Having a business model at the core of a business plan is a critical aspect of designing and scaling a business. Creating the business plan itself can be involved and time-consuming, yet it may obscure the driving concepts' full picture.
This is why a simple outline like a Business Canvas can be incredibly practical. It outlines a clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish.
The best way to describe a Business Canvas is to imagine it as a powerful tool that can help you strategize and discuss your business model. A company can have one or more business models, each of which would have a corresponding Business Canvas.
Based on Alexander Osterwalder's original Business Canvas template, there are nine building blocks to a Business Canvas as strategically laid out on the chart. The right side (or external) is dedicated to the customer, and the left side (internal), the company. The nine areas are as follows:
Key partners
Key activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions
Customer Relationships
Channels
Customer Segments
Cost Structure
Revenue Streams
Depending on the context and preferences, a Business Canvas may also be known as:
BMC
Business Model Canvas
Profit Generation Formula
Operational Excellence Model
Customer Generation Model
Business Foundation
Most of the time, those who turn to a Business Canvas are managers in charge of creating a business model's visual representation. Even someone who considers starting a new company can use a Business Canvas as part of the planning phase.
This is usually an individual who is most familiar with the company's value proposition. Someone who knows the company inside out and perhaps most responsible for the company's future may be in charge of creating this document.
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A Business Canvas is a starting point for building something more significant. It is not always obvious where to start, and that's why 360 Legal Forms is uniquely positioned to help you get your vision started.
Let 360 Legal Forms help with our extensive library of attorney-vetted legal forms. The process is fast and easy. All you have to do is fill out our easy-to-understand questionnaire. Once complete, simply download your form as a PDF or Word document from your secure online account.
To create your document, please provide:
Company Information: The name and address of the company
Date: The day that you start working on the Business Canvas
A Business Canvas does not require any more information than the above. It is not anything that is required by law or a governing body, so you have freedom when creating one.
Executive summary: A brief overview of a business plan as used in business and academia
Supply Chain: The system of production and delivery for a service or product
Procurement: The process of purchasing from suppliers including the selection and negotiation
Customer Segments: Types of customers such as the economy or exclusive
Cost Structure: levels of expenses in a company as categorized under fixed and variable
Revenue Streams: All the ways a company generates revenue
A Business Canvas rarely requires a signature or notarization. It is a fleshing out of your ideas rather than a requirement of a legal or non-legal nature. If you ever want to get it signed or notarized, make it the signature of whoever is in charge of the business plan.
With your Business Canvas created, you might want to have it printed or distributed in another way to those who are in charge of starting a business plan out of the canvas.
A frequent suggestion for mapping out any business plan is first to make use of post-its and coordinate the building block areas in color. To many, visualization may be the best way to brainstorm.
One of the most important benefits of a Business Canvas is that it will keep you focused on what is essential to the business. With a business plan, it is easy to get distracted by less important things and problems. A Business Canvas gives you that holistic approach and it is easy and quick to create. You will have a clean outline with which to start working on your business model.
The word “canvas” signifies the visual representation of a business model. In contrast, a business plan is a far more comprehensive document that explains in detail how a company is going to achieve all that it is striving to achieve. You can look at it this way – use a Business Canvas to outline the business model that is at the center of any business plan.
All of the building blocks of the Business Canvas are interconnected. You can change the layout of the template but you are likely to end up with a more confusing outline. The blocks are designed to "communicate" with each other and focus on the most important value proposition. If you move the blocks from the right to the left and reverse, the internal and external goals might become obscured. Also, if you choose to eliminate one of the blocks, you will probably end up with a partial visual representation of your business model.
One of the most common questions to the Business Canvas is the absence of competition and other excluded problems. That is because the Business Canvas, although versatile and practical, does not attempt to do everything. It would only complicate matters when your business plan is supposed to address the building of a successful company, of which the Business Canvas is only one of the tools.
First, it is recommended to take your time with the template. There’s no need to rush and write on the document right away. The system of working from left to right system is another thing to keep in mind. Moving on, the team’s continuous feedback and updating can make it a more powerful tool for creating and developing a business.
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