Week 8 · Phase 4 · Ideate & Plan

Value Proposition & Business Model Canvas

Your first draft — map the value you create and how your whole venture fits together

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Before you build anything, you need a clear picture of two things: the value you actually create for someone, and how your whole venture fits together as a system — not just what you sell, but who you rely on, how you reach people, and how it sustains itself.

This worksheet has two parts: a Value Proposition Canvas (zooming in on one customer and one value fit), then your first draft Business Model Canvas (zooming out to all 9 blocks). This is a first draft — it's supposed to have gaps. You'll revisit and revise it after you build your MVP.

1

Value Proposition Canvas

Does what you offer actually fit what your customer needs?

Fill in the Customer Profile first — based on what you actually learned from research and empathy interviews, not guesses. Then fill in the Value Map to show how what you offer addresses it.

Customer Profile
Customer Jobs — what are they trying to get done? Pains — what frustrates or worries them? Gains — what would make them happy?
Value Map
Products & Services — what do you actually offer? Pain Relievers — how do you ease their pains? Gain Creators — how do you create their gains?
If you can't answer this clearly, that's a sign to revisit your Customer Profile before moving on.
2

Your First Draft Business Model Canvas

Zoom out — all 9 blocks, as you understand your venture today

The Business Model Canvas describes how an enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value. Every block is connected — filling in one often changes another. Your Value Proposition from Section 1 goes in the center block below.

Key Partners
Who do you rely on that you don't own?
Key Activities
What must you actually do to deliver your value?
Value Propositions
Carry this over from Section 1
Customer Relationships
How do you interact with and retain customers?
Customer Segments
Who exactly are you serving? Be specific.
Key Resources
What assets does your model depend on?
Channels
How do customers find you, buy from you, and receive your value?
Cost Structure
What are your biggest costs? What's fixed vs. variable?
Revenue Streams
How do you make money?
3

Building a Nonprofit or Mission-Driven Venture?

The Mission Model Canvas

The standard Business Model Canvas assumes the person who pays you is the same person who benefits from what you do, and that "success" means revenue. For a nonprofit or mission-driven venture, that's often not true — a food bank's beneficiaries (people who receive food) aren't the ones funding it (donors, grants), and "success" means impact delivered, not just money kept.

The Mission Model Canvas (developed by Steve Blank and collaborators, adapted from the standard BMC) swaps a few blocks to fit that reality:

  • Customer Segments → Beneficiaries + Buyers/Supporters — split out who receives the value from who actually pays or provides support (they may be different people).
  • Revenue Streams → Mission Achievement / Funding — instead of "how do you make money," it asks how you'll know you're achieving your mission, and where the resources come from to keep doing it (grants, donations, earned income, or a mix).
  • Cost Structure → Mission Cost — what it actually costs to deliver the mission, separate from what it costs to run the organization.
  • New block: Buy-In & Support — who needs to believe in and back this (donors, board, volunteers, government, community) for it to keep existing?
Leave blank if your venture is a standard for-profit business where these are the same people.
Name a concrete measure of impact, not just a feeling.
4

Pressure-Test Your Canvas

Where are you still guessing?