In defense of the business model canvas

You can run a business without a business degree. Most people do. You can learn marketing from YouTube and books and courses. Most people do. You can plan out your business in your head. Most people do.

If most people run their businesses without traditional education or tools, what’s the point in incorporating them? 

While I don’t believe all business is a zero-sum game, there is credence to the idea that a sale someone else makes is a sale you don’t make, at least in that moment. If one of your competitors has marginally better service, marketing, or positioning, they might take a sale you could have made. This isn’t to say that just because someone else does something better than you can’t make a living doing it too. It just means that they earned someone’s money today, and you didn’t.

This makes some traditional tools more enticing. One free tool that brings real clarity to every business is the Business Model Canvas from the book Business Model Generation. I’m filling these out in the coming days for my new business ventures. 

If you’re 100% confident that you completely understand your business model, then you might not need this. But if you’re anything less than 100% sure, why not check it out and see what you find?