The 5-step plan to map your business model portfolio.
You've got dozens of initiatives running. But do you actually know which ones are making real impact? Most organizations are drowning in a sea of projects without knowing what deserves priority. The result: scattered resources, missed opportunities, and strategic blindness. Time to change that.
Why you need a portfolio map
Most organizations don't lack ideas or ambition; they lack a systematic way to visualize, analyze and manage their portfolio. Without a clear map you have no overview of which initiatives are running, resources flow to whoever shouts loudest, teams duplicate work, white spaces stay invisible, and search initiatives get judged with execute metrics. A portfolio map brings everything onto one page and gives you the language for strategic conversations.
Step 1: Define your innovation strategy
Before you plot anything, translate your long-term vision into value spaces: three to five strategic themes that define your opportunity areas, like circular products or transparent supply chains for a sustainability-focused retailer. Everything that doesn't fall into these spaces is out of scope. Value spaces must be ambitious enough to be transformative but specific enough to be actionable.
Step 2: Determine your portfolio scope
Decide how much you invest across time horizons using the Three Horizons framework: Horizon 1 is your mature core business, Horizon 2 is adjacent growth, Horizon 3 is transformational bets. A general benchmark is 70/20/10, but industry dynamics, competitive position and financial situation shift the balance. Count talent and management attention, not just budget; many organizations think they do H2/H3 while 95% of resources sit in H1.
Step 3: Map your current business models
List every business model and initiative, then determine its lifecycle stage. The search side runs from define strategy through explore, build and grow, with milestones like opportunity fit, problem validation and problem-solution fit. The execute side runs from optimize through amplify, sustain and divest. Plot each model on the portfolio map by value space and lifecycle stage, the way Disney and Amazon's portfolios can be visualized.
Step 4: Analyze performance and gaps
With the map on the table, use the four boardroom questions: Growth (where is future growth?), Synergy (where can models strengthen each other?), Adaptation (what should we protect in the core?), and Ambition (does this portfolio match our vision?). Then hunt for white spaces: value spaces without H2/H3 initiatives, pipeline gaps, and overcrowded phases. White spaces are your strategic opportunities, or warning signals.
Step 5: Identify investment priorities
A nice map without action is just a visual artifact. Accelerate initiatives with strong evidence of traction and strategic fit; sustain healthy performers; and stop initiatives that show no traction, no longer fit your strategy or drain resources. Stopping is the hardest decision, thanks to sunk costs, emotional attachment and politics, but stopping isn't failing. The best portfolios stop fast and cheap to make room for the winners.
Ideas intoaction.
Explore the possibilities with Patrick van der Pijl and the BMI team. Every big shift starts with a conversation.