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Has it ever happened to you that you design a product thinking that it will be a resounding success and then no one buys it? If your answer is yes, you are not alone. This happens to 90% of startups that fail because they don't really understand what their customer needs.
This is where the Value Proposition Canvas, your new secret weapon, comes in.
Alexander Osterwalder (the same genius behind the Business Model Canvas) created this tool because he realized something crucial: you can have the best business model in the world, but if you don't connect with your customer, you're dead in the water.
The Value Proposition Canvas is like having an intimate conversation with your customer before building anything. It focuses on two elements that can make or break your business:
Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with two giant pieces:
Left Side - Customer Profile:
Right side - Value Map:
When both pieces fit together perfectly, you have a product-market fit. And that, my friend, is the difference between thriving and closing.
Using the Value Proposition Canvas isn't just a nice activity for your next workshop. It's your business life insurance:
Does that sound good? So let's dive in.
Forget about “my customer wants to buy my product”. That's thinking backwards. Your customer hires your product to do a specific job.
Functional Works: The concrete thing you're trying to do
Example: “I need to get from point A to point B in less than 20 minutes” (not “I want a car”)
Social Work: How do you want others to perceive you
Example: “I want my colleagues to see me as someone who cares about the environment” (not “I want a sustainable product”)
Emotional Jobs: How do you want to feel
Example: “I need to feel safe shopping online” (not “I want a guarantee”)
Practical exercise: Ask yourself right now: What job is my client hiring when he buys my product?
Here you identify everything that frustrates your customer. And no, it's not just “the price is high”. Go deeper:
Specific obstacles:
“Setting up this software takes me 3 hours and I need technical help”
Risks that concern you:
“If this investment goes wrong, I could lose my retirement savings”
Unwanted results:
“My phone battery dies just when I need it most”
Your immediate task: Make a list of your client's 5 most intense pains. If you can't name 5, you need to talk more with your customers.
The gains go beyond “getting the product”. These are the positive results your client is looking for:
Expected minimum benefits: “Make my coffee taste good”
Desired benefits: “A coffee with latte art and beans of unique origin”
Benefits that would surprise you: “A personalized experience with my name on the cup and access to exclusive coffee growers' events”
Key question: What would your customer consider to be a total success using your product?
Be brutally specific. Don't put “consulting”. Put “8-week consulting to implement marketing automation that generates 30% more qualified leads”.
Categorize your offer:
Reality filter: If each product/service doesn't directly help your customer with important work, delete it.
Here you directly connect your products to the specific pain you identified. Don't talk about features, talk about relief:
Bad example: “Our software has AI”
Good example: “Our AI predicts failures before they occur, eliminating those early-morning emergency calls that ruin your weekend”
Golden Rule: For every pain you identified, there must be at least one specific pain reliever.
Your gain creators must produce exactly the benefits your client is looking for:
If your customer is looking for: “Feeling part of a community”
Your gain creator: “Access to monthly events where you connect face-to-face with 50+ professionals in your industry, including structured networking and post-event follow-up”
Professional trick: The best gain creators exceed customer expectations, not just meet them.
Don't assume that you have a product-market fit. Validate it:
Step 1: Interview 10 current clients. Ask if they would recommend your product and why.
Step 2: Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to test a specific hypothesis.
Step 3: It measures specific answers: adoption rate, retention, recommendations.
Step 4: Adjust your proposal based on actual feedback (not what you'd like to hear).
Sign that you have a product-market fit: Your customers get angry when they can't use your product.
Week 1: Research your customer
Week 2: Build the customer profile
Week 3: Design your value map
Week 4: Evaluate and Adjust
Deadly Mistake #1: Starting with your product
Symptom: “I have this great product, who should I sell it to?”
Antidote: It always, ALWAYS starts with the customer. Your product should be aspirin for your headache.
Deadly Mistake #2: Generalizing Everything
Symptom: “Our product is for entrepreneurs” or “We help to be more productive”
Antidote: Be laser-specific. “Our product is for B2B SaaS founders with teams of 10-50 people who are struggling to retain customers after month 3.”
Deadly Mistake #3: Confusing Features with Benefits
Symptom: “We have 47 incredible features”
Antidote: Translate each feature to a specific benefit for the customer.
Spotify he conquered the world because he understood this:
Airbnb He destroyed the hotels because he saw this:
Has it ever happened to you that you design a product thinking that it will be a resounding success and then no one buys it? If your answer is yes, you are not alone. This happens to 90% of startups that fail because they don't really understand what their customer needs.
This is where the Value Proposition Canvas, your new secret weapon, comes in.
Alexander Osterwalder (the same genius behind the Business Model Canvas) created this tool because he realized something crucial: you can have the best business model in the world, but if you don't connect with your customer, you're dead in the water.
The Value Proposition Canvas is like having an intimate conversation with your customer before building anything. It focuses on two elements that can make or break your business:
Imagine a jigsaw puzzle with two giant pieces:
Left Side - Customer Profile:
Right side - Value Map:
When both pieces fit together perfectly, you have a product-market fit. And that, my friend, is the difference between thriving and closing.
Using the Value Proposition Canvas isn't just a nice activity for your next workshop. It's your business life insurance:
Does that sound good? So let's dive in.
Forget about “my customer wants to buy my product”. That's thinking backwards. Your customer hires your product to do a specific job.
Functional Works: The concrete thing you're trying to do
Example: “I need to get from point A to point B in less than 20 minutes” (not “I want a car”)
Social Work: How do you want others to perceive you
Example: “I want my colleagues to see me as someone who cares about the environment” (not “I want a sustainable product”)
Emotional Jobs: How do you want to feel
Example: “I need to feel safe shopping online” (not “I want a guarantee”)
Practical exercise: Ask yourself right now: What job is my client hiring when he buys my product?
Here you identify everything that frustrates your customer. And no, it's not just “the price is high”. Go deeper:
Specific obstacles:
“Setting up this software takes me 3 hours and I need technical help”
Risks that concern you:
“If this investment goes wrong, I could lose my retirement savings”
Unwanted results:
“My phone battery dies just when I need it most”
Your immediate task: Make a list of your client's 5 most intense pains. If you can't name 5, you need to talk more with your customers.
The gains go beyond “getting the product”. These are the positive results your client is looking for:
Expected minimum benefits: “Make my coffee taste good”
Desired benefits: “A coffee with latte art and beans of unique origin”
Benefits that would surprise you: “A personalized experience with my name on the cup and access to exclusive coffee growers' events”
Key question: What would your customer consider to be a total success using your product?
Be brutally specific. Don't put “consulting”. Put “8-week consulting to implement marketing automation that generates 30% more qualified leads”.
Categorize your offer:
Reality filter: If each product/service doesn't directly help your customer with important work, delete it.
Here you directly connect your products to the specific pain you identified. Don't talk about features, talk about relief:
Bad example: “Our software has AI”
Good example: “Our AI predicts failures before they occur, eliminating those early-morning emergency calls that ruin your weekend”
Golden Rule: For every pain you identified, there must be at least one specific pain reliever.
Your gain creators must produce exactly the benefits your client is looking for:
If your customer is looking for: “Feeling part of a community”
Your gain creator: “Access to monthly events where you connect face-to-face with 50+ professionals in your industry, including structured networking and post-event follow-up”
Professional trick: The best gain creators exceed customer expectations, not just meet them.
Don't assume that you have a product-market fit. Validate it:
Step 1: Interview 10 current clients. Ask if they would recommend your product and why.
Step 2: Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to test a specific hypothesis.
Step 3: It measures specific answers: adoption rate, retention, recommendations.
Step 4: Adjust your proposal based on actual feedback (not what you'd like to hear).
Sign that you have a product-market fit: Your customers get angry when they can't use your product.
Week 1: Research your customer
Week 2: Build the customer profile
Week 3: Design your value map
Week 4: Evaluate and Adjust
Deadly Mistake #1: Starting with your product
Symptom: “I have this great product, who should I sell it to?”
Antidote: It always, ALWAYS starts with the customer. Your product should be aspirin for your headache.
Deadly Mistake #2: Generalizing Everything
Symptom: “Our product is for entrepreneurs” or “We help to be more productive”
Antidote: Be laser-specific. “Our product is for B2B SaaS founders with teams of 10-50 people who are struggling to retain customers after month 3.”
Deadly Mistake #3: Confusing Features with Benefits
Symptom: “We have 47 incredible features”
Antidote: Translate each feature to a specific benefit for the customer.
Spotify he conquered the world because he understood this:
Airbnb He destroyed the hotels because he saw this:
Have you been interested? Go much deeper and turn your career around. Industry professionals and an incredible community are waiting for you.
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