... / Launch Beaufort / Week 3 — Business Models & Value Proposition Design

Welcome to Week 3 of the Launch Beaufort pre-accelerator! By now, you’ve explored the entrepreneurial mindset and practiced validating customer problems. This week, we shift toward shaping solutions into a business model that works.

A business model answers two critical questions:

1.​ Who are you serving?​

2.​ How will you deliver value in a way that is sustainable and profitable?​

In this module, you’ll learn how to use the Business Model Canvas (BMC) as a visual framework to map out customers, value propositions, revenue streams, and key resources. We’ll also dive deep into the Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), which ensures your product or service is designed around customer pains and gains — not just your assumptions.

By the end of this week, you will:

●​ Understand the nine building blocks of the Business Model Canvas.​

●​ Design a clear value proposition that resonates with real customer needs.​

●​ Draft your first one-page business model for your venture.​

This exercise sets the stage for testing and refining your business idea in the weeks ahead.

At its core, a business model is the blueprint for how your venture creates, delivers, and captures value. It explains how your idea will move from simply being a product or service to becoming a sustainable business.

Think of it this way:

●​ A product is what you sell.​

●​ A business model is how you make money and keep the business alive while selling it.​

For entrepreneurs, understanding the business model is critical because it ensures that you are not just building something people like, but building something that can last.

Definition A business model answers three key questions:

1.​ Who are your customers? (customer segments)​

2.​ What value are you providing them? (value proposition)​

3.​ How will your business generate revenue while delivering that value? (revenue streams and cost structure)​

Without clear answers to these, your business may have activity but not profitability.

Entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of believing that a great idea or product automatically guarantees success. In reality, many startups fail not because the idea was bad, but because the business model was flawed.

●​ Example: A café might offer excellent coffee, but if it’s priced too high for the neighborhood, or if the operating costs outweigh sales, the café will struggle despite having a great product.​

●​ Counter-example: Companies like Netflix succeeded not just because they had great content, but because they innovated the business model — moving from DVD rentals to online streaming subscriptions.​

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a one-page visual framework developed by Alexander Osterwalder. It helps entrepreneurs map out all the moving parts of a business in a simple, structured way. Instead of writing a 40-page business plan, the BMC gives you a snapshot of how your business will work — from customers to costs.

Here are the nine building blocks, with explanations and examples:

1. Customer Segments

Who are you creating value for? Not all customers are the same, so define your target groups.

●​ Example: A fitness app may target busy professionals, not athletes.​

2. Value Propositions

What unique value do you deliver? This is the reason customers choose you over alternatives.

●​ Example: Warby Parker’s value proposition: affordable, stylish glasses with home try-on convenience.​

3. Channels

How do you deliver your product or service to customers? This includes both sales and distribution.

●​ Example: Starbucks sells in cafés, mobile apps, and grocery stores.​

4. Customer Relationships

What type of relationship do you want with each segment — self-service, personal support, or community-based?

●​ Example: Airbnb builds trust through host reviews and personalized communication.​

5. Revenue Streams

How does your business make money? Consider both primary and secondary income sources.

●​ Example: Spotify earns through subscriptions and ad-supported free accounts.​

6. Key Resources

What assets are essential for your business to operate? This could be people, technology, physical space, or intellectual property.

●​ Example: For a bakery, key resources include recipes, ingredients, ovens, and skilled bakers.​

7. Key Activities

What must you do to deliver your value proposition? These are the daily actions that keep the business running.

●​ Example: For Uber, key activities include platform development, driver recruitment, and customer support.​

8. Key Partnerships

Who can you collaborate with to strengthen your model? Partnerships help reduce risk and fill capability gaps.

●​ Example: Small coffee shops often partner with local bakeries to expand their menu offerings.​

9. Cost Structure

What are the major costs of running your business? Understanding costs helps you evaluate profitability.

●​ Example: A software startup’s main costs might be developer salaries, cloud hosting, and marketing.​

1.​ It’s visual — you can see your entire business on one page.​

2.​ It’s flexible — easy to adjust as you learn from customers.​

3.​ It’s practical — forces you to think beyond the product and consider sustainability.

At the heart of every successful business lies a clear value proposition — a promise of the specific value your product or service delivers to customers. It answers the simple but critical question:​ “Why should customers choose you over the alternatives?”

The Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), designed by Strategyzer, helps entrepreneurs align their product with real customer needs. It breaks the concept into two sides: the customer profile (Jobs, Pains, Gains) and the value map (how your product solves them).

Once you’ve mapped the customer side, your product must directly relieve pains and create gains.

●​ Pain relievers: What features or services reduce frustrations?​

●​ Gain creators: What makes the customer’s life better, easier, or more enjoyable?​

Example: A ride-sharing app like Uber relieves the pain of unreliable taxis (pain reliever) while creating gains of quick booking, lower cost, and tracking rides in real time (gain creator).

●​ Weak: “We sell coffee.” → Generic, product-focused, no differentiation.​

●​ Strong: “We provide ethically sourced coffee delivered within 5 minutes of your order — so busy professionals can enjoy premium coffee without the wait.” → Specific, customer-centered, outcome-driven.​

●​ Weak: “Our app helps you manage tasks.”​

●​ Strong: “Our AI-powered task manager reduces your daily planning time by 30%, freeing you to focus on growing your business.”​

Key Takeaway A strong value proposition is not about features; it’s about outcomes that matter to your customers. When you connect your product directly to customer jobs, pains, and gains, you create solutions people are eager to pay for.

Not all businesses make money the same way. Over time, entrepreneurs and companies have discovered repeatable models that work across industries. These business model patterns act as starting points for structuring how you will deliver value and generate revenue.

●​ Small Businesses often succeed with Service-based, Subscription (e.g.,local gym), or Direct-to-Consumer models. These provide steady income and focus on local markets.​

●​ Tech Startups often favor Freemium and Marketplace models, because they scale rapidly and benefit from network effects.​

Key Takeaway

Choosing the right business model is about matching your idea to how your customers want to buy and how your venture can sustain itself. The model you start with may evolve, but clarity in the beginning helps guide strategy.

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) was created by Strategyzer, and their website (strategyzer.com) remains the go-to hub for templates, guides, and examples. The tool helps you map your business model on a single page, ensuring you see the big picture without drowning in lengthy business plans.

How to Use It (Step-by-Step)

*1.​ Download a Template​

○​ Visit strategyzer.com and grab the free Business Model Canvas PDF or use their online tools.​

2.​ Set Up Your Canvas​

○​ You can either print it out and use sticky notes or use a digital whiteboard (Miro, MURAL, or Canvanizer).​

3.​ Fill in the Nine Blocks​

○​ Start with Customer Segments and Value Propositions, then move through the rest: Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships, and Cost Structure.​

4.​ Iterate Often​

○​ Treat your canvas as a living document. Update it as you learn more from customers and markets.​*

*●​ Visual: See your entire business at a glance.​

●​ Collaborative: Perfect for team discussions or mentor feedback.​

●​ Flexible: Easy to pivot as your business evolves.*