Here are some important terms you will learn in this course!
Business Model Canvas
The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a key tool for any entrepreneur, regardless of thein industry. It can be used to test out if your business model will be successful while identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your business model.
For creative entrepreneurs, the BMC can be an essential starting point for growing resilience and building projects that are not just culturally significant, but they are also rewarding for their creators and their overall wellbeing.
Value proposition
This is a simple phrase that refers to the value you promise to deliver to customers who choose to buy your product or use your services. It includes the way you help clients, the needs you address / the problem you solve and what is different about your offer (compared to other similar things in the market).
You need to think very well about you differentiating factor. The reason why people buy/use your products/services might easily determine the product–market fit, if you can identify whether the product really matches with what the clients want and need.
Self-leadership
"Self-leadership is the practice of intentionally influencing your thinking, feeling and actions towards your objective/s" (Bryant and Kazan 2012)
Self-leadership lies in 3 abilities:
Setting goals, which essentially means being aligned with what you need to do and know when it’s the deadline for it. Mostly if you are in a creative business or industry, it goes as something essential to set from the beginning with your client or team.
When setting goals, try the SMART method, which means that any goal you set needs to be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based.
A goal also needs to be clear, negotiated (especially when it is not relevant enough for you as it might be for someone else) and reformulated so that it makes sense to you, as well as everyone else.
Business Model You Canvas
Business Model You is a tool that was developed based on the Business Model Canvas as “a one-page method for reinventing your career”, as the book itself states. BMYou it’s an adaptation of the Business Model Canvas and was built on the needs of entrepreneurs who wanted to change the way they worked, but mostly, for those who want to know what is fundamental to their careers. It is essentially a Personal Business Model.
Cashflow
Cashflow plays a critical role in financial planning, and it is also the most important aspect in any successful business. It can foresee most of your business’ cycles, for a given time, meaning that it can predict all the ups or downs of your revenue – when money goes in and out of your bank account.
Turnover
This is the total revenue from your products/services in a certain timeframe (without discounts/tax on value added, equities etc). If you want to have a better understanding of your evolution, in comparison with similar companies on the market, your growth, then you might want to keep a constant look at your turnover numbers.
The average value of a client
Because there are only a few domains for which you make long-term or lifetime investment (a house, a car etc), you have to take a look at what income comes from one of your clients. Most of the time, the clients become loyal and make recurrent payments. You can develop your business further if you pay close attention to the acquisition cost for a client and the value they bring.
Distribution channels
Are all the ways you reach your clients. They can take different forms - offline or online, direct or mediated etc. When you think about them, you consider how your potential clients find out about you and how you reach them. Here you need to take into consideration all your customer touchpoints – from communication to distribution.
Freemium
Freemium is a type of monetization strategy. Especially when it comes to technology, the base package is free to use by everyone who needs it, and the entrepreneur bets that enough clients are going to pay for the Premium package, that has more features and functionalities.
Business accelerator or incubator
These are programs that aim to support entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and start-ups in a sustainable, profitable way. Generally, they can include workshops, consultancy sessions, mentorship and feedback from investors or experts in essential business areas and other entrepreneurs who have more experience.
