Sketch out a business plan by Lean Canvas
I pointed out the importance of MVP in How do they expand their business with a MVP? - Airbnb, Twitter, and Dropbox and the Running Lean is widely accepted as one of the Lean Startup methodologies. Let’s check its principles and the Airbnb case.
First of all, the Running Lean consists of three steps.
- Document your plan A
- Identify the riskiest
- Systematically test your plan
Lean Canvas has a major role in these steps. It is based on Business Model Canvas by Alex Osterwalder and characterized by fast, concise, and portable. The number shows the order to approach.
Problem and Customer segment determine the direction of the others. List the top three problems and define an early adopter. You also need to distill the essence of your product or service and find Unique Value Proposition, UVP that is defined as follows:
Why you are different and worth buying getting attention.
Then, you devise a Solution. It will be replaced by customer interviews, so you should develop a plan roughly at first. Channels mean a path to customers. You do not have to consider them in detail to learn, but it is quite important to scale. Revenue Streams and Cost Structure show the viability of the business model. You should take a bottom-up approach. Key Metrics are used to measure the business performance. Please check my post in detail (How to determine metrics leading startups to success). Unfair Advantage is the same as competitive advantage. Network effects, personal authority, and existing customers are good examples.
Lean Canvas of Airbnb
Finally, I introduce the Lean Canvas of Airbnb from How to Build an App like Airbnb.
We tend to focus on the solution, “Virtual platform with mobile app capabilities and network community of people involved”. However, it is important to understand that the solution is mainly based on the problem, customer segments, and UVP.