The First Chapter Single pages low res

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LEARNINGS
This pilot phase has been one of
trial and error. Not in an unthinking
way but in a very intentional and
designerly way. We have constantly
designed mini pilots that we have
tested, refined and redesigned.
It has been an iterative process
and has led to us building a solid
foundation on which to grow and
scale our business with deep and
real customer and market insights.
Due to funding constraints we have
been forced to be more responsive
and customer focused. We believe
that these are the perfect conditions
for innovation and that’s exactly what
our business model demonstrates.
Without the luxury of ploughing on
despite the fact that a service isn’t
hitting the mark we have reflected on
what our customers need and what
they are willing and able to pay for.
This has led to a much more targeted
offering that we believe will bare fruit
over the next 12-18 months.
One of the areas we have not
performed to a standard we are
proud of is in our relationship
management. Whether with the
social enterprises we have worked
with, the investors we have engaged
with, with our staff or as a Board. We
simply haven’t had enough hours in
the day to give people the time they
deserve and need. We have worked
ridiculously hard and certainly done
our best but what we’ve delivered on
this front is not good enough and we
want to do better.
We need to not only add capacity by
increasing the size of the team but
also ensure we get the right cultural
and skill set match to actually see
the increase in what we can deliver
and how well we deliver it. This is our
next challenge.
We always knew that the business
model was foundational to our work
but we have learnt over these two
years that our approach to using it
and training others to use it is unique
in the market. Paul has always said
that the business model canvas is
deceptively simple and this is part of
the reason why other players in the
market who are trying to use it are
struggling to use it effectively.
We have done business modelling
with over 150 social enterprises and
really honed our method around how
best to use this magnificent tool of
the business model canvas to build
Blended Value organisations.
In our early interactions we found that
social enterprises reacted strongly
against the business model canvas
if we jumped straight into it, as they
felt uncomfortable with the pure
commercial approach they felt that
took. Most of the organisations were
coming more from the social side of
the spectrum and found the canvas
“too mercenary”.
Common struggles emerged with
parts of the canvas that seemed to
trip social enterprises up. Areas like
articulating the customer segment
were more complex for those who
focused on their beneficiary group
and confused this group for the
customer.
The Value Proposition was another
area of confusion, as people would
passionately place their mission or
purpose in this box believing that as
it was their motivating factor it must
be the customers as well.
Responses began to soften and the
education process became more
effective when we introduced the
Intention box above the canvas. This
can then inform the business you
build moving forward and help in the
decision making process.
Our ability to use the canvas as a
way to “triage” an enterprise and
give feedback on gaps or strengths
in the model has allowed us to more
effectively target our interventions
and next steps.