For example, a group of partners could deliver a mobile business solution to a customer for mutual benefit. The solution could be, for example, allowing a water company to remotely monitor its water pipes around the country such that if water stops flowing as freely through the pipes, a mobile phone connected to a water flow meter can send a text-based message as a warning to the water network center or direct to a service engineer who can investigate the possible leak. This means you get to know information without actually having to be physically present to find out whats going on with the pipes. The network service provider sells the phones and gets a share of the revenue from messages sent the systems integrator earns a fee for integrating the water flow meters with the mobile phones and building the leak warnings into the host water network center systems the customer can meet its business requirements more quickly and cheaply, avoiding costly leaks. This customer can in turn serve its customers more reliably and so on and so forth.
Profit is measured as income minus costs.
If party 1 in a transaction incurs a cost from using party 2, both parties can still earn a profit if the income they earn from providing the service exceeds the cost of obtaining that service. All parties provide complimentary roles to each other, each of which is critical to the development and delivery of the solution. In return for making these skills available, each party earns a positive return. Obviously, the extent to which different parties profit is open to negotiation. The greater the sales of phones and use of airtime, the greater the discount that the purchasing people at the end customer are likely to able to negotiate.