This quiz will test your knowledge about creating a Business Model Canvas for small businesses. Are you ready to put your knowledge to the test?
Building Blocks of Success: Test Your Business Model Canvas Knowledge Read More »
One of the advantages of a small business is their ability to change direction quicker than larger corporations. Moreover, the rate of business change continues to accelerate which has given small business a leg up on larger corporations. However far too many small businesses continue to rely on business principles defined long ago when the rate of change was much slower. In this video discover that has changed and what you can do as a small business to be more responsive to change.
VIDEO: Why You Need To Be Better At Responding To Change Read More »
Pricing mechanisms come in two principal forms: fixed and dynamic. Fixed pricing has predefined prices based on a static set of variables while dynamic pricing changes prices based on market conditions. Price mechanisms can affect both your revenue stream as well as your costs.
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Many things have changed when it comes to business planning and the Business Model Canvas has emerged as a valuable tool especially for startup businesses. In this video, we discuss what has changed and why the business model canvas is something that businesses need to embrace as part of their business planning.
Video: Why You Need to Start Using The Business Model Canvas Read More »
The Business Model Canvas Is A Great Tool to Discover Uncontested Markets for A New Product or Service.
Business Model Canvas Introduction Read More »
How a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic evolves will change from crisis to crisis, however, the five crisis stages of Resolve, Resilience, Return, Reimagination, and Reform will provide business owners a clearer path to navigate to the next normal.
How to Survive a Crisis Read More »
When considering key partners, you must consider the following questions: 1, Who are your key partners and who are your suppliers? 2, Which key resources are you acquiring from key partners and suppliers? 3, What key activities do your key partners and suppliers perform?
Key Partners and Your Business Model Read More »
The ultimate goal when defining your key activities as part of your Business Model Canvas exercise, is to help you discover what activities you need to address in order to differentiate your product or service from your competition.
Key Activities and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s key resources allow it to create and deliver its value proposition, reach its target market and maintain a quality customer relationship with them so that the business can earn revenue. For a company to produce a product or service, it needs access to physical resources, intellectual resources, human resources, and financial resources.
Key Resources and Your Business Model Read More »
A company’s cost structures represent the specific costs that the business will incur while operating under a particular business model. Through understanding the key resource, key activities, and its key partners, the business can determine its available cost structures. By choosing to be either Cost Driven or Value Driven and properly using Operating Leverage, the business can find its optimal cost structure.
Cost Structures and Your Business Model Read More »
When it comes to defining your revenue streams, especially when you are developing a business model canvas, there are many factors that you need to consider that affect your potential income source. Will you use a fixed or dynamic pricing mechanism, and is your revenue based on transactional and reoccurring sources of revenue?
Revenue Streams and Your Business Model Read More »
Once you have made a hypothesis regarding your customer segment and value proposition, you need to gather insight to validate your hypothesis by designing questions or experiments to take to potential customers. If you are designing questions, it is important to avoid questions that will influence the customer’s response. In other words, avoid leading questions
Testing Your Customer Segment and Value Proposition Hypothesis Read More »
Now that you have a potential list of products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to see if it creates the benefits your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised to see. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Deliver Gains Read More »
Now that you have a list of potential products or services that you plan to incorporate as part of your value proposition, you need to exposed them to the first test. You can use the following questions to test your value proposition’s products and services. These questions will help you determine if your products or
Testing Your Value Proposition’s Ability to Alleviate Pain Read More »
After you understand the customer’s job, their pain points, and their gain points, it is time to define a value proposition to deliver to them. The products or services that you will provide can come in four different flavors: With these flavors in mind, make a list of all the products and services your company could deliver.
Defining Your Value Proposition’s Products and Services Read More »
Once you have a pretty good idea of the job your customer segment has to do, it is time to ferret out and define their gain points. Use the following questions to describe the benefits your customer expects, desires, or would be surprised to receive. After answering these questions, attempt to rank your customer’s gain
Understanding Customer Segment Gain Points Read More »
Once you have a pretty good idea of the job your customer segment has to do, it is time to ferret out and define their pain points. You can use the following questions to more accurately describe the customer’s negative emotions, undesirable costs and situations, and risks they experience before, during, and after their job.
Understanding Customer Segment Pain Points Read More »
Once you have a good idea of your target customer segment, it is time to dig a little deeper. To do this, describe the specific tasks your customer segment is trying to do in their core job, the problems they are trying to solve, or the needs they are trying to satisfy. Besides the customer
Understanding Customer Segment Jobs Read More »
When fleshing out your business model canvas, you need to define your customer segment and value proposition. However, it is sometimes necessary to consider both the economic buyer and the end user when defining your customer segments. For example, the other day I took my grandson to a Chuck-e-Cheese. The end user was my grandson
Serving Economic and End User Customer Segments Read More »
The task of generating new ideas through the Business Model Canvas exercise should not be left to creative thinkers alone. Moreover, you should not only assemble a team of experts but instead assemble a team of diverse individuals. To increase your team’s diversity, include: What does your creative team look like?
Coming Up with New Ideas Read More »
Ignore the status quo and don’t build a better mousetrap. Stop focusing on what your competitors do. Instead, challenge orthodoxies. To do so, start with any of the nine business model building blocks and build outwards. While we typically start with customer segments to build a customer-driven business model, there are four common starting points.
Inside Out Business Model Read More »
To apply the Blue Ocean Strategy, you start with a Business Model Canvas that describes your industry and then look at your the business model canvas from three different perspectives: the cost perspective, value proposition, and the customer segment.
Applying the Blue Ocean Strategy to the Business Model Canvas Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at macroeconomic forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into four categories:
Critical Thinking About Macroeconomic Forces Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at industry forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into three categories:
Critical Thinking About Industry Forces Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at key trends that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken into four trends:
Critical Thinking About Key Trends Read More »
When completing a Business Model Canvas, it is helpful to guide the discussion through the use of questions. When it comes to looking at market forces that will affect your business model, the following set of questions should help you in thinking more critically about your business model. These questions are broken down into five
Critical Thinking About Market Forces Read More »
When it comes revenue streams, they are generally either “transactional,” resulting from a one-time payment, or “recurring,” resulting from ongoing payments that deliver value or provide post-sales support. When it comes to defining a business’s revenue streams, I find it helpful to consider a list of different types of revenue streams to guide me and
Choosing a Revenue Stream Read More »
The type of customer relationship that is right for your business depends on your customer acquisition costs, customer retention goals, and need to up-sell the customer on an add-on or related products in the future.
Choosing a Customer Relationship Type Read More »
When considering your unique value proposition, I find it helpful to consider a list of common value propositions to help guide me and my client’s thinking. To that end, here are eleven common value propositions that businesses might offer to their selected customer segment. Review the following value proposition types and determine which one is
Choosing a Value Proposition Type Read More »
The first step for a new business or an existing business coming out with a new product line is to define the customer segment they are targeting. During the early stages of the process, I recommend starting out with a broad definition of the customer segment. The following is a list of five common customer
Choosing a Customer Segment Type Read More »
The next and final environmental forces block is “Macroeconomic Forces.” This section is used to determine if your business model can adjust to macroeconomic shifts. This is where keeping up with current events is important. In addition to watching the world and local news programs each day, I use an internet news aggregator that searches
Macroeconomic Forces and the Business Model Canvas Read More »
The next environmental forces block is “Industry Forces” and this section is used to determine if your business model will have a competitive edge today and tomorrow. To understand industrial forces, you need to assess who your competitors are. A tool called Data Axle Formerly called Reference USA (available at many libraries) is a valuable
Industry Forces and the Business Model Canvas Read More »
The next environmental forces block is related to key trends. The “Key Trends” block is used to evaluate if your Business Model Canvas takes advantage of emerging market trends. Are there any new technologies on the horizon that may undercut your business model? Don’t just look at the advances in your industry that may affect
Key Trends and the Business Model Canvas Read More »
The first environmental forces block is related to the market forces of the customer segments in your Business Model Canvas. The purpose of the “Market Forces” block is to verify that your model is in line with the evolving needs of your chosen customer segment. When you are looking at market forces, you should start
Market Forces and the Business Model Canvas Read More »
When you have completed the 9 blocks of the Business Model Canvas, you may have a well thought out business model. However, will it stand up in the real world? In the real world, your business will compete for market share and fight for survival every day. For the most part, the 9 blocks that
Four Environmental Forces Affecting Your Business Model Canvas Design Read More »
Customer relationships can be either; face-to-face (like buying a car), phone (like Zappos), automated system (like Dell), or self-service (like WalMart).
Customer Relationships and Your Business Model Read More »
When we refer to channels in the Business Model Canvas, we are speaking about marketing channels or distribution channels. Here are 5 you should address: 1, Awareness 2, Evaluate 3, Purchase 4, Deliver 5, Customer Support
Channels and Your Business Model Read More »
The second step in creating your Business Model Canvas is to identify your value proposition. What is a value proposition? Simply put, a value proposition is a collection of products and services a business offers to meet the needs of its customers that helps to differentiate it from its competitors. For example, several manufacturers offer
Value Propositions and Your Business Model Read More »
“For whom are you creating value?” Sometimes that answer may be a bit complicated.
Customer Segment and Your Business Model Read More »
The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and lean start-up template that a business can use when developing new or documenting existing business models. Basically, it is a visual representation that describes the nine critical elements of a firm’s product or service offerings.
The Business Model Canvas Series Read More »
