Missouri Business Fall 2018

FOCUS ON GROWTH
How to Discover New Growth Opportunities
By Sally M. Williams
When was the last time you really
talked to your customers?
I’m not talking about typical
business chats — saying hello and how you
can help them or commenting on the weather
or sports teams. I’m asking: When was the
last time you had an in-depth conversation
with your customers about their needs —
about the different tasks they have to do, the
things that cause them problems or annoy
them and the outcomes they desire? My
guess is it’s been a while, if ever. However,
understanding your customers’ needs is the
key to identifying new growth opportunities.
Grounded in famed entrepreneur Steve
Blank’s theories of customer development
and detailed in Alexander Osterwalder’s
book “Value Proposition Design,” the Value
Proposition Canvas is an excellent process
tool to help you discover growth opportunities
based on the needs of your customers (or
potential customers). This process involves
you interviewing your current and potential
customers to learn about their problems, their
desired outcomes, and the product or service
features and benefits they want to solve their
problems and achieve their outcomes.
It’s a simple process. First you conduct
Customer Discovery interviews with
customers about the jobs or tasks they do,
their pains (problems) and gains (desired
outcomes), and what matters most to them.
Then, based on what you learned from the
interviews, you develop a Customer Profile
to clarify your understanding of the customer.
Next you create a Value Map that describes
what features or benefits your products or
services could provide to create value for your
customers. Then you identify the features and
benefits that would relieve your customers’
pains or create gains. Those features and
benefits that best fit the customers’ pains
and gains are your opportunities for growth.
These opportunities may be new or updated
products or services, communication or
customer service capabilities, distribution or
availability options, etc.
You may be thinking, “That sounds great,
but I’m really busy and think I’d need some
help to use this tool.” No worries — in
Missouri, small businesses can get help
using the Value Proposition Canvas with
their business at no cost. The Missouri
Small Business & Technology Development
Centers (SBTDC) have business counselors
with special training and experience in using
the Value Proposition Canvas. Through
one-on-one consultations or classes, the
business counselors can help businesses use
this terrific tool to identify and plan growth
opportunities.
If your business needs help with a growth
strategy, please contact a center near you. A
directory is available at missouribusiness.
net/centers.
Contact Sally Williams at williamssall@
umkc.edu or 816-235-6074.
Sally Williams,
Technology
development and
commercialization
consultant
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