Business case
Business model
The IO business model is meant to sustainably uphold the ecosystem. It is built on income models for the short term and long term. IO will eventually exist as a perpetual public good, a commons. It should be noted that a thriving ecosystem around the IO will likely form. This ecosystem can benefit from the existence of such a commons.
In the short term, the main attraction for companies to use IO will be for Impact Reporting. **The market currently is focused on ESG metrics, possibly some CSR and other terminologies and methodologies. Using IO integrates these metrics in order to price material impact. As a feature, the IO can utilize pricing mechanism to also sort and rate a company’s activities.
Not only will the company gain from the functionality of offsetting/incorporating/generating externalities, but they will also receive a full report of that impact. This can be used for voluntary and non-voluntary reporting.
This is possible due to the fact that the IO will be automated and connected to legacy systems. This reduces the need for reporting departments and consultants, acilitates easier reporting, enables better data for decision-making, and diminishes the need for departments and consultants.
Current costs of these types of reporting are anywhere between a few thousand USD to millions, depending on the company.
In the long term, the ecosystem will perpetuate itself through fees. Using the smart contracts incurs a small fee that goes to the IO treasury and for role fulfillment. This is a source of long-term income that will appreciate in value in the treasury as the IO ecosystem grows and thrives.
Eventually, the system should be automated to a degree where some roles become unnecessary (marketing, branding, onboarding), and only stakeholder engagement and stewardship remain.
Ecosystem complementary services:
As the ecosystem will grow services such as the following will emerge to benefit from the IO: