How do you adapt the business model canvas to different organizations?

1 Why adapt the canvas?

The original business model canvas, developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, consists of nine building blocks: customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, and cost structure. These elements cover the essential aspects of any business model, but they may not capture the nuances and complexities of some organizations. For example, some organizations may have multiple or conflicting goals, such as social impact, environmental sustainability, or public service, that are not reflected in the revenue streams or cost structure. Others may have different types of stakeholders, such as beneficiaries, donors, or regulators, that influence their value propositions and customer relationships. Therefore, adapting the canvas can help you better understand and communicate your organization's unique value proposition and business logic.

2 How to adapt the canvas?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to adapting the business model canvas, but there are some general steps you can follow to make it more relevant and useful for your organization. First, you need to identify the purpose and scope of your adaptation. Do you want to use the canvas as a strategic tool, a communication tool, or a learning tool? Who are the intended users and audiences of the canvas? What are the key questions and challenges you want to address with the canvas? Second, you need to review the existing canvas and assess its strengths and weaknesses for your organization. Which building blocks are clear and relevant, and which ones are ambiguous or irrelevant? How well do they capture your organization's value proposition, stakeholders, and impact? Third, you need to modify or add building blocks as needed to fit your organization's context and goals. You can use existing adaptations as inspiration, such as the social business model canvas, the nonprofit business model canvas, or the public sector canvas, or you can create your own based on your specific needs. Finally, you need to test and validate your adapted canvas with your team, partners, and customers. You can use feedback, interviews, surveys, or experiments to check whether your canvas accurately represents your organization's reality and potential.

3 What are the benefits of adapting the canvas?

Adapting the business model canvas can bring numerous advantages for your organization. It can help clarify and align your vision, mission, and values with your business model and strategy. Additionally, it can assist in identifying and prioritizing key stakeholders, customers, and beneficiaries, as well as understanding their needs. Furthermore, it can enable you to design and test different value propositions and solutions that address customer problems. Moreover, it can optimize resources, activities, and partnerships to deliver the value proposition efficiently and effectively. Finally, it can measure and communicate your impact and performance to stakeholders and funders.

4 What are the challenges of adapting the canvas?

Adapting the business model canvas can present some challenges for your organization, such as finding a balance between simplicity and complexity, and between standardization and customization. It can also be difficult to integrate and align the adapted canvas with existing tools and processes. Furthermore, it can be challenging to get buy-in and engagement from team members, partners, and customers, especially if they are not familiar with the canvas or the adaptation process. You may need to explain and demonstrate the value of the canvas and the adaptation for your organization, as well as involve them in the co-creation and validation of the canvas.

5 How to use the adapted canvas?

Adapting the business model canvas to your organization provides various purposes. Strategically, you can analyze your current business model and identify gaps, opportunities, and risks, as well as explore and evaluate different business model options and scenarios. When used as a communication tool, it helps to communicate your business model and value proposition to stakeholders and facilitates dialogue between them. Lastly, it is a great learning tool that helps to monitor and measure your business model performance and impact, collect data from operations and experiments, learn from successes and failures, and iterate or improve the business model over time.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?