Canva Business Model Assignment

Question

Task Description: To be completed individually, you are required to prepare a business report that deconstructs an organisation's business model and identifies the critical success factors that make the business sustainable. To undertake this analysis you will need to explore different business models, including those that are frequently seen to achieve sustainable success and high levels of profitability. Your analysis will demonstrate your critical thinking skills and your ability to professionally articulate your findings. Before commencing, you must seek your lecturer's approval to undertake an analysis of the business you have chosen.

The type of organisation that should be identified for study is one that is relatively new, innovative in how they operate, and have most likely been established in the last five years. No students will be allowed to examine the same business. While the assignment is an individual one, you are encouraged to discuss with your colleagues the variety of business models that have become popular and why you think they have been successful. To achieve a result that meets your study objectives, please ensure the business report addresses each of the assessment criteria detailed below and which is elaborated in the marking rubric.

Answer

Executive Summary

This report is based on the canva business model assignment, which is a graphic designing company in Australia. The business model of the particular company has been described in this report with the help of a business model canvas. Customer segment, key partners, value proposition, key activities, channels, revenue streams, cost structure, key resources and customer relationship are the nine building blocks that are included in the business model canvas. Along with these nine building blocks of Canvas, interrelationship, critical success factors downside risks and business model changes in the organization have been described in this report. Few recommendations have been given for the long-term sustainability of the organization. Lastly, a conclusion is given on the findings of the canva business model assignment along with the reference list.

I. Introduction: This canva business model assignment is the framework that guides the step by step action plan of a particular business organization. Business model helps an organization to make a strategic plan for generating revenue and making a profit. Projected cost, target customer, marketing strategy, competitors, financial source, expenses and revenues all are included in the business model. Every business organization has a unique business model of its own, as the above-mentioned factors are not identical for every business organization.

In this report, canva business model assignment has been analysed and described comprehensively. Canva is a graphic design company, situated in Australia. The company was founded in the year 2012 and in the very first year, it has become very popular across the country.

I. Business Model: The canva business model assignment is a template that is required for documentation of an existing business or for developing a new one. Joyce & Paquin (2016) have commented that the business model canvas describes the nine building blocks of a business organization. The nine building blocks of the business model canvas are- customer segment, key partners, value proposition, key activities, channels, revenue streams, cost structure, key resources and customer relationship [Refer to Appendix 1]

A. Building Blocks
1. Customer Segment: As per Gassmann, Frankenberger & Csik (2014), customer segment of a particular business organization involves the individual people or a group of people, which the organization has targeted to reach and sell their product and services. The customer base is an important part of a business, as without customers an organization cannot survive for the long term. The demand for graphic design companies has increased in Australia due to the increasing popularity of mobile and web applications. The customer segment of Canva involves-

• Marketers
• Bloggers
• Graphic Designers
• Small Business

2. Key Partners: Key partners of a business organization involve the commercial entities that work mutually with the organization to increase the profit of both the organizations. Saebi & Foss (2015) have stated that key partners can play important role in increasing the effectiveness of a business organization. The key partners of Canva-

• Matrix partners
• InterWest partners
• Start-ups

3. Value Proposition: Value proposition involves the entire products and service of a particular business organization that is offered to the customers to satisfy their demands. Kavadias, Ladas & Loch (2016) have opined that the value proposition of a business organization contributes to its uniqueness and creates a distinct image in the customers' mind. The value proposition can be quantitative and qualitative depending on the price and efficiency of the products and services and the customer experience. The value proposition of Canva-

• Free and online graph tools to enhance the quality of the data presentation
• Photography editing facilities
• Professional printing quality
• Home Delivery services
• Customized design
• Templates of common activities
• Canva for Work' for business personnel

4. Key Activities: The key activity in the business model canvas involves the major activities that are performed by a business organization to execute the value proposition of that organization. The key activities of Canva-

• Providing a collaborative design platform over the internet
• Providing a simple to use design platform to the customers for creating professional quality designs

5. Channels: In order to deliver the value proposition to the targeted customers, every business organization requires some channels. This canva business model assignment Will outline how distribution channels need to be quick, cheap and efficient. Canva offers their design platform over the internet. Hence the channels of Canva involves-

• Web applications
• Mobile applications

6. Revenue Streams: Revenue streams are the ways in which a business organization earns the profit from the different customer segments. The revenue stream of Canva is the selling of the graphical assets of the company which are utilized in customers' designing. In the year 2017, the revenue of Canva has tripled and has reached $23.49 million (Blackcitrus.com.au, 2018).

7. Cost Structure: As per Ovans (2015), the cost structure of a business organization can be cost-driven or value driven, depending on the priority of the business organization. The cost structure of Canva is value-driven, as the priority of the organization is to improve the quality of the product and services to attain better satisfaction of the customers.

8. Key Resources: Key resources are required by a business organization to create value and to improve the experience of the target customers. The customer base is the assets of every business organization, as the customers contribute to the long-term sustainability of an organization. Key resources can involve human resources, monetary funds, physical resources or intellectual resources. The key resources of Canva are the web applications and mobile applications, as without these the organization cannot offer their services and products to the customers.

9. Customer Relationship: Building a loyal relationship with the customers is probably the most crucial factor for the long-term survival of any business organization. Antikainen & Valkokari (2016) have commented that a loyal customer base can create a distinct band name of a particular company in the competitive business market. Canva maintains its relationship with the customers through their website and web application. Moreover, they have a 24/7 support centre for providing assistance to the customers.

B. Interrelationship
As per Bolton & Hannon (2016), interrelationship among the distribution channels of a business organization important for delivering the product and services to the customers at the particular time. The channels of Canva is the web applications and mobile applications, these help the company to deliver its designing platform to the worldwide customers over the internet. The quality and speed of the product and services have contributed to the growing popularity of the company. This canva business model assignment emphesises on the importance of service delivery company delivers the printout of the designs made by the customers over the internet.

C. Critical Success Factor
Behind the success of a business organization there lie some critical factors that have contributed to the long-term sustainability of the organization. Bocken et al. (2016) have commented that the uniqueness of the product and service is one of the major critical success factors of the business organizations. Canva is a start-up graphics designing company in Australia. In the first year after the launch of the company, it has created over 5.8 million designs (Canva.com, 2018). The critical success factor the designing company is that it offers an extremely easy platform to the customers to create professional designs. One does not need to be an expert in designing while using Canva. The organization provides hundreds of templates for the common activities of the customers. In addition, the organization has started printing facilities along with home delivery services.

D. Downside Risks
In spite of the success factors, Canvas is associated with some downsides risk factors, which have the potential to reduce the profitability of the organization. The graphic designing industry is very popular in Australia and it is expanding over the time. Due to the increasing popularity of the industry, new companies are being introduced in the market. This has increased the competition in graphics designing sector alarmingly. Increased competition can reduce the popularity of Canva. This particular sector is dependent on technological factor very much. The sector of technology is ever changing due to continuous innovations and along with the technological advancements, the graphic designing industry also changes. Technological pressure can hamper the long-term sustainability of Canva.

E. Business Model Changes
Changes in the business model are required as the global business markets tend to change continuously over the time. The graphic designing industry is solely based on the technological advances and developments. Hence, the business model of Canva needs to change depending on the available technological facilities. The demand and need of the customer is also an ever-changing factor. The canva business model assignment needs to include the trending demand of the customers to maintain its popularity and profitability.

III. Conclusion
Business model canvas is a useful tool to document the business strategies of an existing company. The business strategies of Canva have been described in the report by using the business model canvas template. The main customer segment of the organization is the group of individuals like, Marketers, Bloggers, Graphic Designers, Small Business personnel, who need to create visual content. Matrix Partners, InterWest Partners, and Start-ups are the main partners of Canvas, who have contributed to the efficiency of the organization. Canvas provides an easy platform for creating a professional design and the customers can print designs also. Canvas offers a home delivery service to deliver the printouts of the customers' design. The extremely easy platform, professional design quality, 24/7 support centre and the home delivery system have increased the popularity of Canvas. However, technology pressure and increased competition can create downside risk for the graphic designing company.

IV. Recommendation
Increasing competition and technology pressure along with lack of management strategies and mismanagement of financial factors are creating challenges for the graphic designing industry of Australia. These factors have the potential to reduce the popularity and profitability of Canva if proper strategies are not taken. The following canva business model assignment recommendations will be useful towards resolving the risk factors of Canva-

• Expanding the existing business structure to involve a number of customers
• Improving the quality of services and providing more designing facilities to the customers
• Integrating new technological innovations in graphics designing to improve the experience of the customers
• Conducting a market survey to identify the demand of the customers and the current market trends

Appendix
Appendix 1: Business Model Canvas of Canva

(Source: Created by Author)