Business Model Canvas
This canvas and associated guidance is is a strategic management and lean startup template that can be used the to describe, design, challenge, and pivot a business model to deliver different values or in different ways. It consists of 9 elements: value proposition, customer segments, customer relationships, channels, key partners, key resources, key activities, cost structure, and revenue streams.
It can be used individually or in a group. It works in conjunction with the Value Proposition Canvas and other strategic management and execution tools and processes.
This canvas has been widely used and many variations exist, including those adapted to a non-business context. When adapting to the public sector context, "customers" may be considered stakeholders or users and "revenue streams" may also include outcomes or impacts.
It was originally intended to provide a more nimble and understandable replacement for a business plan.
CHAMPION:Can be remixed
I had previously utilised this toolkit when we were brainstorming for the product of the start-up that I am currently working for. Through this toolkit, we were able to devise a solid framework for our product and include almost every aspect that we had to take into account for its completeness. This toolkit is a popular toolkit amongst start-up and business founders, and I highly recommend it for people that dwell in these sectors. The toolkit itself is very comprehensible in itself even for someone who has not studied business or entrepreneurship before and yet it is sufficient to give a strong head-start for anyone who is venturing a product or service.
This toolkit is also versatile as it can also be used by public sector officials who are endeavouring to create a service or platform to fruition. This task might prove a bit more challenging as some sections of the toolkit as not as easily “translatable” for the public sector with examples such as ‘customer relationships and value generation’. This is because a public good does not see the general population as customers, and it is not driven by profit like private businesses are. These should be overcome by transforming revenues into impact or impact measurements, for instance.
The Business Model Canvas is an excellent and classic tool to visualize and connect all the key aspects of your business model. I used the Business Model Canvas when developing a social enterprise and I would highly recommend this tool to anyone who wants to gain insight in the different business models for their business or government program.
I used this tool to help my team and I to clearly determine amongst other things who would use our service, which channels we could use to reach them and what value we could offer them. Next to this, the Business Model Canvas helped us to define our key partners, activities and resources. Relevant decisions that proved to be essential for successfully launching our social enterprise. The Business Model Canvas also helps you to gain some insight in the cost structure and revenue streams, but I would advice to develop and assess these structures and streams in more detail with the help of other tools such as Microsoft Excel.
I liked using the Business Model Canvas a lot because of the way it visualized and connected the different aspects that are relevant for running a business, whether it is a non-profit or a for-profit one. A great video that helped me to further understand how to use this tool in its full potential is this one “Business Model Canvas Explained (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAOzMTLP5s&t=45s), created by Strategyzer, the main developer of the Canvas.
The Business Model Canvass is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with the different types of business models for a wide spectrum of activities: NGO’S, Governmental institutions, and even private companies or initiatives. It can be used by students and beginners, that are willing to expand their horizons when it comes to better understanding all the components of an existing business model, while finding new opportunities for its improvement or development. There is still some work left to be done if one wants to pursue the implementation of a platform in the public sector, given that their methods and example cases are mostly directed to the implementation of this toolkit in the private sector.