How to complete The Lean Canvas

What's the Lean Canvas, Anyway?

Picture this: A one-page blueprint that captures your business idea succinctly. That's the Lean Canvas for you. Developed by Ash Maurya, it's a variant of the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder. It's designed especially for entrepreneurs to map out their startup vision efficiently, cutting through the fluff.

Businesses often fail because they haven't identified what problem they are solving. There's no market demand. Sometimes they've missed some important aspects of their business plan, like understanding what the existing alternatives are or understanding marketing channels. The Lean Canvas is a great way to:

work through and develop your business idea
check you haven't missed anything
get clear on your problems and solutions
summarise your whole business on one page
build a roadmap

DOWNLOAD THE PDF

Download your copy of the Lean Canvas

PROBLEM

Your customer's top 3 problems

EXISTING ALTERNATIVES

How your customers currently solve the problem

SOLUTION

The solution to the problems

KEY METRICS

The numbers that will tell you you're successful (or not)

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

Single, clear message that turns an unaware visitor into an interested prospect.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

Something that can't be easily copied

CHANNELS

The path to your customers

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS

Your target customers

EARLY ADOPTERS

Your first, ideal customers

COST STRUCTURE

Your first and variable costs

REVENUE STREAMS

Your sources of revenue

Why It's Awesome (A Tale of Two Startups)

Let's conjure up two imaginary friends, Alex and Blair. Both have brilliant ideas for a startup.

Alex begins the traditional way. She crafts an elaborate business plan, filled with extensive market research, detailed financial forecasts, and more. It takes weeks.

Blair, on the other hand, uses the Lean Canvas. In one afternoon, she has a clear, concise model of her business. She lists out problems, solutions, key metrics, channels, customer segments, unfair advantages, and more.

Guess who hits the market faster? Blair! While Alex is still tweaking her business plan, Blair is out there, testing her hypotheses and making real progress.

Breaking Down the Lean Canvas with Real-World Examples:

Below you'll find detail on each of the section of the lean canvas and an example (on the right) for a subscription-based meal kit delivery service for busy professionals.

PROBLEM

This is often the part that we have to come back to after we've already spent weeks thinking about our cool new idea or innovation.

"Hold on a second...what is the actual problem I'm solving?"

List out 1-3 pain points that your customers have.

Airbnb identified a problem: pricey hotel rooms and a desire for authentic travel experiences.

EXISTING ALTERNATIVES

How do you customers currently solve the problem above? Try and explore at least 3 alternatives.

Uber's existing alternatives were traditional taxi services, public transportation, car rentals, and private car services.

SOLUTION

This should be the solution(s) to the problem(s). Include your top features or benefits.

Airbnb's solution? Allow homeowners to rent out rooms, homes, or unique spaces to travelers.

KEY METRICS

Here's where you should collect the numbers you'll track in order to check you're doing okay. It could be: units sold; 5-star ratings; social media shares; lives saved etc. You should be able to track these numbers to check the health of your business.

Dropbox focused on the number of file uploads as a key metric in its early days.

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

A promise of value that a business delivers to its customers, addressing their needs, solving their problems, or providing unique benefits.

Click here to learn more about value propositions and how to craft a compelling one for your business.

Spotify's UVP was "Music for everyone," focusing on the accessibility of music.

UINFAIR ADVANTAGE

What 'secret sauce' do you have that others don't? Is it your access to resources? Your IP?

Tesla's vast network of Superchargers gives them a unique edge in the electric car market.

CHANNELS

How will you reach your customers? What different marketing channels will you use?

AirBnB used social media marketing, referral programs, influencer partnerships and organic search.

CUSTOMER SEGMENTS

Who are your target customers? How might you segment them into groups for the purpose of marketing or product development?

Facebook, in its infancy, targeted Ivy League colleges before expanding to other universities.

EARLY ADOPTERS

Who are the first group of customers likely to jump on board your idea or innovation? These are the die-hard fans or those willing to test things out before there are reviews of testimonials.

AirBnB's early adopters were budget travelers, adventure seekers open to non-traditional accommodation, attendees of large events where hotels were fully booked (like conventions).

COST STRUCTURE

Money going out. List out all the fixed and variable costs you'll have to get up and running and then to stay in business. Break down all your costs.

WhatsApp operated with minimal costs, primarily running server costs without any advertising

REVENUE STREAMS

What are the different ways you'll bring in money? This could be from one-off sales, subscriptions, partnerships, different tiered pricing etc

Slack earns through subscription models, offering a free basic version and premium versions with more features.

The beauty of the Lean Canvas is that it evolves with you. As you test, learn, and pivot, your canvas will shift to reflect your newfound insights.

Kit Hindin

Activator, facilitator, entrepreneur, futurist, designer and strategic thinking partner.

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