Business Plan Presentation

A few years ago, Alexander Osterwalder invented a new way to talk about and visualize business models, creating the Business Model Canvas. This tool has made it far easier for entrepreneurs to understand, iterate and communicate their business models.

I’ve taught the Canvas to hundreds of entrepreneurs and business owners, and found it quite useful. However, every time I did so, the process felt incomplete. A business model is not a business plan, and what I wanted in all these cases was to visually see the rest of the story.

Like many breakthrough ideas, one day in the Summer of 2013, I had my own “aha” moment, augmenting the Canvas with five new boxes, creating the Business Presentation Pyramid.

The Five Boxes

There are five boxes surrounding the Business Model Canvass:

• Purpose: Why are you doing this business?
• Opportunity: Is this business worth doing?
• Financial plan: revenues, costs and profits
• Competition: Who else is delivering this product or service to the customers?
• Immediate needs: What are the current needs of the business?

Conclusion

The addition of the five boxes to the Business Model Canvass to create the Business Presentation Pyramid provides the ability to describe or pitch the full business plan of the business.

Related Best Practices

• Business Plan for a Startup
• Business Plan for an Ongoing Business
• Building a Business Plan – New SBA Online Tool
• SWOT Analysis

Other Resources

• "The Next Step: the Business Presentation Pyramid" is a book by Luni Libes that details utilization of the Business Presentation Pyramid.
• Business Model Canvass, by Business Model Generation, is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model.

Author

The author of this article is Luni Libes.