The Business Model Canvas - A Useful Tool
How should a business model be developed and communicated to best support the launch of a new venture?
This case lays out the steps for creating a Business Model Canvas (BMC) — a comprehensive and intuitive framework intended to facilitate description and discussion of a new venture idea. Focusing on both the efficiency and value generating aspects of a new business, the model directs the founding team members to consider key aspects of a core model, including the company’s value proposition, customer relationships, revenue streams, cost structure, and competitive environment. A variation on the model for nonprofit organizations, a Social Impact BMC, is also presented, adding additional items such as impact metrics. The case includes several real world business examples and asks students to prepare a traditional BMC for the for-profit company (Nespresso) and a Social Impact BMC for the social impact example (ConBody) using the tools outlined in the case.
E+Co: A View from the Boardroom
After 15 years of success, does E+Co, a well-respected clean energy impact investment firm, need to reconsider its business model?
E+Co, an award-winning impact investment focused on the introduction of clean-energy technologies in developing countries, made 287 investments totaling over $45 million since its 1994 inception. However, in 2011 new board members Dan Abbasi, Russell Diamond, and Bruce Usher had concerns about the financial health of E+Co’s operations. In this case, students will be asked to review qualitative and quantitative material from the organization's business plan in order to determine whether its business model was fundamentally flawed.
It Took a Village
What entrepreneurial ideas lead Muhammad Yunus to launch Grameen Bank?
In 1977 Dr. Muhammad Yunus launched Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, implementing an innovative strategy to provide very small loans for extremely low-income rural villagers. Within ten years the successful bank was owned by its borrowers and Yunus's concepts helped to launch the global
microfinance movement now providing funds to nearly 100 million borrowers world-wide and making considerable progress reducing the cycle of poverty.
Grameen America: An Approach to Mitigating Poverty in the United States
Can the lending model created by Grameen Bank to serve the poor in developing countries help the poor and unbanked in the United States?
Grameen America, an independent not-for-profit organization using Grameen Bank’s lending methodology and expertise, was launched in 2008 in Queens, New York. It targeted the growing segment of the US population which was underserved by traditional financial institutions. What changes, if any, would Grameen America need to make in applying Grameen’s business model to the US market? And what were its prospects for future growth?
Elevated Innovation: Urban Entrepreneurship and New York City’s High Line
How did two novice entrepreneurs meet the myriad of challenges presented by the creation of New York City’s High Line?
Successful entrepreneurship cuts across for-profit and social ventures when it entails public-private partnerships. Developing a new public space in New York City, with its numerous challenges, regulatory maze, budgetary constraints, and political minefields, is not for the feint-hearted. Two novices, Robert Hammond and Joshua David, took on the task and over a decade transformed a section of Manhattan by creating one of the world’s most interesting new urban landmarks, the High Line. With visitor counts far above any early estimates, the founders must develop new approaches to accommodate the crowds attracted to their park, while continuing to build additional space. This case asks students to consider the execution skills and tools Hammond and David employed to turn the dilapidated rail line into a commercial success — and how they might approach their new challenge of being “too successful”?
Modern Urban Mobility: Bicycle Sharing For New York City?
Given the financial and operational challenges, is it possible to devise a sustainable bicycle sharing program in New York City?
As the world tries to utilize its resources more efficiently, bicycle sharing, the community use of public bicycles by commuters, tourists, and local residents, has taken hold in several large cities. However, will bicycle sharing work in New York City with its numerous constituencies, financial challenges, and aging infrastructure? This case asks students to consider the risks an entrepreneur would encounter in attempting to launch a bicycle sharing program in New York City and what business model would help to mitigate those risks.
TransFair USA in 2006: How to Finance Growth?
How should an expanding nonprofit without access to venture capital or angel investors finance its growth?
TransFair USA, a not-for-profit organization based in Oakland, California, awards the Fair Trade CertifiedTM designation for products sold in the US. By 2006, TransFair was working with 500 licensees,
including sellers of cocoa, sugar, and tea. Paul Rice, TransFair's CEO, believes the organization has a moral obligation to grow as quickly as possible. Raising grant money has been difficult, and the organization, which already has $2 million in outstanding loans, might not be able to handle additional debt payments. In this case, students learn about the strategies and instruments used by nonprofits to fund growth while remaining financially responsible.
Busy Internet
How should an African entrepreneur plan for his tech startup's launch and expansion?
An entrepreneur was eager to launch BusyInternet, a startup providing cybercafés, office space, business service centers, restaurants, and bars in Ghana. Case A of this two-part case presents the business plan for the company and asks students to consider: To whom should the entrepreneur turn to raise the capital? Should he focus on those investors motivated by social as well as financial returns? Should he approach traditional private equity funds, or should he try to raise money from local funds based in Africa? In case B, students are asked to consider whether BusyInternet, after a very successful launch, should focus on expanding within Ghana or open offices in other African countries.
Kingo: Growth Opportunities in Off-Grid Renewable Energy
What should the expansion strategy be for Guatemala-based Kingo, a provider of off-grid renewable energy?
Co-founded in 2013 by Juan Fermín Rodríguez and Matías de Tezanos, Guatemala-based Kingo provided off-grid renewable energy to people living without electric power. Its primary product was an innovative solar panel unit, called a solar home system (SHS), installed on the roof of each customer’s house. Employing an Energy-as-a-Service model, Kingo owned the SHS units and installed them free of charge. The customer paid daily, weekly, or monthly for a code to unlock the unit. Kingo was responsible for maintaining the unit and replacing it with a new version every four years at no cost to the customer. After a successful pilot program, Kingo launched commercially in Petén, Guatemala’s largest region, in 2015. By 2017 the co-founders believed Kingo was about to enter into a hypergrowth mode and considered three options for expansion: organic growth in Central America; franchise opportunities in South Africa, and; joint venture opportunities in Colombia. In this case students are provided with data on energy delivery methods, Kingo’s funding, and Kingo’s growth projections — and are asked to consider the optimal growth strategy for the company, its investors, and its potential customers.
MyAgro: Planting the Seeds of Opportunity
What path should the nonprofit organization myAgro take to ensure its continued growth in support of African smallholder farmers?
Smallholder farmers make up 80 pecent of the world’s poorest people. Founded in 2011, myAgro uses a mobile layaway savings model that enables smallholder farmers in West Africa to invest their own funds in high-quality seed, fertilizer, and agricultural training to increase their harvests and income. With a business model that utilizes a mobile layaway plan — allowing farmers to save earnings from harvest time to reinvest in planting season — the organization launched a test program in Mali in 2012, later
expanding into neighboring Senegal. By 2018, myAgro served 46,000 farmers and raised their income by $104 per farmer. With the positive results experienced in Mali and Senegal, myAgro was approached by the Aga Kahn Foundation to partner with them on a program in West Africa, in Tanzania. With a “North Star” goal to reach one million farmers by 2025, my Agro considered its best path forward: whether to focus on economies of scale in its existing territories or to partner with other organizations to expand into other countries.
EasyPay: An Alternative Loan for the Underbanked
Opportunity Fund’s small business lending program had historically offered only a traditional installment loan product — would its new EasyPay product offer more opportunities to scale?
Opportunity Fund is a California-based community development financial institution (CDFI) with three primary business lines: small business lending, real estate investing, and microsavings. The firm was about to launch EasyPay, an alternative loan with payments collected on a daily basis. Would EasyPay offer more opportunities to scale than Opportunity Fund’s traditional installment loan product?
A-List Education: Building on Initial Success
How should a provider of educational materials for test preparation — a commercial business with a social mission — finance its expansion into technology-based products?
A-List Education, a test preparation business serving both the traditional market and students who typically do not have access to such services, considered how to scale up. Management believed its best route for scalable growth was to expand its offerings in technology-based products for mass distribution. In this case, students are asked to consider the company’s business model, the required investment for its intended expansion, and the best route to finance these future plans.
Frogtek: Mobile Technology for Micro-Retailing
Which operational strategy will take a seed-funded technology venture beyond its prototype phase?
Founded by Columbia Business School classmates, Frogtek was created as a technology business with a social mission: to help micro-retailers in Latin America improve their operations through applications loaded onto mobile phones. While the market was large - 400,000 micro-retailers operated in Colombia alone - and store owners appeared interested in the service, the right approach was far from clear. The company's founders struggled with questions such as how to distribute the mobile applications and how much to charge the generally low-income store owners. In this case students work on an operational strategy for the seed-funded startup after examining its business plan, social goals, market opportunity, and competitive environment.
A Primer on Bankruptcy
What options do US consumers have when experiencing personal debt issues?
This primer was developed for the ReEntry Acceleration Program (REAP) Immersion. The primer provides an overview of bankruptcy and credit counseling options for consumers.