Business Model Canvas: nine business model building blocks, Osterwalder, Pigneur & al. 2010
Recently my colleague and I delivered a great workshop on business model innovation for new services. We used the Business Model Canvas developed by Alexander Osterwalder published under the creative commons license, which does an excellent job at explaining the WHAT.
However, what is left a bit undefined is the WHY?
Granted, we all know that companies need innovate business models to stay fresh and competitive in today’s changing landscape, but generating ideas based on assumptions of what the consumers (don’t know they) need is a daunting task.
In the recent book Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur, they do an excellent job at explaining the HOW. They also touch on some basic principals to building a business model based upon customer insights. We aimed to create a deeper understanding on WHY?
Identifying the WHY: We need to ensure a stronger link to the needs and desires of the target group.
Keeping in mind the golden rule of today’s (ideal) design methodology, putting the customer first, we believe understanding the customer is a most valuable approach in developing innovative business models.
We found that personas and customer touch points are valuable in exploring stakeholder experiences, frustrations and challenges and in deepening the WHY. By becoming more understanding and empathetic of those whom we aim to please (or identifying unserved markets) business model generation can truly provide innovative new frontiers.
Tags: businessmodel, innovation, strategy
