Key activities: The engine that makes your business run
In your business, certain activities need to be done in order to offer the product/service. These activities are the engine that makes your business run. In this article, we’ll look at what types of activities there are and how you can best fill in the blank.
What should be in this field?
TLDR:
A list of key activities linked to the value propositions.
What are key activities?
“Key activities are the areas you need to be good at to add value to your customers.”
These key activities should focus on delivering the value proposition, reaching customer segments and maintaining customer relationships, and generating revenue.
Types of key activities
There are different types of key activities that can be distinguished, for example, by their purpose, focus, or scope. Here are some examples:
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Operative Activities: These are the day-to-day activities that a company must perform to deliver its products or services. Examples may include: production, delivery, customer service, accounting, human resource management, etc.
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Innovative activities: These are activities that aim to develop new products, services or business models. Examples may include: Research and development, design, prototyping, market testing, etc.
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Marketing and sales activities: These are activities aimed at publicizing and selling a company’s products or services. Examples may include: Advertising, sales promotion, pricing, customer acquisition, etc.
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Supporting activities: These are activities that are necessary for the smooth functioning of the company but are not directly related to the provision of products or services. Examples may include: legal, finance, IT, purchasing, etc.
Key activities are closely related to the other components of the Business Model Canvas and together form the overall picture of the business model. For example, they may be supported by key resources, key partners, or key services. A company must ensure that it is executing the right key activities and coordinating them well to be successful.
It is also important that a company identifies and focuses on executing the right key activities to be successful. The nature of key activities may change over time as the business model and industry evolve.
Example supermarket
For example, the following could be key activities of a supermarket:
- Hiring and training employees to make sure the supermarket runs smoothly.
- Cleaning and maintaining the store and its facilities to make sure it is clean and inviting.
- Bookkeeping and managing finances, such as recording income and expenses.
- Providing customer service.
- Purchasing merchandise and transporting it from the warehouse to the supermarket.
- Putting merchandise on the shelves