Business Thinking for Designers

• Disintermediation (a.k.a. cutting out the middleman) – 
Selling directly to customers by forgoing retail partners. 
This allows a manufacturer to lower costs and own the 
full relationship with the customer. Successful examples 
include Casper, Warby Parker, and Dell.
• Franchising – A company licenses the use of its business 
model, brand, and the rights to sell its products or 
services. McDonald’s, Allstate, and H&R Block are all 
franchises.
• Low Touch – Selling products and services with minimal 
interaction between the company and the customer. IKEA 
and EasyJet do this. So does SurveyMonkey.
• Razor Blade – A low profit-margin product that requires 
high-cost or high-regularity companion products. 

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Explore business concepts
Disposable razor blades, ink-jet printers, and the Amazon 
Kindle all use this model.