Business Model Canvas Explained in Formulating Hypothesis

Before going into the process of hypothesis formulation, one of the points that you came across in the previous section is how to cover all the aspects of the problem. You will only have limited time to solve any problem and hence, you need to be efficient in exploring all the domains of the business. 'Business Model Canvas' is one such framework which provides you with a solution for this.

The business model canvas was proposed by Alexander Osterwalder. It is a strategic management template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It helps you cover all the aspects on a sheet of paper in a structured format. Let's hear about the canvas from Soudhakar.

The business model canvas is summarized below:

(Note: If you want to read the text in the image, right click and open in new tab.)

It is distributed under a 'Creative Commons license' from Strategyzer and can be used without any restrictions for modelling businesses.

The business model canvas is a very popular tool due to the following features:

• It covers multiple domains of the business in a simple and efficient manner. At the end of the model, you are aware of the firm's or product's value proposition, infrastructure, customers and finances.
• Your business understanding increases at an accelerated pace because multiple areas of the business are covered in a very short span.
• This model is adaptive to all businesses. Whether it is a multinational company or a startup, this model can be applied to all of them.
• Finally, all you have at the end is just a piece of paper. It is an advantage as you can easily carry your entire research in the interviews for your reference.

In the next segment, Soudhakar will demonstrate this model on one of the largest retail chain - Walmart.