The Business Model Canvas is a great visual tool for getting a basic business plan started.
Here’s a quick translation of the boxes:
- Key partners = who will help you?
- Key activities = what will you actually do?
- Key resources = what do you need?
- Value proposition = what is our customer actually buying? Why?
- Customer relationships = how much interaction is required with our customers?
- Channels = how and where will we reach our customers?
- Customer segments = who, specifically, are our customers?
- Cost structure = what are our costs?
- Revenue stream = How will we generate money?
However, if you’re just starting out in business, you might be wondering where to begin.
Here are a few tips:
- For starters, complete the bits you can. This is just a start, and there are bound to be boxes you don’t have the answers to yet. That’s okay – don’t let it bog you down. Move on to the next box.
- Next, if you’re not sure, make a “best guess”. Until you’re actually trading, much of this will be based on guesses and estimates. That’s okay too. Which leads us to point 3:
- Pull it out and review it often. Things change. All the time. And given that we understand that a lot of it is based on assumptions it’s important to update those assumptions as you learn more and move through your journey.
Here are a couple of handy resources if you’re looking for some further reading: