I was having a catchup with a good friend this evening and he reminded me that every startup or or new venture needs to solve a problem.

Mobile Communications is a major innovator

Of course the mobile phone is a big problem solver and I think its referred to as a game changing innovation - but the game change didn’t happen until mass market usage started to drive demand - and it’s only now, as the price the customer pays for some mobile calls is near to zero (not free, you’re using bundles of minutes now) that you can say ’talk is cheap'.

What’s your business model canvas telling you?

The business model canvas (more on that later) allows you to assess your strategy, your customer needs and visualise all this in one slide. But really there are some extra bits to the canvas, one of those is a clear understanding of the customer and their needs.

How to compose a photo

When taking a photo you should always have a clear focus and then frame your subject. We can learn and apply this to our business models.

First - who or what is the subject being evaluated and

Second .. what is the frame or context of the evaluation.

As an example, you might focus on the suppliers for your new startup and then frame that by testing ‘whats in it for me’

So focus then frame before you fill in your next business model canvas.

Not sure what a business model canvas is? Or been reading about them and what some help - then get in touch.

Tags: Business Model Canvas

Read more from my blog for an introduction and quick tips on developing in Hugo or UCTD.

Meet the author

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Damien Saunders
An experienced management consultant and business leader interested in digital transformation, product centred design and scaled agile. If I'm not writing about living with UCTD (an autoimmune disease), I'm probably listening to music, reading a book or learning more about wine.