How can a short video containing little information help a group of people to develop their own Business Model Canvas(BMC)?
In the 9 Conversations project, supported under the EUs Erasmus+ programme, we have developed a 9 week programme to help people extend their professional network with relevant contacts and develop their story about their business idea using the Business Model Canvas (BMC) as the framework. To support the programme we have developed a FAQ on starting your own business tailored to each partner country. In order to give more life to these FAQs, which can seem a little dry, we are also preparing a series of what we call life stories, which are short videos showing how people within our target group have started their own businesses in the partner countries.
The Danish life story is below (English subtitles are available):
The subject of the video has limited Danish skills and therefore we decided to narrate most of it using existing knowledge about him and his business.
In the 9Conversations programme most of the time is spent building one’s own BMC and using a widened network to fill in more and more detail.
Although the video seems of limited value due its short length and lack of content, it can in fact be used in several ways:
- Shown at the beginning of the programme it demonstrated that it is a practical proposition for a person within the target group to start a business.
- When the concept of the BMC is first being introduced it can be used as a dicussion point for inserting key words into an empty BMC (see below).
- It can then be used as a sample when explaining the Value Proposition Canvas.
- It can also be used towards the end of the programme as an example of how to tell a business story.
As currently developed, the programme foresees using either a video like this or, where language skills permit, the visit of an actual small business person to enable the 9 Conversations group to find out for themsleves different areas of the BMC. But even when a visit can be arranged, the production of a video has the advantage of being a lasting record that can be used for the later exercises described above without needing to invite the person multiple times.
