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Did you know that approximately 80% of businesses fail in their first years due to insufficient business planning? And no, we’re not here to scare you, but to tell you that the remaining 20% is more likely to succeed thanks to supportive tools like the Canvas Model.
What is the Canvas Model?
The Canvas Model is a strategic management tool that allows you to gain a detailed understanding of the critical aspects of your business and how they interconnect. This tool highlights your organization’s infrastructure, value proposition, customer segments, and financial situation, enabling you to identify potential deficiencies and conduct a comprehensive analysis of business performance.
Benefits of the Canvas Model
Some benefits of the Canvas Model include:
- Simplifies planning
- Stimulates creativity
- Customer-focused
- Market analysis
- Identification of deficiencies
- Adapts to business changes
- Facilitates team alignment and investment
- Time-saving
- Enables adaptation and continuous improvement
Convinced? Then, let’s get on with it! 🙌🏼
How to use it?
If all of this sounds like Chinese to you, let’s simplify it; think of the Canvas Model as if it were a recipe. First, the ingredients.
The 9 components of the Canvas Model
Customer Segments. Let’s practice empathy. You must identify who your customers are, what their needs are, what they feel, and what they do. This way, we ensure that the customer is always satisfied and contributes to a good value proposition.
Value Proposition. How will you satisfy your customers? The answer is your value proposition, the reason for your business’s existence, and its differential value.
Distribution Channels. Now that you know who they are and what to do with them, think about how you can deliver your services to them. Physically, digitally, or both?
Customer Relationships. Interact with the customer and listen to their needs. A good way to do this is to meet in a space that demonstrates professionalism and reputation. For example, Lexington meeting rooms in Madrid and Barcelona.
Revenue Streams. Be clear about how your company will generate income. Pay attention to the product cost, how many customers you need to generate profits, or the amount of revenue needed to reach a break-even point.
Key Resources. What resources does your company need for its activities? They can be intellectual, financial, human, or physical.
Key Activities. Resources ready. It’s time to stand out from the competition, so think about the unique strategies your company has to deliver the value proposition.
Key Partners. “Birds of a feather flock together”, someone once said. Establish valuable relationships that make your company even more efficient. For example, Lexington as a provider of flexible spaces and virtual offices.
Cost Structure. Finally, have a clear cost structure, so you know what the minimum sales should be. Always consider economies of scale, constant costs, variables, and profits.
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Steps to create a Canvas for your business
All the ingredients are ready, so let’s get to work!
- Learn from the competition and study their business model.
- Create a checklist and gather key elements for a session with 3 or 5 members of your company.
- Map out and remember that each value proposition needs its corresponding customers and revenue stream.
- Focus on the present of your company and do not mix different departments.
- Ensure that each customer segment is linked to a value proposition and a source of income.
- Review your business’s performance.
- Challenges
Not everything was going to be perfect. This model has some disadvantages, such as:
- Lack of detail in each box.
- Focus on the model rather than the problem/solution.
- A global analysis rather than specific competition analysis.
While the Canvas Model focuses on the key factors of a business, the Lean Canvas model focuses on differentiating factors and the competitive advantage it can have.
And this is just the beginning of what could be a great project.
🎁 Here’s a tip: pay attention to your team’s contributions when creating the Canvas Model and trust the process. 🚀 Good luck!