Entrepreneurship

Case Study/Essay * 1,000-1,500 words and at least 5 references with APA7

Please see all the OVERVIEW AND GUIDE TO CASE STUDIES below.

· The Business Model Canvas - 9 Steps to Creating a Successful Business Model - Startup Tips the Business Model Canvas, is strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model. The Business Model Canvas has comprised of 9 key segments: The left-hand section of the Business Model Canvas is the infrastructure section and comprises three key areas:

· Key Activities: The most important activities in executing a company's value proposition.

· Key Resources: The resources that are necessary to create value for the customer.

· Partner Network: In order to optimize operations and reduce risks of a business model, organizations usually cultivate buyer-supplier relationships so they can focus on their core activity.

The middle section of the canvas describes the business offering and is the value proposition delivered to different customer segments.

· Value Propositions: The collection of products and services a business offers to meet the needs of its customers. According to Osterwalder, (2004), a company's value proposition is what distinguishes itself from its competitors. The value proposition provides value through various elements such as newness, performance, customization, "getting the job done", design, brand/status, price, cost reduction, risk reduction, accessibility, and convenience/usability. The value propositions may be: Quantitative – price and efficiency Qualitative – overall customer experience and outcome

The right-hand side of the Business Model Canvas describes the customers, the channels through which you deliver services and the relationships you have with your customers.

· Customer Segments: To build an effective business model, a company must identify which customers it tries to serve. Various sets of customers can be segmented based on the different needs and attributes to ensure appropriate implementation of corporate strategy meets the characteristics of selected group of clients.

· Channels: A company can deliver its value proposition to its targeted customers through different channels. Effective channels will distribute a company’s value proposition in ways that are fast, efficient, and cost-effective. An organization can reach its clients either through its own channels (storefront), partner channels (major distributors), or a combination of both.

· Customer Relationships: To ensure the survival and success of any business, companies must identify the type of relationship they want to create with their customer segments. 

The bottom section of the canvas describes the finances.

· Cost Structure: This describes the most important monetary consequences while operating under different business models. A company's DOC.

· Revenue Streams: The way a company makes income from each customer segment.

Watch the video:  https://youtu.be/IP0cUBWTgpY

Question 1 -  Fill out one section of your business model canvas: Define your Customer Segments

Customers segments have something in common with each other allowing you to reach them more easily by knowing what their interests are, where you can reach them and what do they need.

Here are 3 ways that you can define your customer segments if you are a start-up:

1. Mass Market includes a broad range of people that could be interested in your offerings. This is quite common in consumer products but reaching that mass market is very costly for start-ups. A lot of consumer goods like chocolates, soap, and milk follow such a model as well as others like WhatsApp

2. Niche Market includes a more specific group of people that come together because of their age, location, and interests. It is easier for a start-up to reach such a customer segment since it’s easier to grab their attention through your knowledge of their interests. Health products, organic, specific apps could follow this model

3. Multi-Sided Market is specific to companies that have users of the products or service who could be using it for free and clients who have an interest in reaching that set of users. Advertising businesses use this model where advertisers are the clients can reach readers who are the users

All through the development of your business, it is crucial that you and your team are very clear on the market segment that you are trying to reach as this would guide many other decisions that you need to take.

Question 2 - Fill out two more sections of your business model canvas: Define your Value Proposition, and Define Your Channel Strategies

· Define your Value Proposition

Your value proposition is what defines your business, and what excites your clients to do business with you. If you are not exciting your clients enough, they would not go through the effort of trying your product or service.

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself about as you define your value proposition:

1.  

1. What is the problem that you are trying to solve?

2. What is the value that your product or service add to your target segment?

3. How do you address the needs of your target segment?

4. How is your value proposition different from others – or unique?

Keeping your value proposition clear and effective allows you to communicate it effectively within your company and to your target segments. Every one of your team members needs to understand how their work contributes to that value proposition.

Channel Strategies

· Channels are the way that you interface with your clients and services. Your aim is to find the most convenient way for your clients to buy your products and services and to have a great experience doing so.

Here are 2 commonly used channel strategies to sell through to your channels.

1. Direct Channels where you sell directly to your clients either through your website, through your stores or through your sales teams

2. In-Direct Channels where you rely on others to sell your products or services. These could be distributors, retailers or resellers that already have the supply chain or customer relationship and would thus provide you with the most efficient way to reach your clients and possibly to support them

Deciding on the channel model in a startup is very important since each way would have its advantages and disadvantages. As the business evolves, it can have a hybrid channel model that makes use of both routes to reach your clients.

Question 3 - Fill out two more sections for the business of your business model canvas: Customer Relationship Types and Define Your Channel Strategies. Just write down what you would actually write down for your business, in a way that your team will understand.

·         Customer Relationship Types

Your customer relationship will influence the experience that they will have with you and the frequency of engagement with them.

Here are 5 commonly used customer relationships as part of your Business Model Canvas development:

1. Self Service or Automated relationships where clients can conduct most or all of the service, they need without assistance by anyone in your business. A lot of monthly subscription or online services follow this model

2. Personal Relationships where your direct teams are involved in selling and servicing your clients. This is common in physical retail, high value and corporate sales.

3. Creation Relationship where clients contribute to the growth of your business, such as the case with social media sites

4. Transactional Relationship where the client can use your product and service once and might never have the need to return to you and use it again

5. Switching Cost are sticky relationships where it becomes difficult for a client to change a service since they have invested so much time and effort into the relationship. First movers in this type of relationship have the most to gain

Determine which one of these relation types have the most value to your business and to your clients’ experience resulting in great customer service.

Key Revenue Streams

Revenue streams or sales refer to how you generate cash from your clients. In the Business Model Canvas, different client segments could pay you in different ways. Without sales, a business can’t function, so this is the most important aspects of any business.

7 most used revenue types include:

1.  

1. Asset sales refer to cases where you sell a product to a client who then becomes the owner of that product. This is the most widely used model in business and takes place anytime we buy a car, computer or a building

2. Usage fee refers to when a client uses your product or service, but its ownership remains with you. This is common in the hotel or airline industry

3. Subscription fee refers to when your clients subscribe on a monthly or weekly basis and can use your infrastructure. Examples of this include software as a service, gym memberships, etc.

4. Leasing or renting or lending refer to allowing clients to use your assets for a period of time as if it is theirs

5. Licensing revenue is earned when you give clients permission to use your intellectual property. This is common in content production and inventions.

6. Brokerage fees are earned when you take a commission from facilitating a business transaction between two parties.

7. Advertising results from fees for advertising a particular product or service or brand

Ensuring which of the above revenue streams is most convenient for each of your target segments and in turn allowing you to generate the most business is an essential aspect of having your business survive and thrive.

Question 4 - Fill out two more sections for the business of your business model canvas: Key Resource Types, and Key Activities. Just write down what you would actually write down for your business, in a way that your team will understand.

Key Resource Types

Key resources reflect the most important assets of your business. Identifying them will help you in protecting these assets and making the most of them.

Here are 3 common resource types:

1. Physical resources include vehicles, offices or stores, data center, manufacturing equipment

2. Intellectual Property assets brands, copyrights, patents, platforms and even customer databases.

3. Human Capital representing your team. In most businesses, this is your most important asset as the team helps in keeping innovations coming in and in providing your clients with a great experience

Identifying your most important assets in your business and protecting them is essential to making your business function well.

Key Activities your Business Engages in

There are many daily tasks that are done within the business, but it is always important to be clear about what are the key activities that need to be conducted within the business to deliver on the value proposition that you are promising your clients. By identifying these activities, it would help you to prioritize the efforts taking place in your business.

As part of the Business Model Canvas template, some of the common activities in a business include:

1. Production activities which focus on the design, manufacturing, and delivery of a product or service – common in manufacturing

2. Problem-solving which covers a lot of services businesses that work on addressing customer problems

3. Platforms bring together users and clients on a common space for them to interact – Credit card companies, Software platforms, and online merchants are examples that have platforms as a key activity

Reviewing your key activities and improving performance is an essential part of innovating a better product or service to your clients.

Question 5 - Fill out another section for the business of your business model canvas: Key Partnerships. Just write down what you would actually write down for your business, in a way that your team will understand.

Key Partnerships

Forming strong partnerships with your ecosystem is a great tool to help in expanding your reach and making sure that your business is delivering its promise to clients.

Some essential partnerships in business include:

1. Alliances these are entities that can complement your offerings or your reach to your clients – these can include joint ventures or general partnership agreement

2. Suppliers are essential in providing you non-core business elements that allow you to focus on your core areas of strength

Continuous evaluation of the available partnership options is essential to stay abreast of the latest developments.

Question 6 - Fill out another section for the business of your business model canvas: Cost Structure Just write down what you would actually write down for your business, in a way that your team will understand.

 Important Cost Structures

Cost structure refers to all the costs that you incur to deliver on your business model. Keeping your costs under control is essential to maintain a healthy business.

2 Essential Cost Structure elements include:

· Fixed Costs – which refer to all costs that you need to incur whether you sell or not. These could include factory, general administration staff, rent, management staff costs etc..

· Variable Costs – which refer to costs that are associated with the sales of your products or services. The more you sell the more these costs would go up. Variable costs include things like the raw material for your products or cost of consultants that you would etc..

When you are starting up a business keeping the fixed costs as low as possible is essential so that you don’t run out of cash too quickly before you start selling enough products and services to cover your costs.

OVERVIEW AND GUIDE TO CASE STUDIES A case study presents an account of what happened to a business or industry over a number of years. It chronicles the events that managers had to deal with, such as changes in the competitive environment, and charts the managers' response, which usually involved changing the business- or corporate-level strategy. To analyze a case study, therefore, one must examine closely the issues with which the company is confronted. Cases prove valuable for two reasons: First, cases provide students with experience of organizational problems that one probably has not had the opportunity to experience firsthand. In a relatively short period of time, he will have the chance to appreciate and analyze the problems faced by a company in an industry and to understand how managers tried to deal with them. Second, cases illustrate what one has learned and how he can apply the things he learned to solve the company’s problems. The meaning and implication of this information are made clearer when they are applied to case studies. The theory and concepts help reveal what is going on in the companies studied and allow students to evaluate the solutions that specify companies adopted to deal with their problems. Management is an uncertain game, and using cases to see how theory can be put into practice is one way of improving student’s skills of diagnostic investigation. When evaluating a case, it is important to be systematic. This requires analyzing the case in a logical fashion, beginning with the identification of operating and financial strengths and weaknesses and environmental opportunities and threats. This means an external analysis of industry and competitive market to be performed, covering general trends, present and future specific opportunities and keys to success, and competitor strengths and weaknesses in key-to-success areas. Also, one has to perform an internal analysis of the company. He/she has to ask himself/herself whether the company's current strategies make sense. If they do not, what changes need to be made? What are the recommendations? He has to be able to State explicitly how the strategies he/she identifies take advantage of the company's strengths to exploit environmental opportunities, how they rectify the company's weaknesses, and how they counter environmental threats. To do this, one needs both special training in systematic structured analysis, the knowledge base upon which strategic frameworks are built, as well as intensive training in formulating and implementing winning strategies systematically and creatively. The main objective of case study is formulating of enterprise wide strategies that will differentiate their company from the competition and will enable the companies in intermediate and long-term to win against the strong competitors. Other objectives of performing a detailed analysis of a case study are: 1. To improve the knowledge about the history, development, and growth of the company and the industry overall over the time. For instance, one has to learn more about the industry, segment and company’s trends in the past and present, and to learn about future expectations for all of them. 2. To increase the ability of identification of the company's internal strengths and weaknesses. Students will gain the ability to identify company’s well known brand names, financial resources, proprietary technology, respected company product and brand image, managerial, marketing and distribution skills, etc. Also, one has to be able to determine company’s internal weaknesses such as, lack of strategic direction, weak financial resources, limited spending on R&D, narrow, product line, limited distribution, high operating costs, poor marketing skills, limited management skills etc. 3. To gain an ability to see the nature of the external environment surrounding the company. One has to be able to determine the external opportunities and threats. Thus, economic, political, demographic, legal and regulatory, social and other changes and trends in the external environment have to be researched and investigated. 4. To improve the ability to see the problems that company is facing with. 5. To find alternative ways to solve the problems most effectively and efficiently. Knowing the company’s strength and the opportunities in the market, students will be able to find the alternative solution to the problems identified previously. 6. To gain an ability to develop a kind of corporate-level strategy and further strengthening the strategic thinking of the students. Students have to find the most beneficial and feasible way that will bring the company to the success and will strengthen its competence in immediate, intermediate and long-term. 7. To gain the ability to assess leadership and styles and how they affect the quality of decisions made. 8. To enable the student to have a holistic view of the organization thereby enabling the student to separate materials and concepts into component parts so the organization structure may be understood. 9. To enable the student to put together parts of the whole to create a new structure or meaning in order to add value to the organization. 10. To enable the student to make judgments about value and ideas or materials in order to make the best possible decisions. Any case study is a good example of how companies in any industry are continuously racing in process of changing themselves. Creating a strategic framework, including vision, values, focus on core competencies, opportunities in future are all of high importance for developing a successful strategic management system in the company. The case study is a good tool for thinking strategically and finding the answer to three basic questions: a) where is the company now? b) Where do it wants to go (strategic outcomes to achieve) and c) How it will get there? In the case study presented are useful steps that the company should take to differentiate itself from the competitors and remain competitive in the rapidly changing markets. That is a systematic linear process that shows how management will focus closely on specific situation requirements, especially customers’ needs and what analysis would be performed in order to formulate and implement winning strategies. The major way to outperform a competitor is focusing on existing, as well as anticipated, market needs and continually coming up with new ways to meet them in key-to-success areas, and with the needed resources to do this. In a case study with matching internal resources and capabilities with external market requirements and opportunities is critical to success of that company. Cases can be useful and cheap tool for management in fast changing markets. Cases can be useful to practitioners to demonstrate best practice in management or examples of poor practice. Even an historical case can be used to meet demands of current practice. Cases can also illustrate a new technique or approach to management. Kaplan (1998) argues that the case is a critical part of the dissemination of new practice. The early development of activity based management was matched by many Harvard cases which demonstrated the use and impact of that technique. For example, Schrader Bellows (Cooper, 1986) demonstrated the proliferation of products and problems in strategy direction that can result from poor information. Target costing was another management technique well illustrated by cases. The application of management theory in a case context would give managers a deeper understanding of how to apply theory in their own organizations. Along with this overview are two articles from The Harvard Business School and one article from another source on the Case Study Method. Take a minute to review them. Harvard Business School 9-584-097 Rev. October 12, 1988 This note was prepared by Professor Benson P. Shapiro. Copyright © 1984 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685 or write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of Harvard Business School. 1 An Introduction to Cases Management instruction involves the development of a set of philosophies, approaches, skills, knowledge, and techniques. Lectures and readings are the most efficient way to acquire knowledge and to become informed about techniques. Exercises or problem sets are an excellent way to begin to learn about the application and limitations of techniques. But, the development of philosophies, approaches, and skills is best served by the case method which can also help to provide knowledge and experience with techniques. The case method becomes a part of a broad gauge approach to management education and development. It is therefore generally used in wellorchestrated concert with other approaches. Most students and executive program participants are quite familiar with lectures, readings, exercises, and problem sets, but the case method is often new to them. It is important to understand the basis for the case method and to have some idea of how to approach cases. That is the purpose of this brief note. The case method is built around the concepts of metaphors and simulation. Each case is a description of a real business situation and serves as a metaphor for a particular set of problems. The situations which you face as a manager may differ from the metaphors we have chosen here, but taken together, the cases provide a useful and relevant set of metaphors for marketing situations. The cases were selected to include a wide variety of products and company types so that at least some of them would be relevant along those dimensions. The situations analyzed and skills developed in the cases are relevant to almost all marketing management situations. Thus they are relevant to students of marketing management. The case method of management instruction is based upon the belief that management is a skill rather than a collection of techniques or concepts. The best way to learn a skill is to practice in a simulation-type process. Thus, the swimmer swims and the pianist plays the piano. The swimming novice might drown if thrown into deep water after reading a set of books. And few of us would want to hear a concert pianist who had never before touched a piano, but who had attended many lectures on piano playing. Because it is impractical to have the student manager manage a company, the case provides a vehicle for simulation. The total case process consists of four steps ordered as follows: 1. individual analysis and preparation, 2. optional informal small group discussion, 3. classroom discussion; and, 584-097 An Introduction to Cases 2 4. end-of-class generalization about the learning. Each of these steps asks the participant to perform related, but different activities. While there is no “one ideal way to approach a case,” some generalities can be drawn. The student gains the most by immersing him or herself in the case, and actively playing the role of the protagonist. The protaganist is usually one manager, but is sometimes a group. By actively studying the case, the student begins to learn how to analyze a management situation and develop a plan of action. By participating in an involved manner in the case discussion, the student learns to commit him or herself to a position easily, and to express that position articulately. The core of management decision making consists of the processes of analysis, choice, and persuasion. The fourth step, generalization, is also part of good management practice. The smart manager steps back from each situation he or she has experienced and asks, “What did I learn?” and “How does the situation and the lesson relate to my whole experience?” The astute student will want to do the same thing on his or her own, building on the help provided by the instructor. An important part of that process is to relate the cases to the assigned reading material. The reading material generally provides the structure and techniques, and the case a simulated experience in the application of the structure and techniques. The cases also help to develop a generalized approach to business situations as well as a set of philosophies. The case method is demanding of both teachers and students. Participants who are involved in each case analysis and discussion, and who attempt to generalize their learning across cases gain the most from the process. Each person should strive to develop the ability to ask “the right questions” about each case. The instructor may provide specific questions for each case. The following questions are among those which are generally relevant to all cases: • Who is the protagonist? • What are his or her objectives (implicit or explicit)? • What decisions (implicit or explicit) must I make? • What problems, opportunities and risks do I, as the protagonist, face? • What evidence do I have to help make the decision? Is the evidence reliable and unbiased? Can I improve it? • What alternative courses of action are available? • What criteria should I use to judge the alternatives? • What action should I take? • How should I convince others in the case and in the classroom that my approach is best? • What did I learn from this case? • How does it relate to past cases and my own “live” experiences?