Warning: 8 Point List Might Get You to Your Destiny Faster

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Business Model Canvas - Donald McMichael

Do you know where you’re at? Are you cool with that? If not con­tinue read­ing to under­stand an 8-point check­list that focuses you onto the right coordinates.

Whether you’re an entre­pre­neur, employee, or retiree you can ben­e­fit from peri­od­i­cally step­ping back and tak­ing stock. After all, we do liken our­selves to a vision­ary who enjoys build­ing their busi­ness, career, and/or life. You do don’t you?

But, are you also a seeker of truth?

Seek­ers of truth are hon­est with them­selves about their cur­rent state. High­lighted below what I believe are the three most crit­i­cal ele­ments of the self-evaluation check­list. I can­not promise that this exam­i­na­tion will keep you from hic­cup­ping, but it can help you head-off some seri­ous aliments.
 
Check your cus­tomer value propo­si­tion. 
Since this blog focuses on pro­vid­ing insights that help indi­vid­u­als improve their organization’s results, let’s look at the list from that per­spec­tive. Cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion is the cor­ner­stone of any enter­prise. If it wasn’t for hav­ing the abil­ity to sat­isfy a real need… well you know what I’m dri­ving at. What we often tend to push aside is that peo­ple buy ben­e­fits. In fact value is the cen­ter of every propo­si­tion – if it’s bal­anced or not is another story. 
 
Think not? Well explore the dia­gram below. This is how my key value maps in the ‘busi­ness model can­vas’ devel­oped by Alexan­der Oster­walder and explained in his book Busi­ness Model Gen­er­a­tion – that’s right busi­ness model think­ing can apply to indi­vid­u­als as well as to organizations.
 
Business model canvas for Donald McMichael
Take a closer look at the cen­ter box, notice how it is focused on value pro­vided. Your customer’s per­cep­tion is the heart of the mat­ter. Here’s the key point: these value state­ments were not crafted inter­nally. This is the feed­back pro­vided to me by those who ben­e­fited from my efforts.
 
It is your job to insure you’re deliv­er­ing on your value promise. Not only ask your cus­tomers how you did but also solicit recommendations. 
| Side­bar: Please note the impe­tus for one’s strate­gic busi­ness model doesn’t have to come from the cen­ter but every suc­cess­ful model includes it. |
 
Con­tinue to learn and inno­vate. 
A con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion pro­gram is a must whether you’re some­what new to the scene or sea­soned vet­eran. We all have some­thing to gain by keep our skills sharp. It is rec­om­mended that in addi­tion to tak­ing at least one struc­tured course per year take advan­tage of local panel dis­cus­sion & conferences.
 
Lever­age your exist­ing assets.
Don’t for­get about your Board of Advi­sors, men­tors, and strate­gic busi­ness rela­tion­ships. Always be think­ing about how you can trans­form your exist­ing assets in com­pany benefits.

Full Check­list:

  1. Check your value proposition
  2. Check effi­cien­cies
  3. Check your financing
  4. Stay active
  5. Feed your com­mu­nity; Giveback
  6. Con­tinue to learn & innovate
  7. Lever­age you exist­ing assets
  8. Review your strate­gic plan

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