Business Model Canvas and Small Business Development

Has anybody used this canvas to help small businesses? It would be great to hear your thoughts on how it could work (or how it has worked) in this context.

Tags: Business, Small

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Permalink Reply by Cesar Picos on April 3, 2011 at 6:35am

Hello Jeffrey,

 

My consulting firm has used the canvas for medium and small business and it fits in the same way that it does for the big companies, the main benefit expressed by our customers in different industries is that all managers and directors can visualize the whole business and understand how every area affects the value proposition, it also engage the team to contribute in how other areas can improve besides the one their own.

 

Cesar.

Permalink Reply by Petrick de Koning on April 3, 2011 at 2:31pm

Hi Jeffrey, I'm an independent copywriter and I did a BMI session based on the canvas. My initial goal was to get a good view on my 'company', which basically is me. When the canvas visualised my business it also revealed my strength and weaknesses. From that point on I started to focus more on content consultancy because the canvas showed me that the process of writing good copy/content was my real strength. (finding key messages, right target audience, right channel and adjust all copy/content to the overall goals). So I still do copywriting but from broader perspective. My services are broadened and I support customers with the development, directing their content strategy so key messages get across. I try to write copy from that perspective. This is the short version of what the canvas brought me. 

 

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Petrick

Permalink Reply by Ant Clay on April 3, 2011 at 10:12pm

We've used it internally at 21apps (small consultancy focussed on changing the way people work and helping our clients deliver SharePoint business value) for mapping our own original business model, managing change to a new business model and now radically innovating our business model. For us it has worked extremely way to help visualise the links between the "pillars", assess the effect of removing elements from the model or focussing less/more attention

 

I also recently used the BMC on a small central government department in order to map (for an external audience) what the department was about. The process although very short and high-level worked very well and subsequent refinements based upon the initial visualisation are working well. I hope to share this with the community next week.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Woodward on April 3, 2011 at 10:35pm

To follow up on Ant's comment,  I am founder of 21apps and as Ant said we have used the BMC to refine and innovate our strategy.  The benefits I find is that you can 'ask questions' of the model - what if we did this,  how much does this add to our Value Proposition etc.

 

Experience shows that you need to run the model a few times, refine it and repeat - even when you are just trying to map out your current business.  In fact I have one of the white boards in my office now dedicated to the BMC and I have the 21apps model on here,  it allows me to quickly try out and play with new ideas and innovations and see how this could affect the way we do business.

 

Permalink Reply by Tim Lattham on April 4, 2011 at 1:45pm

Hi.  I've used the canvas with lots of small businesses - businesses that in the most part I suspect have never examined business model issues with any degree of structure in the past. The almost universal view has been that it was a great way of bringing structure to their thoughts and a way for others who aren't experts in that business to input ideas and comments, again in a structured way.  The analogy I often use is with a Rubik's Cube - in business you can focus on one area and think that you've improved it or even "got it right" but the BMC almost forces you to look at the implications on other areas so hopefully you improve "the whole".

 

So almost universally well received although I sense there are some running small traditionally well defined businesses where "things are always done like this" where there has been more skepticism - but the BMC still has a lot to offer these businesses, it just needs to be introduced to them more carefully and they often thrive on practical examples of analogous businesses that have used the approach to great effect.

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Seltz on April 4, 2011 at 4:24pm

Hello all,

 

Thank you very much for responding to my inquiry. It's great to hear that others have used this canvas to help spark innovation within small businesses. I recently kicked off a pilot of a small business program that I developed and I used this canvas as the initial engagement with the business owners. It definitely seems like a very powerful way to understand and evaluate a business.  


After working with these small businesses to map out their business models, what assessment tools (if any) have people used to evaluate the business model? Have people used the Strategy tools outlined in the book? Such as the "Big Picture" and "Detailed SWOT Assessment"? Or even Jay Galbraith's 5-Star Model?

 

I am beginning to create a structured process for working with these small businesses and I would like to use this canvas as the foundation.  

 

Any feedback, thoughts, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeffrey

 

Permalink Reply by Marijn Mulders on May 16, 2011 at 11:04pm

Hello Jeffrey,

I'm teaching on an University the BMG and use it with many companies from small business to non/profit organizations. I recently used it to focus a start/up company (year and a half in business) which was a very good exercise. Further more I have developed an evaluation tool based on the swot from the book. Enclosed the dutch version to give an idea. Please let me know if this is interesting to make an English version of it.

Best regards Marijn

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Seltz on May 16, 2011 at 11:18pm

Hello Marijn,

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences using BMG. Glad to hear that you have had success using it with small businesses, non-profits, etc. The evaluation tool that you developed seems very interesting. Do you have an English version that you could share?

 

Best,


Jeffrey

 

 

Permalink Reply by Marijn Mulders on May 17, 2011 at 4:35am

Hello Jeffry,

I will probably develop an English version. It will take a lot of time to translate all the text you see in the canvas. I'm thinking of making git commercial available so that it will contain a consultants own company name. Would that be of interest and what are people willing to pay for such a tool. I also developed a comparison between the evaluation of a companies results with the results of the consultant to discuss a gap analysis. I'm starting to fill a database of all companies so one can evaluate  its business model with other companies in the industry.

Best regards Marijn

Permalink Reply by patrick quinn on August 3, 2011 at 1:31pm
Hi Marijn...your model looks really interesting, did you make an English version of it yet...my Dutch is'nt up to speed...PQ 
Permalink Reply by Marijn Mulders on August 22, 2011 at 12:39pm

Dear Patrick and Jeffry

Sorry for the late reaction. I was on holiday. The English version is completed. The version enclosed is a protected version.However you can see what it can do for you and your business.

Best regards Marijn

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Suárez Sánchez on May 18, 2011 at 11:23pm

Hi Jeffrey, We are using the Canvas to work in our research about the use os the Strategy management in the small caps, and I think that is great because in Spain, the first steps only shows tools in the analytics.. So could be great to share with you in the future our experiences..

 

Sincerely

 

Daniel

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