Explore what existing success makes possible
Existing success can provide foundations for a new business without prescribing its offer. Carbon Tanzania developed and marketed high-integrity, verified carbon credits based on protecting forest landscapes, channelling resources into local communities and Indigenous people. Its founders, Marc and Jo, wanted to explore whether that success could inspire more people worldwide to adopt a value-based outlook on conservation.
A two-day workshop in Arusha examined possible directions for a new business built on those foundations. Subsequent workshops with key stakeholders from Level, the new global brand established by Carbon Tanzania's founders, generated unexpected possibilities and two prospective offers.
The practical starting point is to ask what an established success makes possible, rather than assume the new venture should reproduce the original organisation. In McKinsey & Company's 2025 survey of companies with annual revenue of at least $100 million across 66 nations and multiple industries, 72% of respondents whose companies built ventures from assets with unrealized potential reported above-average company growth.
Sources: Carbon dating: the power of trust and relationships in driving business strategy, Ready to reinvent? Challenge accepted.