Whether you work on a team that serves other internal teams, for a large organization that delivers products in a B2B or B2C fashion, or you are a solopreneur delivering services to clients, you have customers and a product. Your business would not exist without these 2 components!
However, there are others subtle factors that go into making your business successful. You may have heard of the Business Model Canvas, which depicts various aspects of your business, such as your customers, partnerships, value proposition, cost structure, and key activities. This is a valuable exercise to understand how your business operates.
As I started to help teams develop their Business Model Canvas several years ago, I realized that while valuable, the exercise lacked longevity and applicability. I set out to develop a new version of the Business Model Canvas, which is how the Business Value Blueprint was created.
So what is the Business Value Blueprint and how does it differ from the Business Model Canvas? The Business Value Blueprint serves 3 primary purposes:
It depicts a holistic view of your business by considering the entire stakeholder ecosystem.
It creates alignment by using simple language and getting the entire team involved to complete it.
It allows you to stay relevant through continuously evolving the blueprint as your business grows.
The Business Value Blueprint consists of 6 key components.
The 5 Ws and H creates language that anyone in the organization can understand and makes each of the 6 categories memorable. You and your team are encouraged to dive deep into each of these 6 aspects through discussing intentional questions or speaking with your stakeholders. The real impact is felt when you take each of these 6 aspects beyond what is obvious to truly understand how your business operates.
Download a sample of the Business Value Blueprint to learn more about each component.
I'll give you a brief example...
When working with a client who sells office furniture to complete their Business Value Blueprint, we had a robust discussion combining the Who, Where, and When. This revolved around their power partners and community of advocates. I asked them 3 simple questions to help them determine who these people were, where to find them, and when to lean into them.
Here is a brief snapshot of what the team discovered..
Who do your target clients already trust so an getting an introduction from them would be golden? - Financial advisors, landlords, real estate agents, or commercial bankers.
What is the transaction right before your target clients come to you? - purchase or lease of a building, company merger, hiring over 10 new employees, business rebrand (new logo, colors, brand)
Where do your decision makers and referral partners hang out? - networking groups for Entrepeneur's in the growth or expansion stages, groups serving financial professionals, golf events.
To get this information the team took these actions:
They attended various networking events to learn where the stakeholders in their ecosystem showed up.
They met with people they thought were their power partners or community of advocates to learn about their business transactions and relationships.
The spoke with customers to understand when and why they decided to purchase office furniture
This is a small example of how the Business Value Blueprint gets you to expand your thinking beyond the typical elements of the Business Model Canvas. The best part is that this can be done at any stage of your business whether you are just starting out or have an established team. I set clients up for continuous iteration by showing them how to use the Business Value Blueprint as a decision-making mechanism and how to incorporate it into team meetings on a regular basis to encourage anyone to add to and change the items in each of the 6 boxes.
If you feel curious to take your Business Model Canvas to the next level or if you have never done this type of work and are looking for a way to create alignment and spark creativity for yourself and your team, click here to learn more about the Business value Stimulator!
