Business is an entire entity founded on many individual parts. I found that conducting the business canvas project caused me to think of the individual parts of the business, rather than always looking at the whole picture. Being a marketing student, I find myself occupied by the customers, value proposition and marketing plan. I often put less emphasis on the cost structure and key resources. Performing the business canvas exercise caused me to put concentrated effort on each individual part of the project. Often, it is easy to quickly jump from one part of a project to another, however this project helped me stop and fully assess each aspect of the business.
Another part of the project I found very useful was physically writing down the brainstormed parts for the business. This aspect of prototyping helped mentally clarify the areas of the business. I found that it helped identify gaps in the thinking process. These tools will be helpful to adopt and implement in future projects – perhaps without the formality of the business canvas project.
I appreciated Tim Brown’s view on design thinking where he stated, “The goal of prototyping isn’t to finish. It is to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the idea and to identify new directions that further prototypes might take.” (2008). I found that this quote personified the business canvas process for me. When my team and I presented to the CEO’s and the rest of the class, the business canvas process did not still feel complete. It felt like an evolutionary process that wasn’t yet finished; a prototype that could still be refined and honed. I suppose that this is a process that will continue in all projects across many facets of life.
Brown, Tim. (2008). Design Thinking. Harvard Business Review, 1-10