Venture Design
The question was not whether homeowners liked the concept. It was whether the people required to make the model work saw enough value in participating.
The Sears / Bob Vila joint venture was designed to create a new digital home-improvement business.
The concept brought together assets that appeared complementary. Bob Vila had strong consumer recognition in home improvement. Sears had established brands, services, and customer relationships. Digital project-management tools and eCommerce could help homeowners plan projects, access products and services, and connect with contractors.
On the surface, the opportunity was compelling.
But the value proposition depended on more than homeowners finding the idea appealing. The business needed contractors to participate, because they were essential to delivering the outcome the homeowner expected.
I joined the leadership team to help shape the venture's strategy, operating model, and pre-launch plan.
A key part of the work was testing the core business assumptions with both consumers and contractors.
Consumers responded positively. The Bob Vila brand and the idea of making home improvement easier had clear appeal.
But contractor research told a different story. Contractors were not simply a distribution channel or a downstream implementation detail. They were a required participant in the model. And they did not see enough value in participating in a venture associated with the Bob Vila brand.
That finding changed the meaning of the consumer response.
The venture could only create value if each essential participant had a reason to take part:
Homeowners needed help planning and completing projects. Contractors needed a credible reason to join, engage, and create value through the platform. Sears needed a model that connected those interactions to its home-improvement capabilities.
The original concept had a strong consumer-facing proposition. It did not yet have a sufficiently strong contractor proposition.
No amount of consumer interest could solve that gap on its own.
The research led leadership to reassess the model and significantly reduce the planned scope.
That was not a failure of research. It was the work of using evidence before committing more resources to a model whose essential participation economics had not been proven.
The goal was not to defend the original idea. It was to understand where the venture could create real value and where the participation model could not support the vision as initially conceived.
A customer outcome often depends on a network of participants, not simply on the person who buys the product or service.
I look beyond the visible customer response to ask what every essential participant needs in order for the value-creation model to work. In this case, the most important insight was not that consumers liked the concept. It was that the venture could not deliver the promised outcome without a compelling reason for contractors to participate.
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