Does your revenue model encourage sufficiency rather than continuous new production and consumption?

Business as Usual stimulates non-stop production and consumption

IKEA

IKEA has built one of the world’s most successful retail models around affordable home furnishing at scale. Its low prices and wide product range make furniture accessible, but also encourage frequent purchases, replacements, and impulse buying.

Although IKEA has introduced circular initiatives and sustainability goals, its core revenue model still depends on selling high volumes of new products, including kitchens, furniture, and home accessories. Growth is tied to expanding into new markets and increasing customer spending. Even when material use becomes more efficient per product, overall material use still increases when circularity initiatives remain downstream of a growth-driven business model (Jevons paradox).

This creates a structural tension. A company cannot promote sufficiency while depending on continuous production and consumption for revenue. As long as business success is measured by selling more units, resource use and waste remain built into the model.

Future Entrepreneurs limit their customers' consumption

Chainable

Chainable offers kitchens as a service instead of a one-time product sale. Customers pay for access and use, while the company retains ownership over materials and components.

Because Chainable remains responsible for maintenance, repair, and end-of-use recovery, it has a direct financial incentive to design kitchens that last longer, are modular, and can be reused multiple times. Waste and premature replacement become costs instead of revenue opportunities.

This shifts the business logic from selling more to maximizing product lifespan and utilization. Revenue is linked to service, maintenance, and circular value retention rather than pushing customers toward unnecessary upgrades or new purchases.

What you can do

If you want to design a revenue model like a Future Entrepreneur, here are some practical tips:

• Sell performance instead of ownership
  Explore service-based models where customers pay for access, use, or outcomes instead of constantly buying new products.
• Make durability financially attractive
  Design revenue streams around maintenance, upgrades, repairs, and refurbishment rather than planned replacement.
• Define a point of sufficiency where growth is no longer required
  Design your business so it reaches a stable operating level where it can remain financially healthy without needing continuous expansion.