY!

8
,,Success is a lousy teacher.
It seduces smart people into
thinking they can't lose.,,
Bill Gates

Creating innovative, breakthrough concepts, www.creatoor.com 9
BREAKTHROUGH! - The Power of Innovative Business Ideas and Concepts
Napoleon Bonaparte
,,I have 50.000 men and myself,
this amounts to a total of 150.000 men.,,

Discover the power of innovative business ideas and concepts.
Decide for a business
BREAKTHROUGH!
A manual for creating STRATEGIC BREAKTHROUGHS.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.
Most people exist, that is all.“
Oscar Wilde
This is a book that will help you on your way to creating an innovative and
breakthrough business concept. I wish that the philosophy of the business concept
becomes an indispensable part of your way to
Tomaz Korelc
business success.

“If you ask me what I came to do in this world,
I, an artist, will answer you: I am here
to live out loud.”
Émile Zola

Table of Contents
The Good Old Management is the Management of the Past 13
BREAKTHROUGH! 14
Become (R)evolutionaries 16
The Philosophy of the Business Concept 43
The Building Blocks of the Business Concept 53
Core Philosophy 61
1. Core Philosophy – the Motor of Your Business Concept 61
2. The Guiding Objective of Your Business Concept 71
3. Corporate Identity 73
4. The Leading Strategy – the Navigator of Your Business Concept 75
5. Strategic Resources – the Fuel of Your Business Concept 85
6. Internal Organisation 92
7. External Links of the Company 94
8. Supporting Business Network 95
9. Transmission of Value 99
10. Satisfying Customer Needs 101
11. Ensuring Advantages 109
12. Monopoly Profit Leverage 110
13. Breakthrough Point 126
14. Basic Building Blocks – Enablers of Breakthrough and Success 127
15. Competition 138
It is Time to Wake Your Company up! 140
Do You Want to be Innovative? 142
A Tool for Creating a Business Concept 145
A Strategic BREAKTHROUGH Requires Suitable Methodology 158
In Search of the Brave or Why is it Important that You Become Bravely Brave! 160

14
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time
to pause
and reflect."
Mark Twain

The Good Old Management is
the Management of the Past.
Today, being original and brave is the winning combination. A manager is
not just a strategist, but an adventurer in every sense of the word. If in the
past, all you needed was knowledge and capital, now you need to be brave,
courageous, active, and above all to have the ability to manage business
concepts.
To succeed, you need a (R)evolution in thought and action – an intuitive
ability of managing business concepts.
The revolution can happen by chance, while the essence of success is that
the revolution was planned and strategically managed. The business concept
methodology enables exactly that – a revolution in the operation and
effectiveness of business.
If you want to be successful like no one else, you should use methods like
no one else.
You need to create the (R)evolutionary business concept and act in a
breakthrough and effective manner.
"I do not think that there is anything worse than being ordinary."
Mena Suvari – American Beauty
"Do not seek to be the best among the best. Your goal should be to be
considered the only ones that do what you do.“ Jerry Garcia
Think
different!

innovative business concepts.
create
breakthrough!
... is a book I had started writing before I started my own
business career.
It was written with the desire to awake a strong businessman
with breakthrough ideas inside me and to create a globally
pervasive and innovative company. These were my dreams ...
I have always been innovative, sometimes revolutionary,
certainly visionary and constantly in search of something
better. Exactly thirteen years ago, a book entitled Leading
the Revolution came into my hands, and a breakthrough
happened. I gained insight into the essence of business and
success – the philosophy of the business concept. I found
a tool – a method – of how to create and manage business
concepts. This was the time when I realised that what, how
and how much we will create depended on us. We are the
creators of our own destiny.
The path that I had set at that time was seen by many as
utopian, too brave and too visionary; but I believed and
still believe in it. I have faith in myself, so I have invested
everything I had: my time, my energy, my capital ...
everything. I am grateful to all who follow and support me,
and especially to the Creatoors for making the world a better
place for everyone.
This book is made of the notes from that time of my life.
I wrote them in order to grasp the essence of business
operations and business success – the ability to create and
manage business concepts. It is dedicated to all of you who
have the desire, will, perseverance and determination, and
especially who are brave enough ...
... to step outside the limits!
Tomaz
Berlin, October 10. 2013
Creatoors

“Revolutionaries will take your markets and customers,
and then they will take your best employees and finally
your funds.”
He succeeded because he
stepped outside the limits and
established norms – concepts.
He dared to embark on a new,
undiscovered area.
On his way, he was persistent,
steadfast and creative. He did
not stop after the first failure
and refusal, but kept persis-
tently walking on his envisioned
path.
The essence of his success was
that he understood his environ-
ment and was able to overcome
his own limitations. He chose a
new, original path. And more
importantly, he prepared ex-
cellently for his journey. It is
known today that Christopher
Columbus had some informa-
tion about the existence of a
continent on the other side of
the ocean. These were not veri-
fied, but they indicated that a
new world existed.
Just as there were information
and evidence of a new world at
the time of Christopher Colum-
bus, there are also information
and evidence of a new concept
– a new paradigm – in your in-
dustry or field of operation.
Christopher
Columbus
Why did Christopher Columbus
succeed?
Garry Hamel;
Leading the Revolution

18
“And still is possible”
Herman Potočnik - Noordung

Become
(R)evolutionaries!
I. Part

20
Become (R)evolutionaries
Are you ready for a revolution?
Average companies cannot see beyond their established frameworks. They do not know how to
create and adopt new ways of modifying the existing business concepts. What about you? Do you
dare to be different, innovative? Do you dare to be revolutionaries?
Can you imagine to completely change the
paradigm, philosophy and concept of your
operation?
This is exactly what the Swiss watchmaking
industry did. It is true that Swiss watch
companies were actually forced into this,
because they were almost entirely driven out of
the market by Japanese watch companies with
their new digital technology. Slightly tragic is
that the technology for the production of
digital watches was developed by the Swiss, but
because they were unable to see the potential
in them, they sold it to the Japanese.
Swiss watch manufacturers realised that they
can retrieve their dominant position only if
they completely change the rules of the game.
Because they were compelled to do so, they
did a complete turnaround and shifted from
superior and highly demanding watches to
cheaper and more accessible plastic watches
with soul and inspiration – Swatch. A watch has
thus become a fashion accessory, "Swatches"
have created a new trend and became a hit
around the world. The Swiss watchmaking
industry took this as a great learning experience
as it quickly changed the strategy and remained
a leading player in the global watch-making
market at the time when mobile technology
ousted digital watches.
Would the Swiss industry make such a shift, if it
was not forced into doing it? Definitely not.
What about you? Are you capable of such a
deed? If not, maybe now is the time to think
about it. You may experience what the carbon
paper producers experienced. Infatuated with
their own success and concept of work, they
have become history.
Swatch
“A smart organisation adapts to the world. A foolish one keeps trying to adapt the world to
itself. For this reason, the progress depends on irrational organisations.”
Kjell A. Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale;
Funky Business

Are you able to see entirely new business concepts
among all the new products and services – such that will
communicate value to customers in an unconventional,
victorious and breakthrough way? Can you think of
the ways to boost the existing business concept? Are
you ready for new challenges? Are you capable and
able to think in a fresh and unconventional way? Can
you understand, think and act in a non-linear way –
differently?
Become dominant1
–
create a monopoly
While survival is key for the evolution, with revolution,
creating a new quality, a breakthrough and success
matter. The essence of the evolution is the competition,
which is necessary to sustain life and provide the
basics for survival, but is not sufficient for success. A
revolutionary breakthrough, however, is dealing with
how to elevate yourself above competitors, surpass
them and create a value monopoly. Yes, a MONOPOLY.
The main objective of every business person, company
and manager must be dominance – dominance in the
market. And you can succeed in that only if you create
a monopoly. The objective of every company must be
creating its own niche in which the company will set its
own rules of the game. How do you know that you are
dominating? Easily. When others dance like you whistle,
when others play according to your rules of the game.
Most airlines were infatuated
with their own business and
existing customers. Ryanair has
offered what the people really
wanted – the cheapest travel
from point A to point B. Upon its
establishment, Ryanair was not
the competitor to airlines, but
to railways, as they set the price
of airfare according to the rail
fare. Of course, it also became
the competitor to airlines later.
Therefore, Ryanair won.
Ryanair
Microsoft
Ryanair saw what no one else
did.
Why is Microsoft so
successful?
Because Microsoft was able
to create a sector according
to their own criteria. It set the
standards in the field of soft-
ware for personal and business
use, and designed them so that
they allowed competitive ad-
vantage over its competitors.
Microsoft has actually taken ad-
vantage of many ideas and con-
cepts that are presented in this
book, from strategic partner-
ships to meeting the customers'
needs. Above all, it knew how
to use the power of the positive
spiral of success – success at-
tracts success!
1 Dominance represents a quality that today's society is often
repressing. Essentially, it is extremely positive, as it allows the
development of the potential of individuals, as well as teams and
companies. Dominance is the energy that allows us to rise from
the average and strive for something higher. Dominance is not
self-centredness, pushfullness or exploitation. When I speak of
dominance, I am talking about the dominance that comes from
quality and not from rivalry or competition.

22
Be active – act!
Be aware that your job is not to keep your business as is,
but to create such a business as it can be! This requires
determination, perseverance and above all acting
outside the established frameworks, and ultimately risk-
taking – being brave.
Do you dare to take risks or do you prefer a safe heaven
sitting somewhere in a comfortable leather seat, hidden
behind a solid door with a security guard and secretary
at your door? You may be an exception, but almost
everyone does that. Most people are satisfied with what
they have and do not even realise their inner potential.
It is time for you to ask yourselves: Do we really live up
to our full potential? Do we really work our best? Are we
truly as successful as we could have been2
? Are we really
proactive and have breakthrough ideas? How many
initiatives and innovations have we introduced in the
last year? How many new services, products and ideas
have we launched? Do our competitors admire and fear
us? So, are you curled up in your safe heaven or not?
Make a decision – act!
Be open to new, different,
unusual ...
Expand your scope of action and perception. People
see only what they are willing to see. If we come across
somethingthatiscompletelynewandunknowntous,we
usually try to translate it into patterns that are familiar
to us. It often happens that we only perceive things that
are known and familiar to us, and omit or ignore the
new and unusual things. This is not the path leading to
the creation of a strong and successful business concept
that provides breakthroughs. The path that leads to the
creation of a strong and successful business concept
requires awareness, constant attention and composure,
and in particular broad perception and action.
2 Being successful does not mean being the first and the best, but
acting our best and actively enforcing our potential. When you
give your best and act your best at any given moment, you are
successful, regardless of the outcome.
Nikola Tesla
What can we learn from the
greatest genius of all times?
Nikola Tesla never derived from
the existing situation; instead,
he was focused on the optimal
situation. He never limited him-
self with the existing and real,
but always looked at everything
from the perspective of being
potentially possible. In his vi-
sions and ideas, he has always
lived far ahead of his time.
Since he lived outside of time
and space, he was able to gen-
erate ideas and concepts that
were far beyond the ability of
that time.
More importantly, however,
is that he was able to ground
his ideas and visions and bring
them closer to the common
man.
His genius was not only his
ideas, but also his method of
presentation and the ability to
present the idea to the com-
mon man.
If you want to be truly success-
ful, you need ideas and visions
that go beyond the current di-
mensions of time and space. It
is equally important that you
know how to approach your
time and space. It is important
that your environment under-
stands and accepts your ideas
and visions. This is the only way
you will be able to create enthu-
siastic employees and enthusi-
astic customers. >>

>> The difference between Bill
Gates and Steve Jobs is exactly
in this. Steve Jobs knew how
to bring his ideas and visions
closer to people in an under-
standable and inspiring way. Bill
Gates does not know how to do
that any more; therefore, Apple
is winning in 2012.
If you think that Apple was the
first to come on the market with
a tablet computer, think again.
I remember how Bill Gates pre-
sented a tablet computer ten
years ago at Comdex. There was
no real enthusiasm present. Bill
Gates was cold, technical, inac-
cessible.
When Steve Jobs demonstrated
the iPad, he made the whole
world crazy with joy.“If there were no fools trying the impossible over
and over again, we would still be living in caves. Of
course, some people were outraged and have been
declared freaks.”
Funky Business
Laško Brewery
Salvador Dali
How many initiatives introduced the Laško Brewery
in the last ten years?
LaškoBreweryhadagreatchancetobecomearegional
winner, maybe even something more. There were no
initiatives, no ideas and no original business concepts,
so it lost its chance to become a regional winner.
How to reach a completely new market with
graphics and become rich?
While most artist vegetate financially, Salvador Dali
created millions in his lifetime. Firstly, he created a
crazy, original and different story for himself, which
was sold for a lot of money. Secondly, when he and his
wife Gala thought about how to create an even greater
cash flow, they came to the following idea: "Bringing
art closer to the common man." Dali deliberately
started working on graphics. So, the common man
could have a Dali painting in his house, and Dali's
wealth was growing.
Velcro
How to use an inconvenience
for a business idea?
How many times have you been
walking in woods and discov-
ered that burrs clung to your
clothes? Then, you had trouble
getting them off. This is exactly
what happened to a Swiss ama-
teur mountaineer, but he took
the situation as a positive one
and thus created a multi-million
business. He created what is
known today as Velcro, some-
thing we cannot imagine living
without in modern fashion. To
create breakthrough and origi-
nal business concepts, you need
a positive attitude and the abil-
ity to get inspiration for great
ideas in completely ordinary
things.

24
Create a (R)evolutionary
Business Concept
Your goal should be to create a (R)evolutionary business
concept that will be originally different from the
concepts of your competitors. You should strive towards
a conceptual meta innovation that changes the very
basis of performance in a particular area or industry.
And I do not mean only the competitive strategy. It is
not about dealing with competitors, but to take a shift
from them and surpass them. The business concept is
based on the shift rather than on the attack. The key
idea here is that what is not different, is not strategic.
For a (R)evolutionary business concept, you do not
need fundamental innovations or completely new
ideas. All you need is the ability to integrate the existing
ideas, methods and practices in a new, different and,
above all, more efficient way, thus creating a unique and
breakthrough business concept.
Starbucks
How keen will your customers
be if you charge them
three times the price of
your competitors for your
services?
There are not many companies
that would dare charging a
few percent higher prices than
their competitors. Those that
would dare charging a several
times higher price are almost
non-existent. And yet the com-
pany that did just that became a
global player and created one of
the most remarkable brands in
the world in just a few decades.
It is called Starbucks. Starbucks
succeeded in creating a global
trend with an innovative story
and understanding the needs
of their customers in a country
with no tradition of drinking
coffee. They have changed cof-
fee drinking into the time for
socialisation, relaxation and en-
joyment.
IUS Info
Would you see a business opportunity where
customers get everything for free?
Offering customers something they can get for free
and charging them for usage was the idea that took
IUS Info to the 1.3 million net profit in 2009.
The essence of their idea was the added value that
they have offered with their system in systematisation
and ease of use. So, the lawyers were willing to pay
for the data that was offered in the Official Journal
completely free of charge. The product of IUS Info is
not the information, but the simplicity, transparency,
usability and speed. Do you now imagine that there
are customers who are willing to pay for something
you can get completely free of charge?

Often, this may be a minor change. The world we live in works on the principle of chaos where
even a small change causes enormous consequences – results. The fact that you are proactive is
more important than a great idea. You should not be waiting for "Godot".
When is the right time for the (R)
evolution?
This very moment. All you need is to decide for the (R)evolution.
Why wait being forced into change by the
situation?
Most companies insist on established practices
and on what is generally known for too long.
Most companies do not change enough and
fast enough. Unfortunately, most companies
are forced into change by the situation – they
change when they are faced with the fight for
their own existence.
Thus,forexample,Hondamanagedtopenetrate
the U.S. market only when the employees
began driving Honda mopeds to work. Honda
invested a lot of money in the development of
the U.S. market, but to no avail. Nobody was
buying its products. When Honda completely
ran out of money and its employees were
forced to use Honda mopeds for transportation
around the city, as they were completely out of
money, their sales flourished.When they ran out
of money, Honda employees were forced to use
the cheapest means of transportation, which
was – as if by accident – the Honda moped :-).
Only when the people saw the practicality
and usefulness of Honda scooters, they began
buying them.
Honda Motor Co.

26
There is only one
ESSENTIAL
question …

What is it that
we are
UNIQUE in?

28
What is our unrepeatable,
crazily different, unique
and inspiring STORY?
A fairytale or a global mega business?

Being normal = being nothing
"The society of surpluses has a surplus of similar
companies,
employing similar people
with similar education
who have similar ideas,
producing similar things
at similar prices and similar quality ..."
Funky Business

30
At the time of surpluses,
originality and
innovation are winning …
Being original is everything.
Think of the moments in your life when you were the
best, when you achieved top results. Were you normal
then? Was your business perfectly normal, your ideas
perfectly normal and your activities similar to others?
You were original, different and something special, you
were you and you were "en mal nor3
" (Eng., a bit crazy).
Being normal is being nothing. In the best case scenario,
it means that your business is alive, but being normal
will certainly not enable true success and breakthrough
to the top.
The real success requires originality – it requires
courage, bravery, daring to stand out from the crowd
and becoming somebody.
3 If we read the word normal (Slo., normalen) backwards in the
Slovenian language, we get a very interesting word pun: “en mal
nor” (Eng., a bit crazy). Therefore, being normal is being crazy and
not being normal is being not crazy – original; to be alive.
Nikola Tesla
Richard Branson
Nikola Tesla succeeded also
because he was sufficiently
"crazy".
Virgin is successful because
its owner and its voice,
Richard Branson, is crazy
enough.
Nikola Tesla performed an ex-
periment, in which he let more
than 50 thousand volts through
his body and also proved that
high voltage, when the frequen-
cy is high, is not harmful to hu-
mans. Tesla often invited guests
in his laboratory where he
would peacefully sit in a chair
while high-voltage lightnings
were storming all around him.
For those of you who wonder
how proud Richard is of this
photo, his colleagues answer
that he does not want to see it
nor does he want it to be men-
tioned to him. Richard went
over his limits of acceptable
simply to shock and generate
publicity. Obviously, Richard is
able to go beyond himself and
his own limitations to achieve
the objective – the desired pub-
licity. Therefore, he is the best in
personal and business PR.
Michael Jordan
Why is Jordan the best basketball player of all
times?
Because he took responsibility in key moments and
showed bravery, in contrast to others.

"We all agree
that your theory is crazy.
The question which divides us is: Is it crazy
enough?“
Physicist Bohr Niels to Wolfgang Paulie.
Do you want to succeed?
The business is a daring adventure or nothing.
At first glance, it may seem you have to be better, faster
and more efficient to succeed; but think again. Being
better is important, but not decisive. Anyone who wants
to be better, faster and more efficient competes with a
number of "wolves" and they all compete for the same
prey. But the best piece is won only by one.
In the competition, survival is the key word. But every
organisation that plans merely its survival, will sooner
or later end up in the landfill. Only those companies that
are planning their success, growth and development will
survive; those that are planning to survive, will fail.
The paradox lies in the fact that you cannot be truly
successful if you are just competitive and are looking
for a competitive advantage. You can be on top for
some time, but the following years will bring younger,
stronger, faster companies, and sooner or later you will
be thrown off the throne. Namely, competition exhausts
us ... We must always be ready to the maximum and
even the smallest mistake can be fatal. When a company
competes, fractions of seconds, millimetres are crucial ...
Create your own game,
your own rules!
Many companies dream about becoming the best, but
only a few succeed. Have you ever wondered why is that?
Because they are adopting the same rules, procedures,
principles and concepts – they are competing. They
After 1990, bakeries and shops
started growing in Slovenia like
mushrooms after the rain. Most
of them failed, only those who
have grown fast enough and
thought in a large scale man-
ner, for example the Pečjak Bak-
ery, have found their place and
prosper even today. Anyone
with small objectives is doomed
to failure and vegetation in the
long run.
A few years ago, Mercator Su-
permarket completely domi-
nated the Slovenian market. Its
dominance was enabled by its
penetration, aggression and fo-
cus on growth.
In those days, Mercator had an
original and different strategy.
Today, it competes with com-
petitors in exactly the same way
as they do, so it is stagnating.
Since it is stagnating, it is over-
taken by those that are better,
more efficient, braver.
Pečjak Bakery
Mercator
Set yourselves ambitious
objectives. Growth is the
only thing that guarantees
success!
Mercator is competing;
therefore, it is losing.

32
forgetanddonotrealisethatthecompetitionisastruggle
for survival, and that a struggle for one's own existence
is far from being sufficient. True success requires more
– you have to be different and act differently. Successful
are those who do not compete but actively co-create the
game – the "competition".
Competition means that all competitors are competing
for the same prize, which usually receives only one – the
best. Others are just struggling and get little or nothing.
Why would you choose the same game your opponents
play? Why not create a new sector where you are the
ones writing the rules of the game?
Seaway
Circus Orfei
What was the secret to the
global success of Seaway?
A circus that is actually not a
circus.
"We were able to understand a
Frenchman, a German, an Ital-
ian and an Englishman. In fact,
we have done what the auto-
motive industry did decades
ago. The sailing boat industry
was fragmented before and we
developed a common platform
and a concept that fits them all."
Japec Jakopin
What comes to your mind when
you hear the word circus?
Most likely lions, elephants, ti-
gers and then acrobats, clowns,
etc., and independent and unre-
lated shows.
This concept of circus has actu-
ally not changed for hundreds
of years. However, modern cir-
cuses face a challenge. With the
appearance of television and
theme parks, classical circuses
are having difficulties attract-
ing the audience. While most of
them are facing challenges,>>
Google
Do you want to know what the greatest invention
of Google is?
Surely you have thought about the Google search
engine – and yet, it is not so. Google's greatest
invention is an entirely new way of monetisation and
advertising based on leased words. In fact, Google has
invented a completely new advertising sector and this
has provided it with financial success.
You might be surprised, but truly successful companies
are doing just that. They are creating their own sectors
and laying down rules to their own liking.
JustthinkforamomentwhyMicrosoftissomarvellously
successful. Because it created its own game and set the
standards of Microsoft's liking (of course). Why have
some time ago plastic Swatch watches become a hit
around the world? Because they have created a new
industry, a new game – a new area. Why was Benetton
so pervasive? It has created new and unique rules. Why
Dell, Marlboro, Levis succeeded? Why Tuš Supermarket,
Akrapovič and others succeeded?

>>there is a circus that literally
blooms the Circus Orfei. They
succeeded because they com-
pletely changed the circus par-
adigm. They realised that the
biggest cost were the animals,
so they gave them away. They
removed all animal shows from
their programme. This way, they
lowered the costs and increased
profitability.
They have linked together pre-
viously detached shows and
performances into a whole, thus
creating a story that is much
more akin to a theatre than clas-
sical circus. In fact, they have
created an entirely new concept
of a circus. This attracted com-
pletely new visitors and their
business blossomed like never
before. In a few years, they be-
came the most successful circus
in the USA with enthusiastic
and loyal visitors.
Najdi.si
Even the leading position that is without a vision
and an entrepreneurial spirit does not guarantee
long-term success.
Najdi.si is a good example of how old glory and bad
strategic moves destroy a strong and recognisable
brand in a few years. Do you not agree? Wait another
year.
They understood the
business and worked
differently – pervasively
and effectively.
If you want to succeed, truly succeed, you have to change
the rules of business and create your own new rules.
This requires the understanding and ability to creatively
transform towards higher added value. Creativity is
the soul of every breakthrough business. You need
to understand what is happening inside and outside
of you and your business, think creatively, perceive
realistically, make correct decisions, and act decisively
and persistently. Without innovative and inventive
creativity, you only have an empty shell that will sooner
or later burst under the pressure of a competitive
environment.
Keep constantly
changing yourself!
If something works, we need to change it before we are
forced into changing it by others. We must always be one
step ahead of others. Whoever is changing and changing
himself proactively, creates a competitive advantage.
Unfortunately, we can reduce the modern managerial
Ford
Do not get blinded by
success.
With some extremely innova-
tive and original ideas, Henry
Ford completely changed the
concept of means of transport.
With innovative approaches
and radical changes, he com-
pletely changed the automo-
tive industry. He was the first
to develop a conveyor belt, the
first who built the factory at the
iron mine thus decreased the
costs, the first to offer a car that
everyone could afford; and the
Ford Motor Company was thriv-
ing like no other. >>

34
>> However, Henry also made
one big mistake – he did not un-
derstand the customers' needs
for personalisation. Namely,
Ford's cars were available only
in black. Henry did have a good
reason to choose black, because
black was the fastest colour to
dry; thus, he could best opti-
mise the production process.
But his competitors have lis-
tened to the customers and of-
fered cars in the desired colours
– and they succeeded. Because
Ford stubbornly insisted on the
paradigm of the past and did
not follow the customers and
time, his competitors caught up
with him and overtook him.
Long-term success requires
constant originality, innovation
and new, even greater break-
through business concepts.
and entrepreneurial mindset to one thought: If it works,
do not change it. And because things are more or less
working, you are not changing yourselves, you do not
grow and compete in that "destructive" race – face to
face with your competitors.
For managers of companies, it generally holds true that
they are considering changes only when something is
not working or is "corrupt". They do not think often
enough about proactive changes. Namely, success also
requires changing of what works and seems good and
efficient. It is time for you to say to yourselves: "This is
great, perfect! It is time to do it even better – differently!"
Improving and eliminating your weaknesses will
not bring real breakthrough and success. Only new,
different, unusual and daring can bring you this. This
requires courage, creativity and the ability to create
innovative business concepts. And above all, I do not
recommend any kind of nostalgia or excessive love of
oneself, the present or the past. You also need sound
judgement, because adopting changes just for the sake
of adopting changes is equally meaningless as a blind
insistence on the concepts of the past.
Droga Kolinska
Has Droga Kolinska sold its
jewellery or merely focused
on the things that matter?
The seemingly painful sale of
certain brands enabled Droga
Kolinska to focus on strategic
brands which guaranteed suc-
cess. Argeta and Cockta have
never been so strong and so
successful.
Red Bull
Noticeably different events generate noticeably
different appearances.
Red Bull is unique, original, inspiring, active and above
all brave. Red Bull is everything the young and active
dream about, and this is why they are loyal to it.

Act!
Manyclaimthatmostofthevictoriousandbreakthrough
concepts occurred only by accident. But personally,
I believe that the presence of the tendency for finding
breakthrough concepts, diversity and being victorious
was of key importance. Without the tendency for being
victorious and finding breakthrough concepts, even the
best idea would fall on stony ground. Victorious people
certainly do not succumb to mere "coincidence". The
victorious ones act. What about you?
Your company – the
mirror of your soul
Who has a crucial impact on the success of your
company? Have you ever thought that maybe this
person is you, and only you? The fact is that the success
or failure of a company depends on top management.
Most managers, entrepreneurs and leaders are looking
for causes outside themselves. They seldom take a look
at themselves. If you want to succeed, you need to
change your perspective; you should look at yourselves
first, then outside of yourselves.
In 1968, the Great Beatles vis-
ited Rishikesh in India and at-
tended the advanced course of
transcendental meditation. This
was a very creative period for
them. Under the influence of In-
dia, they created one of the best
albums of all times in 1967 (Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely …). And then
they re-visited India in 1968. If
they did not receive help from
God or a specific substance,
they received it from music dif-
ferent from the Western one,
which they introduced in their
experimental psychedelic mu-
sic. The key element in this was
that they have stepped out of
the established, well-known
and traditional, thus creating
the possibility for new, different,
unusual, fascinating.
The Beatles
Is success a coincidence or
something more?
Steve Jobs
If you want to lead others,
you must first lead yourself.
In 1974, Steve Jobs went on a
spiritual journey to India with
a desire for spiritual enlight-
enment. In addition to ex-
perimenting with psychedelic
substances, this was one of the
essential ingredients of success.
Every great company is a
reflection of its leader's
personality
The importance of the general manager is revealed in
their role in shaping the corporate culture, philosophy
and mission, vision and strategic intent. It is no wonder
that success and leadership represent two sides of the
same coin.

36
Every great company is a reflection of its leader's
personality, who has imprinted the company with
their own values. Leaders can have a huge impact on
their organisations, as they should provide most of
the "reality" which is familiar to people outside their
personal experience. Leaders provide information and
develop the media through which employees receive a
picture of reality outside their experience. It is expected
from the leaders to play the most critical role in the
process of creating an entrepreneurial business reality.
Thus, the supreme leader literally creates meaning for
their followers.
Leaders establish the mission, vision, define the
objectives, priorities, and preserve and raise standards
of significance. The leader's mission is to provide the
basic direction, philosophy and way of thinking in some
essential points, as well as setting the starting points
which relate to values, ways of handling things and the
future vision of the company as a whole. And finally,
the success of the supreme leader depends on its ability
to create a climate and culture within the organisation
that support and implement a successful strategic
purpose. The most important task of the leaders is the
co-creation of the appropriate philosophy and culture
of the organisation and the business concept, of course.
Although your style depends on the environment
that surrounds you and on other members of the
organisation, be aware that you are the ones who
actively co-create this environment, including successes
and failures, and have the greatest impact. When you
are faced with the question of who is to blame for the
success or failure, you should look inside yourself first
and only then take a look at the environment. You might
be surprised!
“If your actions inspire
others to dream more,
learn more, do more and
become more,
John Quincy Adams
you are a leader.”

Who are your
competitors?
The competition has in the systemic, interconnected
and interdependent world long since been held between
different products, people, technologies, distribution
channels etc., but only and exclusively between
interconnected and focused entireties – business
concepts.
Askyourselves: What are my core beliefs? What are
my values? What are my basic assumptions? What do I
appreciate? What do I accept? What do I reject? What
is important to me and what not? How do I perceive
myself? How do I perceive the world? How do I act?
Why do I act this way? Why? Why? Why? What are my
beliefs? Who are my authority figures? Prejudice? What
habits do I have? Where are my limitations?
It is important that you acknowledge how you work
and why you work this way. If you do not work in an
informed manner, you can be dangerous, extremely
dangerous for your business ...
"Nobody can prevent you from choosing
to be exceptional."
Mark Sanborn
A chocolate with a story.

38
GA, Mimovrste.com, Harvey Norman, Big Bang
Competition takes place between different
business concepts.
GA – builds its business concept on catalogue
sales. It is constantly changing and adapting
this concept, if necessary (depending on the
environment), because it has some of its own
stores, lately focusing on the World Wide Web.
Mimovrste.com – it builds its business concept
on the use of the latest web technologies.
By doing this it utilises the core capabilities
of the parent company, Domenca, which is
developing web technologies.
Harvey Norman – it builds its business concept
on the excellent offer, consultancy of sales
personnel and on their own shopping centres
in urban centres.
Big Bang – it actively builds its concept on the
stores within shopping centres. It is also present
on the World Wide Web.
CUSTOMER
Business
Concept A
Figure: Competition takes place between different business concepts
Business
Concept B
Business
Concept C
Business
Concept D

The magic of success
is in a breakthrough
innovative business
concept
Most managers are still looking at a company partially
– looking at parts. Only a few perceive a company as an
interconnected system – the concept – where everything
is interdependent and interconnected, internally. Even
less managers perceive their own company as part
of a much wider system – the concept – in which the
company is embedded. Namely, no company is self-
sufficient and independent, because each and every one
of them, even as large as it gets, is only a part of a system.
The philosophy of the business concept4
is the highest
level of business mindset, which should be mastered by
every successful business person. At the first level, the
focus is on the product, on the second level, on business
4 When we look at a company as a whole, we no longer speak only
of purchasing, production, sales, finance, development, etc., but of
the integration of all these building blocks into one streamlined
system – the company. The same goes when we look at a company
as being a part of a larger system with other companies, individuals
and organisations. They together have the power to create added
value.
Hotels in Bled
Zemanta – too
young
Can it happen that in a hotel
company is vegetating in the
natural pearl like Bled?
Was your company changing
concepts and searching for
opportunities a lot faster
and more efficiently at the
beginning of its business
career, too?
It can if all the partners are not
aligned, if they do not have a
common vision and do not work
for common welfare. It is not the
hotels that are competing with
each other, but the tourist re-
sorts. Therefore, those that are
smart cooperate with each oth-
er, knowing that only through
cooperation they will be able to
create a tourist destination that
will attract and impress.
Zemanta has, according to the
words of one of the owners,
Aleš Špetič, tried dozens of busi-
ness models before finding the
right one. They test and adapt
business concepts even today.
In a time of rapid and continu-
ous change, the ability to cre-
ate, test and adapt business
concepts is the key strategic ca-
pability of the company.
General Electrics – too successful
Only change will take you to the victory podium.
When Jack Welch took over the management of GE,
the company's market value was $14 billion; when
he left, the company was the largest company in the
world with a market value of $410 billion. Jack Welch
loved the change so much that he was called "Neutron
Jack" by some due to the fact that he acted like an
atomic bomb.

40
Anita Roddick, founder of the
company, created a company
that many admire despite the
lack of resources or because of
the uniqueness and innovative
approach, supported by values
and philosophy (natural and en-
vironmentally friendly).
Swatch is a story of success, but
the most astounding fact is that
the Swiss were able to com-
pletely change the principles
and concepts of operation. This
is also one of the reasons that
Switzerland has dozens of mul-
tinationals and it is very likely
the most competitive economy
in the world.
A global company can
emerge even from a local
shop with no money for
packaging, if it finds its
originality and message that
inspires its followers.
Swatch – when the entire
Swiss watchmaking industry
has changed.
The Body Shop –
too small
Swiss
watchmaking
industry – too big
The Church – too old
Have you ever wondered about the most successful
organisation in the world?
Could that be a Roman Catholic Church with its ability
to repeatedly adjust to the situations or actively co-
create them according to its own image and desire? If
you want to develop a company that will be successful
for hundreds of years or even millennia, then you
certainly can learn a lot just from the Roman Catholic
Church. Its biggest strength is its rituals, symbols,
culture and the conveying of information.
functions and competition; and in the philosophy of the
business concept, the focus is on integrated values of
the system and the process as a whole, from suppliers,
partners, employees, machines, customers, etc., to users.
It is dedicated to the entire system of value creation5
in
which the company is embedded. It focuses on value
creation, but not on any value; it focuses on the value
that is important for partners and customers, which
they appreciate, desire and crave for. Everything else is
superfluous.
Honesty first
Acknowledge that every company needs to create a new
breakthrough concept. No company is too small, too
large, too young, too old or too successful. As well as
there is no area that would not offer new possibilities
and opportunities for a breakthrough.
5 The philosophy of the business concept is a holistic – integral
view of the business that takes into account the entire value chain.
(In fact, it is not actually a chain, but rather a kind of interconnected
molecular system, which is oriented in time and space, and as such
creates an added value.)
It is time to wake your company up!
It is time for you to become (R)
evolutionaries!

Think conceptually!
Everything is interconnected and nothing is separated
Companies do not compete at the level of individual
features, products and services any more, but at the
level of different business concepts6
. A business concept
represents the company's operations as a whole. In its
solid form, it could be called a business model. Since the
models are in their essence absolute and rigid, while our
world is soft and flexible, the term business concept is
a more appropriate one. On the one hand, it leads and
directs all parts of the company in a quality manner,
while on the other, contrary to the models, leaves enough
freedom for creativity, ingenuity and exploitation of
opportunities and possibilities.
Be open and dynamic!
The ability of conceptual thinking is essential in the
development of a breakthrough business concept.
This allows insight into the drive logic of the business
concept. And it is the knowledge and understanding of
drive logic of the business concept that is crucial to the
successful management of the business concept. It can
be used only in this way for us to actively manage it.
You can describe your business concept in detail and
provide an intellectual, in-depth explanation of it, but
as long as you do not know its drive logic, you know
nothing. An intellectual description of the business
concept is merely a section of a state that becomes a
mere figure of the past in that very same moment. The
business concept is a live, dynamic formation; therefore,
6 Concepts are not present only in the business world, but also in life in general. The Wright brothers managed to
fly only after they have formed a new view on flying – a new concept. They succeeded because they did not imitate
birds, flapping their wings.
"If you want to become a winner, you must first become one in your head. First, you need to
be, feel and think like a winner; only then you can realise yourself as a winner."
Tomaz Korelc
A good business concept is
actually like water, which may
be running fast or slow. It can
be lifted into the sky, diffused,
merged, it can take turns and
bypasses. It can be soft and
gentle or hard and sharp. It
can be visible or invisible. Like
water, it is completely flexible,
and in particular, it possesses
a strong tension towards its
destination – the ocean.

42
merely an intellectual understanding of the concept is
far from being enough. It is necessary to comprehend
and understand its essence, the drive logic that always
provides new experience, new ideas, new life. Perhaps,
the term trying to understand is better in this context,
because there is no one that truly understands the
concept; and this is good because it keeps the possibility
of surprise. And surprises are the nicest thing, often
offering surprising breakthroughs. Just like a good
business concept is open and dynamic, so is the
philosophy of the business concept open and dynamic.
The business concept is actually the most difficult to
copy, and thus it represents an extremely competitive
advantage over potential imitators and competitors.
Your competitors can copy your products and solutions,
butitismuchmoredifficulttocopythebusinessconcept,
and even more difficult to copy your understanding –
the logic – that stands behind all this.
Ask yourselves: Do I really understand the essence
of our business concept? How much time do I dedicate
to understanding the business concept? Do I take the
time to understand the business concept? What is the
driving force of our business concept? How many times
do we talk about our business concept? How many times
do we look at our business concept as a whole? Who in
the company is considering and actively managing the
business concept? What are we creating? What are we
really making? What is our driving force? What is our
real driving force? Constantly ask yourselves why, why,
why, why and why.
Are this its buildings,
technology, products, brand,
etc., or maybe its people?
Everything is important, but the
most important are the people
– the knowledge, the know-
how.
Is it their brand, technology,
employees, etc., or the location?
Everything is important, but the
most important is the location.
What is the driving force of
Krka?
What is the driving force of
Petrol?
Krka
Petrol
The Definition of Business Concept
What is a business concept?
A business concept is a system, also a model, of
integration of all the building blocks of your business,
which defines how your business operates and creates
added value.
“Tell me, what is it
you plan to do
Mary Oliver
with your one wild
and precious life.”

Become business
visionaries
For understanding and managing business concepts, you
need a similar state of mind than the first astronauts who
flew into space and looked back at our planet. Only by
looking at the blue planet, they realised its true essence,
the beauty of harmony and connectedness. Just a few
seconds ago, they were the Americans, the Russians, etc.,
but when they looked back at our planet, they became
inhabitants of the Earth – they comprehended that we
were all members of the Earth. They realised that they
were not separated from the others, but they were only
a part of the system, which we call planet Earth from
above. Even more, they realised that the concept of
Earth is embedded in a much broader concept – in the
Universe.
Just like the astronauts had to rise above the Earth to
truly understand the interconnectedness of its parts
– building blocks – into a coherent whole, so you too
must rise above the challenges of everyday life and look
at your business as a whole, so that you can monitor
and think about the different building blocks of your
company and develop potential concepts.
Rise above your company and look at your business and
operation concepts from above, completely unburdened
and without emotion or nostalgia. This will allow you
insight into your existing business concept and the
opportunity to develop new and innovative concepts.
Such a "rocket" view will open up completely new
perspectives and possibilities for you. It is essential
that you understand your business is not a complete
unit, but an interconnected and interdependent system
embedded in a broader system. You will feel that
your company is not only walls, distribution network,
suppliers and customers, but much more. You may find
that only with the view from above, you will see where
critical points, opportunities and possibilities are.
Russian and
American co-
operation
Countries compete with one
another, but when common
sense prevails, we can
create numerous synergies
and benefits with our co-
operation.
The International Space Station
is a transnational project that
transcends national interests.
“Do one thing
every day that
scares you.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

44
You will get a sense of boundlessness and
interconnectedness. The company will no longer be
narrowly defined, and borders will become increasingly
vague, transparent and permeable. You will become
endless and this is the right starting point – the mental
attitude of thinking about the innovative business
concept. When you reach this state, you can really start
thinking about the essence, about the very basics and
building blocks of your business concept. This way,
you will become fully open to the great insight – a
breakthrough idea for your business concept.
Play with different
business concepts
When you feel that you understand the entirety, which
you are part of, it is time for you to get to a lower level
and study the existing business concepts, play with them
and discover and learn while doing that. If necessary,
you can rise into the business "Universe" again, creatively
develop new business concepts, play with them, etc.
Keep on rising and getting to a lower level until you
get the breakthrough insight. This will be your starting
point for your new innovative business concept.
Support it at the top
The business concept must be supported and
encouraged at the very top of the company, that is, from
top to bottom. This should start from the basic mission
and vision of the company. While everyone should co-
operate in its design, so as to gain the genetic diversity
of ideas, views, perceptions, information, etc. It is
important to recognise that when creating, there will
never be complete consensus of the management when
it comes to the business concept; this is welcome because
it retains the genetic diversity, openness to new ideas,
changes, challenges and opportunities. The development
of a business concept requires breadth and openness of
everyone, not only the narrow or broader management.
This is also good for co-operation and teamwork as
conceptual thinking is eliminating the "gardening"
and nonsenses, as well as releases the shackles "of my
garden plot". In addition, it is also a motivating factor,
because healthy, target-oriented and responsible people
like being different, something special and unique. The
Google has done just that. Its
employees can allocate 20 per-
cent of their working time to
projects and activities at their
discretion. This means that one
day a week they can do some-
thing that is not in their job de-
scription. Are you still wonder-
ing why Google is so successful?
Nokia is a remarkable example
of a company that has been able
to realise revolutionary changes
in the business concept over
time. It started with woodwork-
ing, continued with the rubber
industry and moved to telecom-
munications. Today, it is facing a
new challenge; unsuccessfully,
for now. We will discover, why,
below.
Would you give 20 percent
of the working time to your
employees?
Has Nokia maintained its core
ability of regeneration?
Google
Nokia
“A year from now
you may wish
Karen Lamb
you had started
today.”

Benetton
How did Benetton develop
its well-known slogan United
Colors of Benetton?
Benetton would be an
unknown company today
if the businessman Luciano
Benetton had not created an
entirely new concept, with
which he could follow fashion
trends much faster than his
competitors. Benetton was
producing colourless clothing
and coloured them at the end
of the production process.
Additionally, Benetton was
among the first that introduced
information technology and
used it effectively in their
logistics process. This enabled
the company to lower the
costs and improved their
responsiveness. Consequently,
its products stood out from the
competition due to their colours
and a famous slogan was born:
United Colors of Benetton.
business concept allows them to take pride in what they
are creating.
Realise it
Every successful concept consists of two parts; the very
concept and the implementation. You can have the best
business concept written on paper or in your head, but if
you do not realise it, it is useless, even harmful, because
it causes your thoughts to wander.
No matter how good the business concept is, if its
introduction and management are inappropriate, it will
not bear fruit. Creating a business concept is an ongoing
and demanding process that requires diligence and sense
of responsibility. It also requires enthusiasm and energy,
because even the best business concept is nothing
without energetic implementation and even the best
breakthrough business concept becomes inconsistent
with time; therefore, it must be actively updated.
One of the keys to creating a breakthrough and highly
effective business concept is the ability to identify
existing business concepts, analysing, decomposing and
re-creating and manipulating various business concepts.
To succeed, you need a
common methodology
and a common language
If we cannot delineate the business concept and define
basic building blocks, we will be unable to develop,
upgrade and improve it. In doing so, we can help
ourselves with the methodology of the business concept,
which provides us with the fundamental building blocks
and steps that lead us towards creating the business
concept.
The methodology of the business concept allows us
to talk about the business concept, because we need a
single language in the company – that is, if we want to
jointly create innovative business concepts. This does
not mean that we all have the same opinion, but rather
the opposite, because diversity creates quality.

46
The majority of breakthrough
innovations is just a simple
business concept innovation.
The concept is a "mental model" that brings together
different parts of an interconnected and coherent
entirety. It also presents our way of thinking and acting,
because it tells how we are doing and performing
something.
Have you thought
about creating a R&D
business concept team
in your company?
This is a great way for you and your co-workers to
take the philosophy of the business concept seriously
and also constantly actively use it in your work and
thoughts.
The main tasks of the research and development
team for the business concept are:
To extract, isolate and identify existing
concepts, outdated concepts and dying
concepts
To identify the emerging concepts, concepts
of direct and indirect competitors, concepts
of other related and unrelated industries and
areas
And then rising above all the concepts and
develop your own, original and breakthrough
concept.
This is exactly what one of the
most successful marketing com-
panies in the world that owns
Pampers and Gillette, among
other things, developed. If you
join one of their sales or market-
ing conference as an outsider,
you will likely remain confused,
because you will be unable
to understand what they talk
about. They have developed
their very own language and
terminology, allowing them
greater loyalty to the company
and, consequently, forming a
unique culture. Namely, it is
known that the common lan-
guage connects people.
Have you thought about
creating your own language?
Procter & Gamble
1
2
3

The Philosophy
of the Business
Concept
Think – think differently!
If you want to create a victorious breakthrough and also
maintain your being victorious, you need to develop an
intuitive ability of conceptual, even holistic, thinking
about your business. It is important that you see your
business as a dynamic, interconnected system embedded
in a larger entirety.
Many business people all too often manage and monitor
only their little garden, while forgetting that they are
actually just a member in the broader system – in the
entirety. Such business people may come up with a
brilliant idea on some areas, but only one brilliant idea
is just a ticket to the graveyard of stars. The objective
of every victorious business person must be: "Becoming
a star, firmly on the business sky." If you do not want
to be left at the mercy of the financial storm, you need
a good understanding of the logic and driving force of
existing business concepts, habits and norms. When you
understand that, you are ready for a breakthrough – the
creation of a winning business concept. You should be
aware that innovations do not take place only at the level
of the product, but also at the level of business concepts.
In fact, the majority of victorious business concepts is a
simple innovation of existing business concepts.
Many victorious business persons have created their
creative and innovative concepts without the knowledge
of business concepts. They understood the basic driving
forces of business and followed their own intuition. In
today's world where everything is changing at lightning
speed, we need a constant creation of breakthroughs, not
merely a momentary "a-ha" breakthrough. This requires
a conceptual rather than purely intuitive thinking, and
of course knowledge of the philosophy of the business
concept and methodology. Without the conscious
knowledge of the business concept, this is extremely
difficult.
Automatic
Service Company
Eni gas station
at a primary
position
Who is a competitor of the
Automatic Service Company
– a vending machine service
provider?
Are you interested in
knowing what gas station is
one of the most successful
gas stations and why?
Eni gas station because they
have merged the concept of a
gas station with the concept of
the supermarket in the most ef-
ficient way. It is the >>
Automatic Service is a leading
company in the field of vending
machines in Slovenia. In their
operations, they are focusing
solely on their market of vend-
ing machines, while forgetting
that they are in fact only one
of the distribution points. Their
competitors are doing exactly
the same. Also because of this,
the market of vending machines
is relatively uninteresting and
non-dynamic. When a competi-
tive company will appear and
understand that the vending
machine is only one of the logis-
tics and sales forms, a strategic
breakthrough will happen.

48
In the best case scenario, the majority of the companies
consider the value chain or even just its individual
parts. It is therefore not surprising that the majority of
the companies have large black holes in their business
concepts; thus, they cannot see opportunities for
innovation in many parts of their business concept. A
victorious breakthrough requires a holistic conceptual
view of the entire business universe, and for that certain
knowledge is necessary. I would like to present the
philosophy of the business concept, basic approach,
as well as building blocks and tools that will enable
conceptual thinking about your business. You may take
away or add, as well as change individual elements and
components, because the philosophy of the business
concept is dynamic and open. Nothing is eternal and
absolute. Here, only the starting points for your thoughts
are given. Be creative, transform, develop and perfect
them. Create your own victorious and breakthrough
business concept.
The result of this process will lead to a strategic
business concept or structure of your business. Do not
be impatient, as conceptual thinking requires time,
attention and conscious work. Although the "Eureka
effect" may happen to you, you should be aware that
the "Eureka effect" is also the result of a long process.
It can happen in a second, but for this breakthrough
second, days, weeks or months of preparation are often
required. Not only the moment we get a breakthrough
idea or when you make a decision is important, but the
entire process, so start with conceptual thinking in an
integrated manner. Conceptual thinking requires proper
stance, proper thinking, proper understanding, proper
communication, proper action, proper concentration,
proper attention, focus and perseverance.
Ask yourselves: What is my model of reality – my
concept of reality? Am I aware of my concept? Do I
actively co-create it or is it formed spontaneously? Do
I dare to dream? Do I play with a variety of potential
business concepts? Do I know and understand the logic
>>largest gas station and also
the most profitable.
If you have been at one of the
TUŠ gas stations in the past, you
might find out why they have
sold them to a Hungarian com-
pany, MOL. I dare say that one
of the reasons for the failure of
TUŠ was, together with the ig-
norance of the fuel market, the
size of their gas stations – they
were simply too small.
Because it serves as a decoy for
a much larger stores that Kalček
has elsewhere in Ljubljana.
Trubarjeva Street is relatively
frequented and Kalček uses this
store to get customers and di-
vert them to other two stores.
At least that is what the sales
persons are telling. Is this really
a part of their business concept
or purely an emotional attach-
ment to the past and ration-
alisation of a probably relatively
ineffective unit, remains an un-
answered question.
If you want to succeed, you
must set yourselves free of all
emotional attachment. Being
completely detached is the key
to success.
Bio and eco are in trend, or
why a Kalček store, small and
very likely unprofitable, is
still operating on Trubarjeva
Street in Ljubljana?
Kalček store

and the driving force of my own business concept? Do
we talk a similar or different language in the company
when we think of business concepts? Do we even think
about business concepts? How often do we think about
the business concept? How many times do we ask
ourselves: "How could we have done this differently and
better ...?"
Become pervasive creators of
your business ...
You are infinite creators of your own destiny and you
have the power to create whatever you dare dream
of. Before your eyes, endless possibilities of different
combinations of distribution channels, partners,
customers, markets, people, etc., are spreading out.
These are the basic building blocks of your future
business concept. You can play with them, construct
them, combine them, transform them and set them up.
How you put together these building blocks and what
business concepts you create depends on you, your
core philosophy and strategy.
Imagine that you are a child with a big box of Legos.
The Legos are the building blocks of your business
concept. Just like children, you are also limited only
by your imagination, you can construct a scooter, a car
or a breakthrough business rocket. In the beginning,
you will have a few problems, but eventually you will
become more and more experienced, your creations
will become increasingly better and will provide more
breakthrough material. It is important to establish a
state of a creatively victorious child, when the world is
without limitations and anything is possible. Play with
the building blocks of the business concept with such
an attitude and you will not be short of breakthroughs.
Basically, such playing with business building blocks
is a spiritual training of every breakthrough business
person who is aware that a man needs to first win in
the spirit, then in the mind and only after that they can
also win in actions.
Tipro
What do Legos and
innovation have in common?
Tipro Keyboards Company took
the concept of stacking Legos
as a starting point for planning
its modular keyboards, which
can be stacked like building
blocks.This is an innovation that
customers appreciate, because
you can completely personalise
the product.
In Tipro Keyboards, the idea
came from the observation of
a children's game. Why would
not you include creativity and
games in your business? Have
you imagined that the solution
to your challenge may be in the
following question: "How would
a five-year-old child solve your
challenge?" Try it out, you may
be surprised.
Your company is a part of
the value chain
Thinking about the business concept begins with
thinking about the company as a link in the value chain.
Actually, this chain is more like a kind of business chain

50
network or molecule that has a certain direction and
creates value for target users. This is a kind of business
universe consisting of different planets – companies
connected into the solar system – business groups,
where everything is interconnected and co-dependent.
No company is self-sufficient and no company is
separated from the rest. In fact, a company is acting in a
certain value chain. All links in the value chain should
have some common interest, objective and direction,
because the company's success does not depend solely
on their own activities and performance, but on the
activities and performance of the entire value chain.
The behaviour of the leading companies that behave
extremely self-centred, closed and narrow is surprising.
Very few leaders manage to go beyond their own ego
limitations and are able to look at the business from
the perspective of the entire value chain and manage
their company with this in mind. In today's business
world, it is common practice that any company within
the value chain focuses solely on self-efficacy and self-
interest. Every company in the chain is focused solely
on itself and wants to squeeze out the most from their
suppliers and customers, while forgetting that they have
a common interest. In the short term, the philosophy of
focusing only on yourself may be successful, but in the
long run, it is not optimal. When everyone in the value
chain tends to maximise their personal gain, they are
acting selfishly and exhaust each other. In this way, they
do not reach optimal synergy effects in the long run.
And in the long run, everyone loses.
Experience has also led to the conclusion that the
introduction of improvements in individual, separate
Have you ever thought that
your competitors are actually
doing you a favour – the more
there are, the better for you?
If you have not, then think
about where you prefer going
for a cup of coffee or juice?
Most likely to places where you
have several different bars and
cafés at your disposal. Although
it seems like cafés are compet-
ing with one another, more ca-
fés at the same location are an
advantage for all cafés and bars
– namely, they create a syner-
gistic value chain and compete
with other value chains.
The same is true for BTC. BTC
creates a chain / ecosystem of
valuescompeting with other
value systems. Thus, every com-
pany within BTC has the com-
mon interest. Although they
are seemingly competing with
one another, they are also help-
ing one another. At the same
time, they are competitors and
allies. It is true, however, that
not all are aware of that. A nice
example of the unawareness of
the ecosystem is the Slovenian
tourist pearl, the ugly duckling
Bled.
The more competitors,
the better ...
BTC Citypark

parts and activities does not lead to optimal results and
returns. When links in the value chain go beyond their
own ego limitations (which is difficult, but possible)
and focus on the entire value chain, they can with
minimal inputs generate an optimal value for the end
user – the customer. Such companies have a tremendous
advantage over their competitors, because they have a
solid foundation, both inside and outside the company
– in the entire value chain.
Italy – weighing
scales
manufacturers
Have you ever thought that
you would co-operate with
your biggest rivals?
The most successful compa-
nies often join seemingly para-
doxical elements and building
blocks in their business con-
cept. In this way, the Italian
weighing scales manufacturers
transformed their biggest com-
petitors (other weighing scales
manufacturers) into their great-
est allies. This was done so that
they have interconnected in the
development phase.
Therefore, they could:
1. Significantly reduce the cost
of their own development
2. Increase knowledge and
innovation
3. Create bigger development
resources like they would as
an individual company
The idea is quite simple. In
the development, we are
associating and co-operating
with each other to develop the
best possible product, while
at the stage of marketing and
sales, each of the partners
competes independently
and represents ruthless
competitors. Some car
manufacturers considered a
similar philosophy.
Toyota Prius
When green is no longer green!
Toyota Prius was advertised as the most ecological
car ever – and yet the truth is completely different. It
is true that the car is driven by an electric motor and
is inherently ecological, but the manufacturing of this
car is utterly non-ecological and creates extremely
harmful side effects and environmental burdens. If we
look from a broader perspective,Toyota Prius produces
several times more pollution than the average car
during its lifetime. If we want to recognise the real
impact, we need to look holistically. A detailed view is
often misleading and is not optimal. It is essential to
optimise the entire chain / ecosystem of values and not
just a single element.
Many companies have gone bankrupt or found
themselves in trouble, because they have exhausted their
partners too much. Therefore, it is necessary to consider
each company as a link connected into a larger entirety
– the value chain.
The philosophy of the entire value chain focuses on the
achievements of the company as part of a larger entirety
– the value chain – and not on the achievements of
individuals, functions or companies within the chain. It
recognises that everyone in the value chain can maintain
the momentum and strength only when acting in the
common interest.

52
Customer
Customer
Customer
Snaga Maribor
"Ecologists", wake up – your ecology is non-
ecological!
We are all witnesses to passionate waste separation.
At first glance, separating waste is desirable and
positive, but if waste removal and all costs, as well
as environmental burden associated with that are
taken into consideration, the picture is no longer
exactly the same. I wonder whether or not the CO2
load due to such waste removal is greater than that
of non-separated waste. What presents more strain
on the environment, I do not know. The fact is that
in Slovenia, nobody is dealing with an integrated
ecological approach, not the society, the communities,
companies nor organisations. Everyone wants to
optimise the individual building blocks, rather than the
system as a whole, and therefore the system as a whole
remains far more unoptimised.
It is high time to change that. Let us be the first!
What is a value chain?
A value chain is a set of companies or players that work
together to meet a particular market need.
An example of a value chain:
Yes, even Slovenia is an ecosys-
tem that creates value for all
citizens. In fact, all citizens of
the Republic of Slovenia are a
part of the ecosystem that cre-
ates value. By co-operating or
not co-operating, we optimise
the ecosystem or destroy it. Be
your own judge of what is going
on in our society. And next time
there are elections, have a holis-
tic view and be aware that Slo-
venia is an ecosystem in which
you live.
Is Slovenia an ecosystem that
creates value?
The independence
of Slovenia
Unfortunately, companies still all too often live under
the illusion that there is competition between individual
companies. In fact, there is no competition between
different companies, but between different value chains
(between companies that are connected into a common
value chain).
COMPANY COMPANY 2 DISTRIBUTION SALE
Suppliers
Suppliers

The best optimisation is
to optimise the entire
value chain
Anyone striving towards a flexible company must first
understand the needs and principles of the entire chain.
Only in the second step, it is desirable to focus on one's
own needs. That is the biggest challenge for managers,
because most of them sees their own needs first and only
then, if at all, the needs of the entire value chain. The
synchronisation of needs between the links of the value
chain is a major challenge for managers. Despite the
obvious advantages of mutual co-operation, it is difficult
to achieve co-operation and consistent operation within
the chain7
. It seems that the philosophy of the value
chain is exercised especially where there is a dominant
company that is capable of "convincing" others for a
joint chain. Each value chain actually needs a dominant
leader – a company that conducts the tempo, is the main
driving force and the connecting link in the chain. A
dominant company can design the entire philosophy
– the concept of value chain and ensures its effective
implementation. The most powerful in the chain is the
main carrier of value chain and as such also carries the
greatest responsibility for the success of the value chain.
Although the philosophy of the value chain is rather
idealistic, you must understand it if you want to
actively manage your business concept. In fact, the
philosophy of the business concept, which talks about
different building blocks and companies, is derived
from the philosophy of the value chain. It is a fact that
innovative changes in value chain often lead to business
breakthroughs.
7Ofcourse,itispossiblethataparticularcompanyisactinginaseries
of value chains, which further complicates the implementation of
the philosophy of the value chain in the real world.
Illy Caffe
Zara
The vertical optimisation of
the value chain.
Success against all trends.
The Italian manufacturer of cof-
fee, Illy Caffe, has with the desire
to optimise the value chain per-
formed vertical integration of
key elements in creating a good
cup of coffee. From the planta-
tion to your cup of coffee. Thus,
it controls all critical points that
ensure the company superior
quality and business success.
The majority of companies is
disintegrated and is outsourc-
ing the majority of insignificant
and non-core components. In
contrast to this trend, Zara has
directly or indirectly joined the
entire value chain under its
wing. And this vertical integra-
tion gives it flexibility and abil-
ity to quickly adapt to market
conditions.

54
Amazon.com gave the publish-
ing industry completely new di-
mensions with its Kindle e-read-
er. They skipped the printing
houses, publishers and book-
sellers, and offered authors di-
rect contact with their readers.
It seems that the entire industry
branches will be disappearing
in the future. Conventional pub-
lishing will very likely be over in
five to ten years or it will only
exist for limited circles.
Many companies have failed
when faced with their greatest
success. An example of this was
also a social network for social-
ising and communicating with
friends – Friendster. The success
exceeded all their expectations.
It was phenomenal, because
their social network was grow-
ing exponentially. Unfortunate-
ly, they were not technologi-
cally prepared for such a great
success and their own social
network crashed due to over-
load. Since it did not work, users
have found another, more ro-
bust social network – Facebook.
Creating a completely new
concept of value chain with
technology.
How can success ruin
you?
Amazon.com –
Kindle
Friendster
Apple
Eliminate competitors!
Have you ever asked yourselves: "Why is Apple so
successful?"
Your answer would most probably be that because
it has an excellent product, an excellent design or
excellent marketing. All this is true but one of the main
building blocks of Apple's success is invisible at the
first sight. This is its ability of management of logistics,
processes and critical points in the process. Do you
imagine having a superior product with excellent sales
and selling several hundred thousand pieces in the first
month? These are apparent dreams of every company,
but if something like this really happened, this dream
would be quickly transformed into your biggest
nightmare. Your system would not be able to produce
these quantities and meet customer requirements.
The essence of Apple's success lies in the ability of
rapid and effective dissemination of its products
around the world faster than any of its competitors.
Apple actually controls the entire value chain and has
perfected it almost to the optimum. How did they
succeed? With innovative approaches and integrated
view of the business. Apple has leased almost the
entire production of processors used for mobile
phones and tablet computers. The business was worth
several billions of USD. And this way, Apple ensured
a competitive advantage for a few years and thus
eliminated from the competitive game most of their
competitors.
Have you thought about something like that?
Ask yourselves: "How fast am I capable to deliver our
product to our customers?"

How to identify and
create a business
concept?
For a successful work with business concepts, we need
the ability of identification and also creation of business
concepts. The ability of identification is used in the
analysis of existing business concepts, and the ability
of creation in designing of new innovative business
concepts.
Designing and identification of business concept are
two completely different approaches. When identifying
the business concept, we should first ask ourselves with
what and how, and only afterwards what and why. We
start from an already existing concept.
When designing the business concept, we first ask
ourselves why and what do we want, and only then we
are searching for optimal solutions for reaching the
optimal purposes and goals. We start from our needs
and desires, and search only for the best possible concept
for satisfying and meeting them.
A. The process of identifying business concept:
Concept Process Objective Purpose
With what?
With that.
How?
So.
What?
This.
Why?
For this reason.
B. The process of creating the business concept:
Purpose Objective Process Concept
Why?
For this reason.
What?
This.
How?
So.
With what?
With that.
The process of creating a business concept is actually a
kind of a feedback loop. The core of the designing of a
business concept is its mission, vision and philosophy.
The core is its purpose and from it stems all the rest.
Therefore, we must first ask ourselves about the purpose
of the business concept. What exactly is the purpose and
objective of our business concept? Let us ask ourselves:
“Why are we doing something?” or “What do we want
to do?”, and only then: “How are we doing this or how
“The greatest danger
for us all is not that
our goals are too high
and we miss them,
Michelangelo
but that they are
too low and we
reach them.”

56
info@creatoor.com 01 620 33 10 www.creatoor.com Figure: The process of designing the business concept
are we going to do this?” and “What are we going to work
with or do?”
Steps towards creating a business concept;
1. Identification of the basic purpose – aim, objective
2. Designing of a business concept
3. Segmentation and decomposition of the business
concept
4. Designing of a business concept
5. Implementation, communication and networking
6. Managing the business concept
7. Strategic feedback and learning
8. Changes, improvements, adjustments, etc.
Mission
Vision
Philosophy
Values
Culture
Desire,
motivation,
determination,
action
Strategic
feedback and
learning
Managing the
business concept
Implementation,
communication
and networking
Changing,
learning,
improving,
adapting
Designing of a
business concept
The breakdown
and
decomposition
of the business
concept
Designing of a
business concept

The Building
Blocks of
the Business
Concept
For an easier understanding and management of
business concepts, we are going to use the metaphor
of a business rocket, where the rocket symbolises your
business concept, and the space, in which it travels,
symbolises the business environment, in which it
operates. When you play with a variety of business
concepts, the metaphor of a business rocket can simplify
the visualisation of your business concept. And above all,
it simplifies the methodology of the business concept.
Everything a rocket has is everything your business
concept has: the engine, fuel. navigator, frame, the tip,
which it cuts the air with, and the support centre.
The engine of your business concept is your core
philosophy, which includes the leading philosophy,
organisational culture, mission, vision, basic strategic
purpose, strategic insight and your history.
Your fuel is strategic resources and supporting business
network. Strategic resources include your core abilities,
skills, strategic assets and core processes. The supporting
business network includes your suppliers, partners, as
well as alliances and strategic partnerships.
Your navigator is your leading strategy, which includes
strategic orientation, strategic web, strategic action plan,
strategic priorities and strategic action.
Your breakthrough point – tip that allows you to quickly
and effectively operate is the monopoly leverage,
which includes increasing profits, eliminating of the
competition, business strategy, strategic flexibility and
strength of the brand.
“One arrow alone can be
easily broken but
Genghis Khan
many arrows are
indestructible.”

58
Your framework is satisfying the needs of your
customers, which includes satisfying and supporting
your customers, information interface, dynamics of
relations, profitability of customers and opinion leaders.
The elements of your business rocket combine your
corporate identity, internal organisation, external links
and the transmission of value.
Of course, your rocket is aimed at achieving objectives –
it has its own direction and a key objective.
The rocket has the control centre or support base that
consists of the synergy and coherence, effectiveness,
strategic information, uniqueness, the penetration of
thought, openness to new and innovative, flexibility
and responsiveness, the flow of knowledge, learning and
growth, confidence and incentives, mutual cooperation
and teamwork, as well as monitoring and control.
than you think."
The Almighty
"You are stronger
you wish to see in
the world.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“You must be
the change

Business is a
rocket science
II. Part

60
Hannibal
,,I will either
find a way, or make one.,,

Breakthrough point / tip
Strategic sources
Supporting business network
Monopoly leverage
Satisfying customer needs
Core philosophy
Leading strategy
The example of business concept display:

62
“Knowledge without action is lost; and action without knowledge is
dangerous.“
Methodology of the business concept basically consists
of six building blocks (core philosophy, leading strategy,
strategic resources, supporting business network,
satisfying the customer needs and monopoly leverage)
that are mutually intertwined with five connecting
blocks.
The corporate identity connects the core philosophy
with the core strategy. The internal organisation
connects the leading strategy with strategic resources.
The transmission of value connects the leading strategy
with customer satisfaction. The external links connect
strategic resources with the supporting network. And
the provision of advantages connects satisfying the
customer needs with monopoly leverage.
Sixbasicbuildingblockssupportandprovideelevenbasic
/ supporting blocks (synergy and consistency, efficiency,
strategic information, uniqueness, breakthrough
thinking, openness to new and innovation, flexibility
and responsiveness, the flow of knowledge and learning,
trust and encouragement, cooperation and teamwork,
monitoring and control).
Basic building blocks, connecting building blocks and
supporting building blocks together form the whole –
the business concept.
In real life, business concepts do not include all the
building blocks, but only those that are relevant to the
business concept. For all those who want to effectively
manage business concepts, the knowledge of all the
building blocks is important, due to the fact that we can
effectively manage business concepts and create new
and original business concepts.
Confucius

The business concept consists of the
following building blocks that are
mutually intertwined and create a
business concept.
• Leading objectives
• Basic building blocks of the business concept
o Core philosophy
o Leading strategy
o Strategic resources
o Supporting business network
o Satisfying customer needs and
o Monopoly leverage
• Connecting building concepts of the business
concept:
o Corporate identity (connects the core
philosophy and the leading strategy)
o Internal organisation (connects the leading
strategy with strategic resources)
o External connections (connect strategic
resources with the supporting business
network)
o Transmission of value (connects the leading
strategy with satisfying the customer needs)
and
o Provision of benefits (connects satisfying the
customer needs with monopoly leverage)
• Supporting blocks of the business concept:
o Synergy and coordination
o Efficiency
o Strategic information
o Uniqueness
o Breakthrough thinking
o Openness to new – innovation and
inventiveness at all levels
o Flexibility and responsiveness
o Flow of knowledge, learning and growth
o Trust and encouragement
o Cooperation and teamwork
o Monitoring and control
A rose is full of thorns or
the most beautiful flower
...

64
Please be aware that the business concept is only a
photography, a cross-section of the state at any given
time. When designing the business concept, the process
is important, too. Therefore, it is important that you
understand your current business concept, as well as the
process that brought to the current business concept.
What is more important is the fact that you are capable
of creating new breakthrough business concepts. I will
present the individual building blocks of the business
concept, which will allow you an insight into the
creation of innovative business concepts. You will learn
the philosophy of the business concept and its building
blocks, and it is up to you how and where you will use
this new knowledge.
Dizzy Heights
Nevermore, oh, it cannot be
true
Nevermore, oh, it cannot be
true
My wings frozen with fear ...
I will never be able to fly again
and I never realised
that they're just paper,
dragons,
hovering over me for so long.
My mother used to say,
that when you're high, you
cannot see everything,
and you never realise
that it's just paper,
the smiles
that smile with you for so
long.
Dizzy heights!
Hide me with your palm,
your soft palm,
your warm palm.
Take me to your side,
hide me in your palm.
You can send me back tonight,
I just want to be
seen next to you.
Aleš Klinar
HRAST (OAK TREE)
Strastna- Passionate
Totalna- Total
Revolucionarna- Revolutionary
Akcija- Action
Hrabrih- of the Brave

2. Leading objectives
13. Breakthrough point / tip
CREATING NEW VALUE
1. CORE PHILOSOPHY
1.1 Leading philosophy
1.2. Leading organisational culture
1.3. Mission and vision of the
company
1.4. Basic strategic purpose
1.5. Strategic insight
1.6. History
3. Corporative
identity
8. SUPPORTING BUSINESS NETWORK
8.1. Suppliers
8.2. Partners
8.3. Alliances – coalitions
8.4 Strategic alliances / connections
5. STRATEGIC RE-
SOURCES
5.1. Core capabilities
5.2. Knowledge and skills
5.3. Strategic assets
5.4. Core processes
5.5. Technology
7. External links
6. Internal organisation
10. SATISFYING CUSTOMERS
10.1. Satisfaction and support
10.2. Information interface
10.3. The dynamics of relations
10.4. Profitability of customers
10.5. Opinion leaders
4. LEADING STRATEGY
4.1. Strategic orientation
4.2. Strategic web
4.3. Strategic action plan
4.4. Strategic priorities
12. MONOPOLY LEVERAGE
12.1. Increasing profits
12.2. Elimination of competition
12.3. Business strategies
12.4. Strategic adaptability
12.5. The philosophy of business
12.6. Brand
12.7. Management team & people
14.1 Synergy and coherence
14.2. Efficiency
14.3. Strategic information
14.4. Uniqueness
14.5. Breakthrough thinking
14.6. Openness to new – innovation at
all levels
14.7. Flexibility and responsiveness
14.8. Learning and growth
14.9. Trust and respect
14.10. Cooperation – team work
14.11. Monitoring and control
9. Transmission of value
11. Ensuring advantages
Scheme:
Business rocket
(building blocks of the business
concept)
14. BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS

Breaktrough = Creatoor; Innovative Business Concepts

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