Business model, lean canvas or value proposition canvas?

Janja Popović
4 min readAug 4, 2017

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1. Business model canvas

“A business model describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value” A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, p.14 (2010)

Business model canvas is a structure for your business. It allows you to plan cost and revenue streams, map your activities, profile customer and place the key activities. By using some of the components in that model, we can also create good predisposition when we want to take our lean prototype on the market.

Furthermore, the business model allows organisations to weight the market and with the right strategy and approach adopt to it.

” Assessing your business model’s overall integrity is crucial, but looking at its components in detail can also reveal interesting paths to innovation and renewal.” A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, p.216 (2010)

This is to say, SWOT analysis provides main angles which allow you to evaluate your business model. Those viewpoints within SWOT analysis consists of four main aspects. On the one hand, strengths and weaknesses, which provide the information to a business ‘where are they now’, on the other hand, opportunities and threats, to recognise future evolution in the business.

Here is a suggestion on how to fill in all the boxes within the business model canvas.

Source: https://wordpress-innovately.rhcloud.com/business-model-canvas/

2. Lean canvas

Lean canvas gathers the meaning of the smallest solution that delivers customers’ value. It is usually divided into two sides. Left side, is mainly focused on a product, where the right side focuses on a market.

Source: https://leanstack.com/why-lean-canvas/

We can compare the lean canvas with our brain. As our left side is considered to be logical and analytical, this is how left-hand side of the lean canvas should be filled in. This side of a lean canvas presents the product, which is considered to be analytical, logical part of the process. On the left-hand side of the lean canvas, we fill in the details, such as problem we are solving, solutions we are addressing to solve that problem, key metrics and cost structure. Those are all the fields, where more or less we can have an influence on it.

While on the other side of the lean canvas we have market needs, where we ‘lose’ our power. We can create some opportunities, although for accomplishing those we need to use our creative skills, feeling, emotions. Similarly, as our right side of the brain that is more of an artistic nature.

Source: http://weloversize.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/56341034_thumbnail_large.jpg

3. Value proposition canvas

This type of canvas is based on two points. Firstly, the customer segment (whom we are creating value for) and secondly, the value preposition segment (which will attract customers). With value proposition canvas we can present more specifically those two points in order to find the product-market fit.

How to specify each of the sectors is presented here.

It allows us to create pain relievers and gain creators to match customer job’s pains and gains.

However, without having a great business model (point 1.), designing a value proposition canvas is not possible.

Source: http://www.peterjthomson.com/2013/11/value-proposition-canvas/

EXAMPLE

Our task was to choose one company and design a lean canvas for them. Therefore, we have chosen EasyGym and analysed their strategy.

EasyGym is part of an EasyGroup, however, most people would only know EasyJet, which is a British low-cost airline. EasyJet started with their marketing approach which was “making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans”. EasyGroup currently combines few branches and they expanded their business on EasyJet, Fastjet, EasyCar, EasyBus, EasyPizza, EasyHotel, EasyOffice, EasyProperty, EasyGym, EasyFoodstore with other dormant businesses.

Source: http://www.easygroup.co.uk/

After the research, we have created the lean canvas model presented here:

To conclude, no matter which of the model presented above the business uses, as long as they connect all of the five phases, that should be included when designing a business model.

a) MOBILIZE– connect main elements for successful design outcome,

b) UNDERSTAND– analyse, research, collect information, study, identify needs & problems,

c) DESIGN– test design options, do prototypes,

d) IMPLEMENT– “implement the business model prototype in the field” A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur, p. 249 (2010),

Author: Janja Popović

The article was published on my blog: http://www.styljanje.com/business-model-lean-canvas-or-value-proposition-canvas/

References:

  1. http://www.peterjthomson.com/2013/11/value-proposition-canvas/
  2. https://www.blankcanvas.io/canvases/lean-canvas
  3. https://canvanizer.com/how-to-use/business-model-canvas-vs-lean-canvas
  4. A. Osterwalder, Y. Pigneur (2010): Business Model Generation, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey5. Video clip by Strategyzer, Value Proposition Canvas Explained

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Janja Popović

Founder @AYSWAP . MA Fashion & the Creative Economy @Kingston University London - UX Design | Creativity | Entrepreneurship | Branding I AI Fashion