The Business Model Canvas is a model commonly used to help define the components of your business. It was originally developed by Alex Osterwalder and the version we use at the Business Advisory Centre Durham was adapted by the Startup Equation. It offers an interactive way to look at your business idea as well as a way to test your idea and its validity. The Baseboard Canvas has a few more building blocks than the original Business Model Canvas.
This canvas is divided into 19 different areas that starts with Envisioning – about you and your idea. What are your motivations to start this business, what are your strengths, what’s your vision for your idea and what do you want people to think about your company.
The next section looks at assessing the Opportunity in front of you. Assessing the market and the opportunity through completing a SWOT analysis, looking at the trends in the industry, what your business will do and how you plan to make money.
Now that you have a sense of your market and the opportunity you can focus on the Evolving Strategy with how to take your idea to market and plan your:
- Company Goals – what do you want to achieve
- Value Proposition – what is the value you offer to your customers
- Marketing & Sales – how will you promote and sell your offers
- Operations – what does your business need
- Financials – what is your revenue/profit model and cost structure
- and the Go to Market Strategy
Then – Operating – who are the key players, key activities, customer segments and the relationships you will have with your customers and the channels you will use for reaching your customers.
Lastly, how will you assess and adjust for your goals? Which metrics will be important for you to gather? Will you pivot or know when you need to?
The benefits of this canvas are:
- A quick overview of the business model and is short and sweet unlike a traditional business plan.
- The one page visual makes it easy to read, change and update
- Helps provide clarity about the different elements of the business and how they relate to each other.
Attend our live workshop – Business Fundamentals: Business Planning
