Business ecosystem consists of a customer, complements, and components

In a business ecosystem, the ultimate central actor is the Customer who bundles many products (Complements) to fulfil some need.

Without all Complements, the Customer is not able to fulfil the need.

The focal point can be shifted to companies producing Components, as they also bundle other products to make a Complement. Those products are called Components.

graph LR
    FC["Final Customers"]
    FFP["Focal Firm Product"]
    CA["Complementor A"]
    CB["Complementor B"]
    CC["Complementor C"]
    SCA["Component A"]
    SCB["Component B"]
    SCC["Component A"]

	SCA --> FFP
	SCB --> FFP
	SCC --> FFP

    CA --> FC
    CB --> FC
    CC --> FC
    FFP --> FC
    
    classDef default fill:#1971c2,stroke:#1971c2,stroke-width:2px;
    class FC,FFP,CA,CB,CC,SCA,SCB,SCC default;

Important

A business ecosystem is not fully controlled by one company. The heart of the business ecosystem is the interplay between many actors where these interactions are complex and influence other interactions within the ecosystem.