These free business model templates are an ideal way to shape your business ideas and create a business plan.
For instance, if you’re a startup, you can use the Lean Canvas template and value proposition to create a product or service that is supported by a strong business model.
I’ve created these business model templates to make it easy for you to play around with your ideas, shape them, share them and include them in any business plan.
For each template you have four formats to choose from:
- Free Business Model template: PDF, MS Excel, MS Word and PowerPoint.
- Free Value Proposition template: PDF, MS Excel, MS Word and PowerPoint.
- Free Lean Canvas template: PDF, MS Excel, MS Word and PowerPoint.
- Bonus Free Persona template: PDF, MS Excel, MS Word and PowerPoint.
Most businesses make assumptions about their customer and often rely on legacy data.
The persona canvas and value proposition are the perfect business design tool to change that. Using the jobs to be done framework you can dig into what ‘jobs’ customer are trying to achieve and the problems they face.
These business templates will also help you to design a powerful business model.
First of all, I’ve designed the business model templates in PowerPoint to have a master template. As a result, you can create as many variations as you want, and then evaluate them.
Second, the business model templates have been designed to be easy to edit and print.
This makes it easy to document your ideas, print them and then refine them e.g. create a storyboard approach and watch your ideas evolve.
Think of it as a journey in which you evolve and iterate how you design your business until you find the best one.
Table of Contents
Free startup business plan Templates
Start with an open mind. Use these tools to rethink and reimagine your business. Let go of previous ways of thinking and try new models. A good place to start is by taking a look at the business model pattern playbook and deciding if adopting any would give you an edge in your market.
A unique business model can transform profits and deliver a competitive advantage.
Customers have more choice now than ever before. So try to create products/services and business models that truly are unique.
Try to stand out from the pack and solve customer problems.
Start with the customer and then build outwards. Once you’re confident you can address an unmet need or problem, build outwards to create a business model that is efficient, effective and lean.
Then, once you’re you have your business model you can get stuck into developing your business plan.
Free Business Model Templates To Download
These business model templates are free to download and you can use them immediately.
If you’re running a workshop the business model pdf template is ideal for printing and pinning to a wall – see sizes below.
However, you can also simply document the results of a workshop using the free Word or PowerPoint templates.
Either way, these business model templates can be adapted to suit a variety of individuals and teams.
If you’re not already familiar with how to use the business model canvas, I strongly suggest you follow the link and brush up on the main principles.
Free Business Model Template Word Doc
Free Business Model Template Excel
Free Business Model Template PowerPoint
Free Business Model Template Pdf
Free Value Proposition Templates To Download
The value proposition was developed as a second book by Yves Piigneur and Alexander Osterwalder. The most important part of the business model is the value proposition.
Creating a unique value proposition is one of the hardest parts of creating a strong business model.
It involves considerable amounts of time, lots of care, iterations and tests. However, a strong value proposition will quickly bring in more revenue and profits than a weak one.
It is the foundation for how customers connect with your brand and business.
If you’re not familiar then read the article on how to use the value proposition canvas.
Free Value Proposition Template Word Doc
Free Value Proposition Template Excel
Free Value Proposition Template PowerPoint
Free Value Proposition Template Pdf
Free Lean Canvas Template To Download
The Lean Canvas Model was designed by Ash Muarya as an alternative to the business model canvas.
The business model canvas is more suited to established businesses that have established resources, customers and revenue.
On the other hand, the Lean Canvas template is designed to help startups who are at the beginning of the innovation process and shaping their idea into a competitive business model.
The Lean Canvas isn’t just another business model tool —it shifts the focus to more lean thinking and is aimed at entrepreneurial settings (startups – even corporate startups). At its core, it challenges founders to distil their grand visions into concise, actionable plans. This one-page document forces a ruthless prioritization of ideas, cutting through the noise to reveal the essence of a business model.
Imagine standing before a blank canvas. Each section demands critical reflection: Who are your customers? What problems do they face? How will you solve them? These questions seem simple, yet they often expose glaring gaps in business logic. The canvas becomes a mirror, reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of your concept.
But here’s where it gets interesting: the Lean Canvas isn’t static. It evolves as your understanding deepens. You might start with assumptions, but each iteration brings you closer to market realities. This dynamic process aligns perfectly with the ‘build-measure-learn’ cycle of lean startup methodology.
Consider the ‘Unfair Advantage’ section. It pushes entrepreneurs to identify their unique edge in a competitive landscape. This isn’t about bragging rights—it’s about survival. In a world where copycats abound, your distinctiveness could be your lifeline.
The canvas also brings financial considerations to the forefront. By juxtaposing revenue streams with cost structures, it paints a clear picture of potential profitability. This visual representation can be a wake-up call, prompting necessary pivots before resources are exhausted.
Free Lean Canvas Template Word Doc
Free Lean Canvas Template Excel
Free Lean Canvas Template PowerPoint
Free Lean Canvas Template Pdf
Bonus Persona Canvas Templates
At its heart, the Buyer Persona Canvas challenges businesses to see beyond mere transactions. It demands empathy. Who are these people you’re serving? What drives them? What keeps them up at night? These questions form the backbone of a robust customer profile.
Imagine sketching a portrait, not with lines and colors, but with hopes, fears, and aspirations. That’s what creating a buyer persona entails. It starts with basic information—age, occupation, location—but quickly delves deeper. What are their goals? Their pain points? Their decision-making processes?
The power of the Buyer Persona Canvas lies in its ability to humanize data. It takes cold statistics and breathes life into them.
But here’s where it gets interesting: personas aren’t static. They evolve as your understanding deepens. Initial assumptions give way to insights gleaned from interviews, surveys, and behavioral data.
The canvas also prompts you to explore your persona’s information-seeking behavior. Where do they turn for advice? Who influences their decisions?
This knowledge is gold for crafting targeted marketing strategies and choosing the right channels to reach your audience.
Perhaps most crucially, the Buyer Persona Canvas helps align teams around a shared vision of the customer. It becomes a reference point for decisions, from product development to customer service. “What would Sarah think of this feature?” becomes a powerful question in team discussions.
In practice, companies often develop multiple personas, each representing different segments of their target market. This approach allows for nuanced strategies tailored to diverse needs and preferences.
The Persona Canvas, therefore, isn’t just a marketing tool. It’s a catalyst for customer-centric thinking, a framework for testing assumptions, and a compass for navigating the complex landscape of user needs and desires. In the hands of an insightful team, it becomes the foundation for creating products and experiences that truly resonate with real people.
At the root of all great businesses is a culture and focus on customers.
More importantly, understanding your customers provides the backbone for creating new products and services.
The Persona Canvas is a powerful tool that helps you develop a shared mental model of your different customers. A common mistake is to treat all businesses the same.
Learn how to use the Persona Canvas and accelerate how you drive innovation, improve sales and develop a competitive advantage.
Free Persona Canvas Template Word Doc
Free Persona Canvas Template Excel
Free Persona Canvas Template PowerPoint
Free Personal Canvas Template Pdf
Tips On Using These Business Plan Templates
An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan.
Warren Buffet
Create a powerful business plan and it will convince others to either invest in you or become part of your business.
A tight business plan will separate you from the pack and deliver a competitive advantage.
How To Use These Business Model Templates
A business model innovation has a higher potential to deliver an innovation advantage than having a unique product or service. Products and services are easy to copy whereas a business model is embedded in the DNA of the business and the way it works.
Here are a few tips when you plan your business using these business model templates.
- Jot down your ideas – all your ideas without evaluating them first.
- Group them – group ideas into themes.
- Evaluate each group – evaluate each group and discard duplicates or ones that are similar. At this stage, you don’t want to limit the possibilities too early.
- Gather your data – pool all the data you have currently on your ideal customer and identify any gaps in data that are important.
- Invest time/money (dependent on budget) in trying to bridge the data gaps – use online reports, surveys, observations – a mix of data.
- Value proposition canvas – start with the value proposition template to get into the detail of the jobs, gains and pains of your customer.
- Move to the business model or lean startup canvas – use your ideas to create the business model.
- Check your business model vs competitors – what can you do differently better than competitors.
- Create a strategy – a business plan is not a strategy. A strategy evaluates your capabilities and ideas vs the market and trends.
- Research the trends and use supporting data to clarify if you have a strong or weak strategy.
Need help? Contact Me
