diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0ea9de3..6bdd727 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@ dist/
 .scannerwork/
 **/*.log
 *.tgz
+coverage
+.idea
diff --git a/karma.conf.js b/karma.conf.js
index 0153bda..942d55c 100644
--- a/karma.conf.js
+++ b/karma.conf.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ const customLaunchers = {
   }
 };
 
+
 module.exports = function(config) {
   config.set({
     basePath: '',
diff --git a/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.custom.spec.ts b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.custom.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39edc11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.custom.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+ * This file is licensed to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy
+ * of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under
+ * the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS
+ * OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language
+ * governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { async, ComponentFixture, TestBed } from '@angular/core/testing';
+import { BrowserDynamicTestingModule } from '@angular/platform-browser-dynamic/testing';
+import { AEMComponentDirective } from './aem-component.directive';
+import { Component, Input } from '@angular/core';
+import { ComponentMapping, MapTo, LazyMapTo, AbstractMappedComponent } from './component-mapping';
+import { Utils } from './utils';
+import { LazyComponentType } from "../test/lazy-component-wrapper/lazy.component";
+import {CustomDefaultRenderer} from "../test/aem-component-directive/custom-default-renderer";
+import {CustomDirective} from "../test/aem-component-directive/customdirective";
+
+
+
+
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'test-component',
+  template: `<ng-container CustomDirective [cqItem]='data'></ng-container>`
+})
+class AEMDirectiveTestComponent {
+  @Input() data;
+}
+
+
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'directive-component',
+  host: {
+    '[attr.attr1]': 'attr1',
+    '[attr.attr2]': 'attr2',
+    '[class]': 'hostClasses'
+  },
+  template: `<div></div>`
+})
+class DirectiveComponent extends AbstractMappedComponent {
+  @Input() attr1;
+  @Input() attr2;
+
+  get hostClasses() {
+    return 'component-class';
+  }
+}
+MapTo<DirectiveComponent>('directive/comp')(DirectiveComponent);
+LazyMapTo<LazyComponentType>('some/lazy/comp')(() => import('../test/lazy-component-wrapper/lazy.component').then((m) => m.LazyComponent));
+
+describe('AEMComponentDirective - Custom', () => {
+
+  const EDIT_CONFIG_EMPTY_LABEL = 'Edit config empty label';
+
+  const TEST_EDIT_CONFIG_EMPTY = {
+    emptyLabel: EDIT_CONFIG_EMPTY_LABEL,
+    isEmpty: () => {
+      return true;
+    }
+  };
+
+  const TEST_EDIT_CONFIG_NOT_EMPTY = {
+    emptyLabel: EDIT_CONFIG_EMPTY_LABEL,
+    isEmpty: function() {
+      return false;
+    }
+  };
+
+  let component: AEMDirectiveTestComponent;
+  let fixture: ComponentFixture<AEMDirectiveTestComponent>;
+
+  let isInEditorSpy;
+  let getEditConfigSpy;
+
+  beforeEach(async(() => {
+    isInEditorSpy = spyOn(Utils, 'isInEditor').and.returnValue(false);
+    getEditConfigSpy = spyOn(ComponentMapping, 'getEditConfig').and.returnValue(undefined);
+
+    TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+      declarations: [ AEMDirectiveTestComponent, DirectiveComponent,CustomDefaultRenderer,CustomDirective, AEMComponentDirective ]
+    }).overrideModule(BrowserDynamicTestingModule, {
+      set: {
+        entryComponents: [ DirectiveComponent,  CustomDefaultRenderer,CustomDirective ]
+      }
+    })
+      .compileComponents();
+  }));
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    fixture = TestBed.createComponent(AEMDirectiveTestComponent);
+    component = fixture.componentInstance;
+  });
+
+  it('should render the fallback component', async () => {
+    const componentData = {
+      attr1: 'Some value',
+      attr2: 'Another value',
+      ':customType': 'missing/directive/comp'
+    };
+
+    component.data = componentData;
+    fixture.detectChanges();
+
+    await fixture.whenStable();
+
+    const element = fixture.nativeElement;
+    const dynamicElement = element.firstElementChild;
+
+    expect(dynamicElement.innerHTML).toEqual("<div id=\"myCustomComponent\">test</div>")
+  });
+
+
+
+});
diff --git a/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.spec.ts b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.spec.ts
index 44bfd8d..953da26 100644
--- a/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.spec.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,36 @@ describe('AEMComponentDirective', () => {
     expect(dynamicElement.getAttribute('attr1')).toEqual(componentData['attr1']);
     expect(dynamicElement.getAttribute('attr2')).toEqual(componentData['attr2']);
   });
+  it('should not render anything', () => {
+    const componentData = {
+      attr1: 'Some value',
+      attr2: 'Another value',
+      ':type': 'missing/directive/comp'
+    };
+
+    component.data = componentData;
+    fixture.detectChanges();
+
+    const element = fixture.nativeElement;
+    const dynamicElement = element.firstElementChild;
+
+    expect(dynamicElement).toBeNull();
+  });
+  it('should render the fallback component', () => {
+    const componentData = {
+      attr1: 'Some value',
+      attr2: 'Another value',
+      ':type': 'missing/directive/comp'
+    };
+
+    component.data = componentData;
+    fixture.detectChanges();
+
+    const element = fixture.nativeElement;
+    const dynamicElement = element.firstElementChild;
+
+    expect(dynamicElement).toBeNull();
+  });
   it('should correctly pass the inputs for lazy component', async() => {
     const componentData = {
       some: 'Some value',
diff --git a/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.ts b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.ts
index e1f81db..fbbbc79 100644
--- a/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.ts
+++ b/src/lib/layout/aem-component.directive.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ import {
   ViewContainerRef
 } from '@angular/core';
 
-import { ComponentMapping, MappedComponentProperties } from './component-mapping';
+import {
+  ComponentMapping,
+  ComponentMappingProvider,
+  ComponentMappingWithConfig,
+  MappedComponentProperties
+} from './component-mapping';
 import { Constants } from './constants';
 import { Utils } from './utils';
 
@@ -93,18 +98,18 @@ export class AEMComponentDirective implements AfterViewInit, OnInit, OnDestroy,
 
 
   constructor(
-    private renderer: Renderer2,
-    private viewContainer: ViewContainerRef,
-    private compiler: Compiler,
-    private injector: Injector,
-    private factoryResolver: ComponentFactoryResolver,
-    private _changeDetectorRef: ChangeDetectorRef) {
+    protected renderer: Renderer2,
+    protected viewContainer: ViewContainerRef,
+    protected compiler: Compiler,
+    protected injector: Injector,
+    protected factoryResolver: ComponentFactoryResolver,
+    protected _changeDetectorRef: ChangeDetectorRef) {
   }
 
   async ngOnInit() {
 
-   if (this.type) {
-    const mappedFn:Type<MappedComponentProperties> = ComponentMapping.get<MappedComponentProperties>(this.type);
+   if (this.getType()) {
+    const mappedFn:Type<unknown> = this.getComponentMappingProvider().get(this.getType());
 
     if (mappedFn) {
      this.renderComponent(mappedFn);
@@ -118,15 +123,23 @@ export class AEMComponentDirective implements AfterViewInit, OnInit, OnDestroy,
   }
 
   async initializeAsync() {
-   const lazyMappedPromise: Promise<Type<MappedComponentProperties>> = ComponentMapping.lazyGet<MappedComponentProperties>(this.type);
-
    try {
+     const lazyMappedPromise: Promise<Type<unknown>> = this.getComponentMappingProvider().lazyGet(this.getType());
      const LazyResolvedComponent = await lazyMappedPromise;
      this.renderComponent(LazyResolvedComponent);
      this.loaded = true;
      this._changeDetectorRef.detectChanges();
    } catch (err) {
-     console.warn(err);
+
+     if(!!this.getFallbackComponent()){
+       this.renderComponent(this.getFallbackComponent());
+       this.loaded = true;
+       this._changeDetectorRef.detectChanges();
+       console.info("loaded fallback component. cause:", err);
+     }else{
+       console.warn(err);
+     }
+
    }
   }
 
@@ -134,10 +147,17 @@ export class AEMComponentDirective implements AfterViewInit, OnInit, OnDestroy,
     this.updateComponentData();
   }
 
+  protected getFallbackComponent():Type<unknown> | null{
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  protected getComponentMappingProvider():ComponentMappingProvider  {
+    return ComponentMapping;
+  }
   /**
    * Returns the type of the cqItem if exists.
    */
-  get type(): string | undefined {
+  protected getType(): string | undefined {
     return this.cqItem && this.cqItem[Constants.TYPE_PROP];
   }
 
@@ -146,7 +166,7 @@ export class AEMComponentDirective implements AfterViewInit, OnInit, OnDestroy,
    *
    * @param componentDefinition The component definition to render
    */
-  private renderComponent(componentDefinition: Type<MappedComponentProperties>) {
+  private renderComponent(componentDefinition: Type<unknown>) {
     if (componentDefinition) {
       const factory = this.factoryResolver.resolveComponentFactory(componentDefinition);
 
@@ -189,7 +209,7 @@ export class AEMComponentDirective implements AfterViewInit, OnInit, OnDestroy,
     this._component.instance.cqPath = this.cqPath;
     this._component.instance.itemName = this.itemName;
 
-    const editConfig = ComponentMapping.getEditConfig(this.type);
+    const editConfig = ComponentMapping.getEditConfig(this.getType());
 
     if (editConfig && Utils.isInEditor) {
       this.setupPlaceholder(editConfig);
diff --git a/src/lib/layout/component-mapping.ts b/src/lib/layout/component-mapping.ts
index ceae114..58cc20a 100644
--- a/src/lib/layout/component-mapping.ts
+++ b/src/lib/layout/component-mapping.ts
@@ -64,12 +64,16 @@ export abstract class AbstractMappedComponent implements MappedComponentProperti
   @Input() itemName = '';
 }
 
+export interface ComponentMappingProvider {
+  get(resourceType:string):Type<unknown>
+  lazyGet(resourceType: string): Promise<Type<unknown>>
+}
 /**
  * The current class extends the @adobe/cq-spa-component-mapping#Mapto library and features with Angular specifics such as
  *
  * - Storing the editing configurations for each resource type
  */
-export class ComponentMappingWithConfig {
+export class ComponentMappingWithConfig implements ComponentMappingProvider{
   /**
    * Store of EditConfig structures
    */
@@ -172,4 +176,4 @@ function LazyMapTo<Model extends MappedComponentProperties = any>(resourceTypes:
         componentMapping.lazyMap(resourceTypes, lazyClassFunction, editConfig);
 }
 
-export { componentMapping as ComponentMapping, MapTo, LazyMapTo };
\ No newline at end of file
+export { componentMapping as ComponentMapping, MapTo, LazyMapTo };
diff --git a/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/custom-default-renderer.ts b/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/custom-default-renderer.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8774e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/custom-default-renderer.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import {Component, OnInit} from "@angular/core";
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'core-contentfragment-default-renderer-v1',
+  template: '<div id="myCustomComponent">test</div>'
+})
+export class CustomDefaultRenderer implements OnInit{
+  ngOnInit(): void {
+    console.log('init?')
+  }
+
+
+
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/customdirective.ts b/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/customdirective.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8018c3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/test/aem-component-directive/customdirective.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import {AEMComponentDirective} from "../../layout/aem-component.directive";
+import {Directive, Type} from "@angular/core";
+import {ComponentMappingProvider} from "../../layout/component-mapping";
+import {CustomDefaultRenderer} from "./custom-default-renderer";
+import {ComponentMapping} from "@adobe/aem-spa-component-mapping";
+
+@Directive({
+  selector: '[CustomDirective]'
+})
+export class CustomDirective extends AEMComponentDirective {
+
+  getFallbackComponent():Type<unknown> | null{
+    return CustomDefaultRenderer;
+  }
+
+  getType(): string | undefined {
+    return this.cqItem && this.cqItem[":customType"];
+  }
+
+}