“I have an idea” – You will be surprised to know how many times we hear this phrase on any given day at our Startup Accelerator. It is said that entrepreneurs who are married to their ideas are likely to fail; this is because ideas by themselves don’t do much. Usually, the problem with being married to any particular idea is that often, you are blind to the changing needs of the customer whose problem(s) your ideas are meant to solve.
So how do you keep your value proposition glued on the ever changing needs of customers while you pivot and/or allow your offering to go through several iterations? The business model canvas is a very effective way of doing this. Here are some of the concepts that will help you:
Whose problem are you solving?
While many entrepreneurs/businesses understand the problem they are solving, some find it daunting to understand who their primary customer is and so are not able to craft their value proposition to attract their target. You can’t have a good value proposition until you have identified your key customer segments and planned out how you reach them. [Case Study: One of the businesses we worked with was having a very low subscription rate because they had failed to identify who their key customer was. Targeting schools while the parents were the ones they needed to have been targeted].
Use data to respond to changing customer needs
Customer preferences are very dynamic and keeping up with them can be a big challenge for any business. Changes in business decisions must always be guided by data. Analyzing the available data correctly will help you identify your customer needs and the best way to reach them.
Credit: Servled
