Good news… you are now able to freely download the new v2.1 of the Flourishing Business Canvas and the associated and completely Revised Interactive Guide / Video Companion from our website and the Library of Resources in our community.
This blog post introduces the v2.1 canvas, including describing the differences between the previous version (2.0) and the new version.
Entering a New Phase
The release of the v2.1 Canvas marks the beginning of a new phase of the journey to bring the Flourishing Business Canvas to the world.
Since 2013 the canvas has been in a testing phase via the “First Explorers” licensing programme. From 2013 to 2022 this programme brought together over 320 individuals and organizations to test and validate the Canvas. In turn, they worked to create business models using the Canvas with 1000’s of entrepreneurs and leaders of established organizations. And, last but not least, they gave feedback. Our deep appreciation and thanks to everyone who participated – many of whom have joined us here in this new community.
The new version of the Canvas, contains a set of small changes that are based on the feedback from this testing work. We are now confident that we can dramatically expand the number of people using the Canvas and have them find the Canvas a highly useful tool for creating fit-for-the-21st Century business models. This is what the next phase of our journey will be all about – building as large a community as possible of people getting value from the Flourishing Business Canvas, bringing it to the world.
The release of the v2.1 Canvas also marks the end of the “First Explorers” programme and associated licenses (as per the terms of that license agreement). First Explorers will still have access to their Google Drive folders for the time being but these will be phased out in time as the materials there are upgraded and made available via the Library of Resources in our community.
Creative Commons License
The biggest news about the v2.1 canvas (the previous canvas was v2.0) is that it will be released under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives license (CC-BY-ND).
This means you will be free to use and share the new version in any way you wish, including commercially without further permission, as long as the license remains visible (that’s the Attribution part of the license).
However, if you make changes, including making translations, you may not distribute the revised version without seeking our permission (that’s the No Derivatives part). It’s likely we’ll say yes, but we want to have a conversation with you to ensure the integrity of the tool is maintained as best as possible.
You can read the details of the license under which we are issuing the Flourishing Business Canvas here.
Changes and Updates to the Canvas Template
1. New Box – Products / Services
Many people were surprised to find that the Canvas didn’t have a place to describe the product or service that was at the heart of their business idea. You could capture the Value Co-creations (and destructions) associated with the product / service, but not the product / service itself.
So, we added a Products / Services box in the Value perspective – right in the middle of the Canvas!
This brings the total number of questions to 17.
The new Interactive Guide describes this new box. A video describing this new box will be released on our YouTube channel in due course.
2. Dropping Ecosystem from Actor
The use of the term ecosystem with the term actor was found confusing by many and tended to lead to confusion with Ecosystem Services. So now the box is simply named “Actors”.
The new Interactive Guide describes this renamed box. A replacement video with the correct box name will be released on our YouTube channel in due course.
3. A New Date Box at the Top Right of the Canvas
In version 2.0 of the Canvas there was a “Date” box in the top right of the Canvas. This box could be interpreted two ways: it could be today’s date, the date the model was being worked on, or it could be the date the model represented (past, present, future, far future).
We have now added a 2nd date box at the top right of the Canvas.
One of the date boxes is labeled “Date of model” – in this box you record the date the model represents (past, present, future, far future).
The other date box is labeled “Today’s Date”.
The new Interactive Guide describes this change. A replacement video that mentions both date boxes will be released on our YouTube channel in due course.
4. Updates to the Help Text on the Canvas
To accommodate the addition of the Products / Services box, and based on other feedback we have made significant (we hope) improvements to the help text, or prompting questions, that appears printed on the Canvas in each box.
The new Interactive Guide is now fully aligned with this help text and prompting questions, and goes further and explicitly calls out further prompting questions. These are in easy-to-find callouts for each box on the Canvas described in the Interactive Guide.
5. Inclusion of Canvas Type in Name
We’ve added the words “full version” next to the Flourishing Business Canvas heading. This is to differentiate this Canvas from any other versions we might produce in the future.
Translated Canvases will have the flag of that language appear here too.
Welcome to the Flourishing Business Canvas v2.1
So not a major change, except for the licensing, but we hope the changes we’ve made will make the Canvas more useful for you.
As always we look forward to your feedback via our community. Please post to the topic “Flourishing Business Canvas”