Key activities. Key activities are the essential things a business needs to do to bring it's customers value. Key activities are a... WashU Show all Industry Primary Key Activities Manufacturing Product design, supply chain optimization, manufacturing, and logistics. Software/SaaS Platform maintenance, software updates, and user acquisition. Retail Inventory management, marketing, sales, and customer service. Consulting Problem-solving, research, and client relationship management. Why They Matter Value Delivery
: Coming up with new solutions to individual customer problems. This is common for service businesses like consultancies or hospitals. key activities in business model
| BMC Block | Alignment Question | Example (Spotify) | |-----------|--------------------|--------------------| | | Do our activities directly produce the value we promise? | “Personalized playlists” → Activity: Music genome tagging & collaborative filtering. | | Customer Relationships | Which activities build or maintain our relationship model (e.g., automated vs. human)? | “Free tier with ads” → Activity: Ad inventory management & programmatic ad serving. | | Channels | What activities keep each distribution channel functioning? | “Mobile app” → Activity: App store compliance, push notification engineering. | | Revenue Streams | What activities are required to collect, process, or maximize each revenue stream? | “Premium subscription” → Activity: Payment gateway integration + churn reduction campaigns. | | Key Resources | Which resources are activated by which activities? | “Music licensing deals” (Resource) → Activity: Royalty payment processing. | Key activities
Yet, among the nine blocks of the BMC (Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, etc.), Key Activities are often the most misunderstood. Entrepreneurs confuse them with “everything we do,” while established companies overlook them as just “operations.” WashU Show all Industry Primary Key Activities Manufacturing
: Essential for tech companies like Microsoft. Supply Chain Management : Vital for retailers like Walmart.
This feature unpacks the strategic depth of Key Activities, showing you how to identify, prioritize, and optimize the most critical actions your business must perform to survive and thrive.
: Focus time and money on high-impact areas.