Putting Your Business Idea on Paper

You've probably heard of business plans before, but do you need one? Business plans can be quite long, sometimes 10-100 page tactical plans a company will execute. They usually include things like financial, marketing and sales details. These plans are essential, but in the beginning, they can be a lot of guesswork and take a lot of time. You may find that tactics and strategies around your idea and business will change quickly as you learn more about your customer and market.

Is there an alternative? Yes, and best of all it's only one page. 

Meet one of our most used tools—the Lean Canvas! This tool is a favourite amongst entrepreneurs and startups around the world. 

Lean Canvas

The canvas has nine key considerations to help you build a roadmap to move forward and anchor your progress in providing value for your customer. Let's walk through an example by exploring the first key consideration—the Problem Statement. 

What problem is your idea solving? Try filling in the blanks to the statement below:

Ready to work on the remaining eight columns? 

We've teamed up with Innovate Edmonton to offer Innovation U: a four-course entrepreneurial series delivered in-person and online to Edmontonians with big ideas! If you need a little extra help our Innovator in Residence, Catherine Warren also has some upcoming office hours so you can have some one-on-one time with an expert.    

Innovation U