The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a strategic management tool that helps entrepreneurs and businesses visually describe, design, and pivot their business models. It was created by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur in their book Business Model Generation. The BMC allows businesses to map out the key components of their operations on a single page, making it easier to understand how all parts of the business interact.
The 9 Components of the Business Model Canvas:
1. Customer Segments:
Example Source: Market research reports, customer interviews, surveys, competitor analysis.
Explanation: Defines the different groups of people or organizations a business aims to serve. These are the target customers or users of the product or service.
2. Value Propositions:
- Explanation: Describes the unique value or solution that the business provides to its customers. It explains why customers should choose your product or service over others.
- Example Source: Customer feedback, product testing, competitive analysis, unique selling points (USP).
3. Channels:
- Explanation: Outlines the different ways the business delivers its value proposition to its customers. This could include online platforms, physical stores, partnerships, or delivery methods.
- Example Source: Customer journey mapping, logistics analysis, marketing strategy plans.
4. Customer Relationships:
Example Source: Customer service data, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software, competitor relationship models.
Explanation: Describes the types of relationships a company establishes with specific customer segments, such as personal assistance, self-service, automated services, or community building.
5. Revenue Streams:
- Explanation: Identifies how the business earns revenue from each customer segment. This could include sales of products or services, subscription fees, licensing, or advertising.
- Example Source: Pricing strategy, sales data, market demand analysis, financial projections.
6. Key Resources:
- Explanation: Lists the essential assets that are necessary to deliver the value proposition, reach customers, and sustain the business. These can be physical, intellectual, human, or financial resources.
- Example Source: Company inventory, intellectual property listings, workforce analysis, financial statements.
7. Key Activities:
Example Source: Operational workflows, supply chain management, service delivery processes.
Explanation: Describes the most important actions or processes a business must perform to create and deliver its value proposition.
8. Key Partnerships:
- Explanation: Identifies the network of suppliers, partners, or other external organizations that help the business operate. Partnerships can include alliances with suppliers, distributors, or technology providers.
- Example Source: Partnership agreements, supply chain data, industry networking events, legal documents.
9. Cost Structure:
- Explanation: Details all the major costs involved in operating the business. This includes fixed and variable costs, costs of key resources, activities, and partnerships.
- Example Source: Financial statements, expense tracking, budgeting forecasts.
How the Business Model Canvas is Used:
- Business Planning: Helps new businesses design their operations and understand how each part of the business connects.
- Pivoting and Innovation: Established businesses use the BMC to re-evaluate and adjust their models in response to market changes or new opportunities.
- Team Alignment: Provides a shared understanding of the business model across teams, ensuring that everyone is aligned with the company’s objectives.
- Investor Communication: Entrepreneurs can use the BMC to explain their business models to investors clearly and concisely.
Example of Filling in a BMC:
Imagine you’re creating a business that offers your typical home gardening services:
- Customer Segments: Homeowners, rental property managers, elderly people needing help with garden maintenance.
- Value Proposition: Convenient, affordable, and expert garden care that enhances the beauty of homes.
- Channels: Website bookings, mobile app, phone service, community events.
- Customer Relationships: Friendly, personalized service, loyalty programs for repeat customers.
- Revenue Streams: Service fees, subscription plans, upselling products like fertilizers or tools.
- Key Resources: Skilled gardeners, gardening tools, vehicles for transportation, proprietary software for managing bookings.
- Key Activities: On-site garden maintenance, customer service, marketing, tool maintenance.
- Key Partnerships: Tool suppliers, local nurseries, community organizations for referrals.
- Cost Structure: Wages for gardeners, fuel costs, tool purchases, and marketing expenses.
By filling out the BMC, you gain a comprehensive view of your business and how to execute your strategy.
Introducing Local Home and Garden Repairs Marketing cooperative
Local Home and Garden Repairs is not your “typical” business setup. For a start, It’s a marketing cooperative, which means that it only generates revenue if it gets work for the service providers who join the cooperative. Think of it like having franchise support systems, but without the expensive franchise fees that are usually a large barrier to starting a new business in an industry.
Another way it is different is Local Home and Garden Repairs gives back to the community through a Social enterprise business model, which looks after the triple bottom lines of People and the planet, and the purpose of the business, which relates to the “Circular Economy”.
What’s The Circular Economy?
The Circular Economy looks after the physical environment by repurposing or reusing products that would normally go to the dump as landfills. It is also different to recycling or a 2nd hand market, although that may be part of it.
New products are reused first, and then find new uses for products when it comes to the end of its life-cycle. Products are then repaired until they are worn out to the point they no longer work, and are replaced by new products, and the old products are mostly recycled to make new products, and the cycle starts again.
This circular approach to products and resources aligns perfectly with the mission of Local Home and Garden Repairs. By extending the life of tools, equipment, and materials, we’re helping reduce waste while ensuring affordable service options for pensioners and low-income households.
At Local Home and Garden Repairs, our cooperative model also means that we’re supporting local tradespeople. Each service provider in the network is handpicked based on their commitment to quality and sustainability. As a member of the cooperative, they benefit from a steady flow of work within their community, while customers enjoy fixed, affordable pricing with the confidence that the work is being done by trusted professionals.
By choosing Local Home and Garden Repairs, you’re not just getting your lawn mowed or your garden maintained—you’re becoming part of a movement that values people, the planet, and purposeful business practices. We’re here to make a difference in our local communities, one garden at a time.
Business Model Canvas: Local Home and Garden Repairs
1. Customer Segments:
- Primary: Pensioners, low-income carers, elderly homeowners, and their family members seeking affordable, reliable home and garden maintenance services.
- Secondary: Community service providers (local tradespeople, gardeners, and handymen), and carers looking for trusted service providers for the people they care for.
- Niche: Environmentally-conscious homeowners who prioritize sustainability and community-driven initiatives.
2. Value Proposition:
- Trusted and Vetted Providers: Only uses trusted, vetted local tradespeople to ensure high-quality work.
- Affordable and Fixed Pricing: Provides pensioners and low-income families with transparent, fixed-price services.
- Local Community Focus: Supports the local economy by partnering with local service providers, ensuring jobs stay within the community.
- Social Enterprise Model: Gives back by prioritizing affordable services for those in need while contributing to the community through environmental sustainability.
- Circular Economy Commitment: Focuses on reducing waste by reusing, repairing, and recycling products and materials where possible, minimizing the environmental footprint.
3. Channels:
- Website and Online Platform: Easy booking and information access via a user-friendly website.
- Local Community Networks: Promotions through word-of-mouth, community groups, and local events to reach elderly homeowners and their carers.
- Social Media: Targeted Facebook ads and social media presence to reach younger family members of the elderly and environmentally-conscious individuals.Partner Networks: Referrals through affiliates, aged care providers, local councils, and community support organizations, and full-service operators looking for easy to do regular local work.
- Phone Support: Accessible phone service for customers who may not be comfortable with online bookings.
4. Customer Relationships:
- Personalized Service: Provides a human touch, with empathetic customer service focused on the needs of elderly and vulnerable individuals.
- Trust and Reliability: Building long-term relationships by being a trustworthy provider that prioritizes customer satisfaction.
- Loyalty Programs: Rewards for repeat customers and discounted rates for carers or those booking multiple services.
- Community Involvement: Active participation in local events and charity activities to reinforce trust and connection within the community.
5. Revenue Streams:
- Service Fees: Fixed prices for basic home and garden repairs and maintenance “do and charge” services with no upsells, making the cost predictable for customers. Full-service options add on extra costs.
- Subscription Plans: Monthly or seasonal subscription services for regular home or garden maintenance at a reduced rate. 3-star service options and priced accordingly.
- Social Enterprise Grants: Possible funding from government programs or non-profit organizations supporting the circular economy and community welfare initiatives.
- Partnerships: Revenue through partnerships with local businesses that provide equipment, tools, or eco-friendly products for home use.
6. Key Resources:
- Local Service Providers: Skilled tradespeople, gardeners, and handymen who are members of the cooperative and share the business’s social and environmental values.
- Digital Platform: An efficient booking and management platform that matches service requests with local providers based on location.
- Sustainability Network: Partnerships with recycling centers, eco-friendly product suppliers, and repair services to support the circular economy.
- Marketing and Community Engagement Teams: Teams responsible for community outreach, marketing campaigns, and customer relationship management.
7. Key Activities:
- Service Delivery: Coordinating and delivering home and garden services using local tradespeople and a fixed pricing structure.
- Provider Vetting and Onboarding: Ensuring service providers are vetted, trained, and aligned with the business’s sustainability and social values.
- Circular Economy Practices: Implementing strategies to repair, repurpose, or recycle materials and products, minimizing waste in home and garden services.Community Engagement: Actively participating in local events, charities, and workshops to stay connected with the target market and promote sustainability.
- Marketing and Promotion: Promoting the business through digital marketing, local community groups, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
8. Key Partnerships:
- Local Tradespeople and Service Providers: Engaging trusted local providers who deliver quality services within their postcode areas.
- Community and Government Programs: Collaborating with organizations that support pensioners, carers, and those focused on environmental sustainability.
- Recycling and Repair Centers: Partnerships with recycling depots and repair centers to support the circular economy initiative and reduce waste.Product Suppliers: Collaborating with local suppliers of eco-friendly or refurbished home and garden products that align with the company’s sustainable values.
- Local Councils and Non-Profits: Partnering with local councils, aged care facilities, and non-profit organizations to offer subsidized services for those in need.
9. Cost Structure:
- Service Provider Wages: Payments to local service providers, based on cooperative agreements that ensure fair wages and benefits.
- Marketing and Outreach: Costs for digital marketing, local advertising, and community outreach programs.
- Operational Costs: Expenses related to the digital platform, booking system, and phone support infrastructure.Sustainability Initiatives: Costs associated with recycling, repurposing, and repair activities to maintain the circular economy model.
What Makes Local Home and Garden Repairs Different?
- Triple Bottom Line Focus: Unlike traditional businesses, Local Home and Garden Repairs emphasizes the welfare of people, the planet, and purposeful growth through a social enterprise model.
- Community-Centric Approach: The cooperative only succeeds if it benefits both the local tradespeople and the community it serves, with profits reinvested into creating a sustainable and socially responsible operation.
- Circular Economy Practices: Most competitors are not focused on sustainability, but Local Home and Garden Repairs actively reduce waste through repair and reuse, distinguishing itself from businesses focused solely on cost-cutting and quick fixes.
Interested in starting your own local service business?
Go to the Local Home and Garden Repairs website and see if your postcode is still available.
