Forget the Business Plan: Use the Faster and More Flexible Business Canvas
Photo by Felipe Furtado on Unsplash
This is part of blog series on how to start your own food business, including a starter kit - click here for the original post.
Business plans are bloated documents that take a long time to prepare. The business canvas is a lightweight version of the business plan that addresses the critical factors for a successful food operation. It's a one-page document that can easily be adapted to changing conditions or assumptions.
Where to start on the canvas?
A business canvas is a one-page document that highlights the key needs of your business. Image from Wikipedia
Numerous websites and resources offer templates for a business canvas, and although they may vary in design and specifics, they all contain nine basic topics we’ll review below. However, most of the business canvas templates you’ll find lack one crucial feature: they don’t guide you on where to start and what order to follow to complete the 9 topics. So where is the best place to start?
Having used the business canvas numerous times, we recommend starting with Customer Segments because everything your business does needs to focus on your customers. From there, we’ve outlined the remaining order to follow to complete your business canvas:
1. Customer Segments:
For whom are we creating value?
Who are our most important customers?
2. Value Proposition:
For the customer segments in #1, what value do we deliver to them?
Which of our customers’ problems are we helping to solve? Which needs are we satisfying?
What products and services are we offering to each customer segment?
3. Channels:
How do we communicate with our customers?
How do we deliver the value proposition?
4. Customer Relationships:
What kind of relationship does each of our customer segments expect from us?
5. Revenue
What are the top 3 revenue streams in terms of products and services?
How much are customers currently paying?
How much does each revenue stream contribute to overall revenue?
6. Key Activities
What key activities are required to execute on our value proposition(s) to generate revenue?
Think about products, services, distribution channels, and customer relationships.
7. Key Resources
What key resources do our value propositions require?
The people, knowledge, means, and money needed to run the business.
8. Key Partners
Who are our key partners? (not suppliers, those are resources)
Which key activities do partners enable or perform?
9. Cost Structure
What are the most important costs inherent with our business model?
Which key resources are most expensive?
Which key activities are most expensive?
This order worked best for us, but feel free to jump around and figure out what works best for you.
The 2Forks example
Like nearly all other caterers and restaurants, our corporate catering company 2Forks was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. Almost overnight, we lost all of our business. It became clear that our buffet-style meals were not going to be in demand any time soon, so we set out to convert all of our offerings into individually boxed meals. We relied on the business canvas to help us think through the critical pieces and considerations. Here’s the 2Forks business canvas for individually boxed meals as a simple example:
Business canvas model for individually boxed meals for 2Forks
Free business canvas template
The canvas is straightforward, so give it a try. Download the free 1-page template and create your first business canvas.
Learn more about Sous Chef
Click here to learn more about Sous Chef and how it can help you improve your profitability.
Special thanks to David Lettis for editorial support.