60-Minute Entrepreneur: The Lean Canvas

60 Minute Entrepreneur Coaching The Lean Canvas

Only have 60 Minutes to focus on your business today?

Can you be an effective entrepreneur in 60 minutes?

We’ve put this series together with 60-minute exercises you can do to take your Side Hustle to a Thrive Hustle. Launch faster, with greater clarity and more success. Check out our previous post on how to decide what to focus on if you only have 60 minutes this week.

In this post, we’re going to go over an effective way to create a business plan in 60 minutes called, the Lean Canvas Business Model.

Lean Canvas

Let’s give credit where credit is due, Ash Maurya created the Lean Canvas and has a great book Running Lean where he goes into detail about how to run a Lean business. Because we think it’s such a well constructed and easily understandable model you can read our short post about the benefits and tips you can use when working with the Lean Canvas. If you need more details, then check out the book or the website.

Why now?

It’s no secret we are in new territory with COVID-19 and you want tools to help you navigate your business in this new world with greater clarity and speed.

If you’re a first-time entrepreneur seeing a new business opportunity and are looking at how to build a business around it then the Lean Canvas will help you quickly define your business model.

If you’re a serial entrepreneur and are looking for a way to ideate your business model quickly to address changes in the market then the Lean Canvas will help you gain clarity.

Why we like it?

Simple. It’s a one-page chart (see below) employing common terminology and key principles your business model should address in a single document.

Concise. Are you hitting the classical entrepreneurial dilemma of trying to solve too many problems and go after too many markets? Because there are many areas you need to cover in this single page document you will be forced to distill your business model down to its key components.

Transportable. Once done it’s easy to put up on your wall, whiteboard, carry with you, copy, etc. By keeping it in your field of focus your business objectives will be front of mind.

Ideation. Because it’s a one-page document you can ideate through different versions in a single sitting.

How to use it?

First, get a sheet of paper and a marker. The paper only needs to be 8.5” X 11”, nothing big here.

Second, mark out on the paper a grid like in the image and put the headers in each section.

Third, start filling in sections in the order listed.

Some useful tips,

  • If you’re having trouble filling in a section.

    • Congratulations! This is an area you have not worked through and need to focus on. Isn’t it better to find out now?

    • It’s not required to fill in the sections in order. This means:

      • If you’re having trouble with a section then move to the next section.

      • If at the end of the exercise you are still stuck then contact us and let us help you out.

  • For Key Metrics

    • Find the most important metrics for your business.

    • If you’re having trouble starting then for us we like to use the AARRR model, which is: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral.

      • As an example, the AARRR model might model your signup process from your website like:

Lean Canvas. Entrepreneur.

Get STarted

Entrepreneur, Coach, Journal, Lean Canvas

Because we want you to get started immediately and show you how unintimidating this process can be, we’re posting a Lean Canvas we created in the past.

The image in this canvas was a training program for runners. In it, there are questions and blank spaces. From it, we were able to learn relatively quickly what was missing in the business model, what differentiated it, and whether we should pursue it.

We didn’t wait to get started and neither should you.

Contact Us

If you’re feeling stuck then contact us and see how we can help.

Mark Hutchins