The Value Proposition Canvas

The Value Proposition Canvas

By Samantha Garner, GoForth Institute

 

As a small business owner, you’re going to spend a considerable amount of time telling potential customers why they should do business with you. They’ll want to know what you can do for them that others can’t – and how.

A value proposition is a clear statement of the benefits your customer gets from buying your product or service. Great value propositions are specific and succinct.

Strategyzer.com and Swiss business management theorist Alexander Osterwalder developed the Value Proposition Canvas to help business owners create the perfect value proposition. The Value Proposition Canvas (VPC) is intended to guide development of products and services customers are really looking for. The VPC is about creating a fit (or value) between what you’re selling and what customers are wanting.

The Value Proposition Canvas helps us to systematically understand what customers want and to create products and services that perfectly match their needs. It collects customer information about their needs and requirements which allows a more effective design of your products and services, and ultimately your business model. Eventually, this should lead to sales and profitability and much less time wasted on developing ideas that customers may not be interested in.

Anyone can think of good and creative business ideas, but the idea here is to design value for your customers on paper first. By using the Value Proposition Canvas, you identify customer needs, and products and services to meet those needs, in a visual and structured way.

 

Samantha Garner is GoForth Institute's Director, Communications.  Contact Samantha by email: samantha@goforthinstitute.com