Lean Canvas Model Section 1- The Problem
For verbal description of this section, check out this video:
https://youtu.be/AVeszGflKNk
The first section of the Lean Canvas Model is the Problem. The quick and easy definition is that the problem is establishing the problem within a community or town that your business will solve. I have been teaching this method for years and this is the section, that while being the most important, is one of the ones that is hardest for people to understand. When many people start a business, they decide what they want to do and then they do it. They don’t take the time to consider that with some time and thought in the planning stages, they can make some tweaks that will make their business have a much bigger chance of succeeding.
When looking at this first section of the Lean Canvas Model, you need to consider the community that you are creating your business for. I say community rather than town or city because often, restaurants or business related to to food can be the cornerstone of a community, but they may not necessarily be something that people travel to. A coffee shop can be a mainstay of a downtown area and be extremely successful and never even promote to customers that may be traveling down the interstate due to the distance from the interstate. When you are opening a food service operation, it is very important to choose a type of business that will not be competing with other similar businesses. Especially if similar businesses are well established in the area. You may see a bit of notoriety after opening with customers wanting to try out something new, but if you are not very different, eventually you will be splitting customers 50/50, if you are lucky, with a business that may have an established loyalty base. If you feel strongly about a particular type of product or service being your business, look carefully around the area you are thinking about and establish what your competition will be.
A few bullet points that will help you in looking at your business plan:
When you decide to open a business, visit the area that you would like to open in. Eat in the restaurants, shop in the stores, meet people. This will help you establish what the community values and if your business will be a good fit. If you are writing this plan for a school assignment, you can visit the area digitally, check out google maps or websites for the area. You can also check out chamber of commerce pages or small business pages for the areas to see what supports will be available.
If you are convinced that, even though there are similar businesses in the proximity, that you can be successful, establish how you will solve problems differently than them. Will you be open earlier or later? Will you offer more specialized items, or at a lower price point? Will you offer a higher level of luxury? Will you offer delivery or quicker service for lunch breaks?
This section is NOT about problems you will encounter in opening your business, such as lack of employees, or not getting customers.
Is your business one that needs a location. There are many businesses that can be operated out of your home. In NC, you can be inspected by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and offer baked items that don’t require refrigeration. This would allow you to make desserts for restaurants and do customer orders without the initial investment of food service grade equipment and a location, which can be very costly.
If you are opening a restaurant, many people use Food Trucks as a starting point. If you would like to do this, look at community kitchens in the area that would allow you to prepare larger amounts of food and allow you to adhere to all Food Safety regulations. These kitchens are Food Service Grade and allow people with Food Trucks or delivery businesses to rent space/time in order to not have to foot the cost of a location and expensive equipment. Some larger cities even have entire kitchens devoted to Food Truck kitchen rental space.
If you want to know how a business like yours will work, find a similar one in a different area that you will not be in competition with and see if the owner/operator is willing to talk to you about their successes and struggles.
Do not open a business just because you want to “be your own boss” or “you don’t want to work for other people.” Once you have a business, every customer becomes your boss. It becomes your job to make every customer feel heard and important. You will work harder for your business than you ever did for anyone else. It is a great deal of pressure that lands solely on your shoulders.
Thanks for reading and please comment if you have any other questions you would like me to address and I would love to help if I can!
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