#93 - How to Use the Business Model Canvas to Grow Your Creative Business

The Business Model Canvas is a creative, visual tool that helps makers and indie business owners gain clarity and structure in their business. In this episode, I explore how yarn dyers, pattern designers, and shop owners can use it to grow sustainably. Tune in now and start crafting your business with confidence! 🚀

Go to full show notes and download a Business Model Canvas Template HERE

Chapters

• 0:00 Using the Business Model Canvas
• 10:17 Crafting a Creative Business Model

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there and welcome creative business owners and indie makers. Welcome back to Pattern Shift, where we dive into the joys, the challenges and the strategies of running a sustainable and fulfilling creative business. My name is Saskia and today we're talking about a tool that might sound corporate and intimidating but is actually a really kind of playful, creative way to structure and grow your business the business model canvas. Okay, so I know you're probably thinking business model canvas that sounds like something for stiff corporate suits and MBA types, and I hear you and I get it. But I promise you this tool is not only very useful for creative business owners like us. It's actually pretty fun, if you let it be fun, and I'm not the type that wears suits. I'm actually making a blouse that I've made myself today and I'm very proud of. I made it to fit my body, I designed it to fit my style and I love it. And for now, let's dive in and see how this visual framework can help you make sense of your business without sucking this whole out of your creativity. Sound good? All right, let's go. Let's do this. So what is the business model canvas and why should you care?

Speaker 1: 1:35

The business model canvas I'm going to say this a lot is a one page visual map that helps you organize the key building blocks of your business. It was developed by Alexander Osterwalder, who, to be fair, deserves some credit, because we like to treat people the way we want to be treated, so here's the credit. But, honestly, what matters here is how this tool can work for you. So, thank you, alexander, we'll pick it up from here. So what it looks like is imagine a large whiteboard A bullet journal spread is actually perfect for it as well, and over the whole area of the whiteboard or the spreads, or your piece of paper, the space is divided into nine boxes. The boxes are actually at particular places on the sheet, so you have to download it to see what it really looks like. There's a link in the show notes for that, and so it breaks your business down into nine essential parts. These are the nine parts Customer segments who do you want to serve?

Speaker 1: 2:50

Who buys from you and what do they look like? Two value proposition what makes your work unique? Why would people choose you over someone else? Three channels how do you reach your customers? Instagram, newsletter, pop-up markets. Four customer relationships how do you interact with your audience? Are you the friendly shopkeeper type or the hands-off type. Just let me pack the orders in the back room and I'll just have a web shop and that's good.

Speaker 1: 3:29

Number five revenue streams how do you actually make money? Sales commissions, workshops, selling your soul to the devil? Maybe it's up to you. Six, the key resources. What do you need to make your business work? Materials, tools, software, fairy godmothers, maybe. Seven key activities what do you do every day to keep the business going? Creating marketing, admin, cleaning your studio, things like that, getting that really good coffee from the place next door, just to keep you going. Eight key partnerships who helps you to make it all happen? Collaborators, business buddies, your bookkeeper, other businesses that you do collabs with. That's actually what collaborators are. Saskia, okay, yeah, you get it.

Speaker 1: 4:22

Nine cost structure so where does the money go? Rent supplies, software, that kind of a stationary addiction that we all have, and I'm not mentioning the wool. So now let's break these down a little and see why they matter to you. So why should we use it? Why should we use the business model? It's a visual, hands-on approach. If you think of it as a vision board for your business, that helps. I think it's not about a rigid business plan. It's about seeing your whole business at a glance. It really encourages experimentation.

Speaker 1: 5:07

Your business evolves and this tool helps you to tweak things without feeling stuck. You get to play, shift, pivot as you grow and for those of you who've known me for a while, I am the pivoting queen. I have done it all. I have designed, I've dyed wool, I've sold wool, I've made products, I made bags, I taught my gosh. I did it all. I shifted and I pivoted and I, kind of like clay, needed my business into what I needed it to be. Okay, you can quote me on that.

Speaker 1: 5:52

One Another thing is it really helps you to focus on what really matters Instead of getting lost in all of our to-do lists, which I know, I know it happens to you, it happens to me, even with my whole bullet journal structure. Sometimes you just get lost in your to-do lists and you don't think about why you actually need to do things. So it helps you to prioritize what really drives your business and it's helpful. It's super helpful, especially if your brain loves jumping from one thing to the next. Adhd business owners, I see you. Another thing is that it is a creative playground. The business model canvas is that it's a creative playground. Strategy does not have to be hard or boring. When you approach it like a creative exercise, it actually becomes fun and helpful in designing a business that aligns with your values. And you know that we're all about that at Yeville and PatentShift. We want to build businesses that align with what you need, what your boundaries are and what your values are, so this is a great tool for you.

Speaker 1: 7:14

So now, how do you now? How do you get started with the business model canvas? You should really just take a drink every time I say that word, but make a tea, unless it's like the weekend or you feel like you want to just really have fun with this episode. It's up to you. It's your life. Anyway, all right, let's give this a go. Here's how we start.

Speaker 1: 7:40

First of all, you download or you draw a business model canvas. I'll drop a link in the show notes and I have a downloadable there for you, but you can Google it and it's really easy. The bigger the better. So if you have a wall that you can use, if you have a blackboard, anything that's like a big piece of paper that you've used for something and that you can really spread out, the bigger the better. But it also works small. You can use sticky notes, which is really convenient because you can write down ideas for each section and then you can move them around and see what fits and what feels good, and you can take things off, put things back on. I really like that idea and I want to say please start with what you know. Do not overthink it. You can refine it as you go.

Speaker 1: 8:34

I just came back to my own business model canvas recently when I started to write about it for our Business Circle membership. We talked about it in our wins and woes meetings. Then I wrote a little blog post about it that you can find as well, and now I'm making this show. So I was all about the Business Model Canvas and I redid mine. You just come back to it every now and then and just have a look at what's going on in your business. You iterate, you adjust it over time. Your business isn't static and neither is your business model canvas.

Speaker 1: 9:10

Whenever you feel a little bit shaky and a little bit unsure of the direction you're going in, try to play a little bit with the business model canvas and see where you wait, what it gets you, so you can completely make it yours. Like my friend who helps me with bookkeeping once told me it's time that you take over. Now. You do this, I'll show you how to do it. And I went like no, it's so boring I can't do it, my brain dies. And she said I'll just, I can make it pink if that helps. And I seriously reacted yes, please make it pink. Anyway, make it yours. Color coded, doodle on it, invite a friend over, make it into a party, a brainstorming session and have the people that help you in your business or your neighbor, whatever, make it fun. And it really can be fun. But it's up to you and I hope this really helps you to give an idea of how you can use the business model canvas.

Speaker 1: 10:17

Now, how do you actually use the business model canvas? Now, how do you actually use the business model canvas? You can basically break it down into three key areas Desirability that is part one to four, so that's your customer segments, your value proposition, your channels and your customer relationships. This really talks about do people actually want what you're offering? Then the next key area is viability that's part five and nine, so your revenue streams and your cost structure. Can your business actually make money? And then the third part is feasibility, which is six to eight your key resources, your key activities and your key partnerships, and that talks about do you have what you need to make it happen? For example, if you're an indie yarn dyer, your desirability is. That part is about knowing your customer segments Knitters who love hand-dyed yarn. Your value proposition is that you create unique colorways inspired by nature. You sell via your website and Instagram and you build relationships through online engagement and in-person yarn festivals. So this talks about do people actually want what you're offering? All these things together, then the next step.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Viability is about you have multiple revenue streams, like direct sales, wholesale, you sell to other shops and dying workshops. Your costs include materials, marketing and website hosting. This is all about can your business make money? You look at your cost versus your income and then your feasibility. Do you have what you need to make it happen? You need dye yarn, a studio and time to produce stock. You also partner with local knitting influencers to promote your work. You give away some of your skeins for giveaways or influencers to talk about your yarn while they use it.

Speaker 1: 12:33

A pattern designer might use the business model canvas to map out different revenue streams, like selling patterns, offering classes and launching a subscription service. A shop owner could focus on how their partnerships with local makers and their in-store events bring in people. And whatever your creative business is. The business model canvas helps. You want to call it that is not.

Speaker 1: 13:01

Do people want what I'm offering? Because I hear people talk about they need support in different sections of their business. They need it, they want the help. But in the next section viability, can your business make money? Absolutely, but I first need to explain to people what it actually is that I can help them with, and if they invest in knowledge about building a business, that investment comes right back to them. But that's the hard part in this industry for me. I have found that a lot of people would rather invest in more materials than in more knowledge, which is kind of a hard part for me in my whole structure.

Speaker 1: 14:01

Another thing that I constantly come back to is my channels. How do I reach my customers? I want to work according to my values and I have a lot of ideas and thoughts about social media, so I'm always experimenting in finding ways to market what I do in a way that matches my values, my boundaries, what I need, in a way that matches my values, my boundaries, what I need which is really interesting, because for a lot of people it sounds weird that you're a marketing professional who does not really fully step into the social media thing and that's just who I am For my business I think that I can do it in a different way. I am really focusing on slow marketing, ethical marketing and ways that fit my business and me as a person. But it does mean that having a business model canvas right in front of me and seeing all these moving parts in my business, it helps me to see that it would be a good idea to go where the businesses are, for example.

Speaker 1: 15:15

So one of the channels that's now really important to me is to go to local or semi-local festivals and markets and actually one-on-one talk to business owners and get to know them and build a relationship over time. So a business model canvas can really for you is to actually do it, because I can give you a lot of different examples, but you are unique, your needs are unique, your value system is unique and you might have a really really strong fan base on online, but the fandom is not actually translating to sales and then you can play with that and you can look at it and you can see what am I going to do to bring it back into some sort of a balance. Basically, it's kind of a scale. You look at it and you see where can you find the balance or what do you want to add some more? Where do you want to put some more energy? Invest in knowledge, invest in time, invest in partnerships what will bring your business forward?

Speaker 1: 16:43

This is the one question that you have to ask yourself every day If you are making your to-do list. That is the one question that you have to ask yourself every day If you are making your to-do list. That is the question on top of the page. What is the one thing I need to do to bring my business forward? And today it can be starting to work on my business model canvas. Give yourself an hour. You can get a lot done, I promise you.

Speaker 1: 17:11

So if you want to take this further and if this has sparked something for you, if you're like, oh, I'm so excited and you want to do more with this, then you can dive deeper and join us inside the Yavol community membership. For a really low price, you support this podcast and you can hang out with other business owners and talk about this kind of stuff and get creative ideas. Some more exciting news is that the Yavel Business Circle program, after a trial, is now available as a self-paced course for a fraction of the full live cohort price, and this means that you can go through the program at your own speed whenever it suits you. And, plus, when you sign up, you'll get three months of free access to the Business Circle space, which is the space where all the people that went through the program come together and really work on getting their shit done Right. That's the thing. You can connect with them, you can ask questions, you can get support and it's just. It's just big, big fun. If you're looking for structured guidance to build a sustainable, inspiring business, but need flexibility, this is for you. Sign up today and you can start shaping your business with creativity and confidence.

Speaker 1: 18:32

And, by the way, ik spreek ook Nederlands. Dus, voor alle mensen in Nederland laat je niet tegenhouden door het Engels. Er zijn genoeg Nederlanders in de community en we kunnen gewoon in onze eigen prachtige taal communiceren. So that was a little bit of Dutch for all the people that understand it. I hope you thought that was a little bit of Dutch for all the people that understand it.

Speaker 1: 18:51

I hope you thought that was helpful for all the people that thought what the hell's wrong with her. Is she sick? Does she need a doctor? No, that is the Dutch language. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a fellow creative business owner who needs to hear this. And if you try out the business model canvas, let me know how it goes. Send me a message on the show note page. You can just click a button and leave a message or join the conversation inside the Yable community. We'd love to have you there. Until next time, keep creating, keep experimenting because marketing is nothing more than experimenting and, most of all, keep having fun with your business. Bye for now.