Business Model Canvas

Purpose

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) provides a shared visual language for describing, designing, and challenging business models. By filling in nine interconnected blocks on a single poster, teams align on how value is created, delivered, and captured — making strategic assumptions explicit and testable.

At a glance

• Group size: 4–12
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Facilitation style: Structured collaborative mapping
• Setting: In-person or virtual

How to run

1. Introduce the canvas (5 min). Explain the nine blocks and their relationships. Start from Customer Segments.
2. Fill blocks collaboratively (40 min, ~4–5 min per block):

• Customer Segments: Who are we creating value for?
• Value Propositions: What value do we deliver? What problems do we solve?
• Channels: How do we reach customers?
• Customer Relationships: What type of relationship does each segment expect?
• Revenue Streams: How does the business earn money?
• Key Resources: What assets are essential?
• Key Activities: What must we do excellently?
• Key Partnerships: Who are our critical partners and suppliers?
• Cost Structure: What are the major cost drivers?

1. Review connections (10 min). Check: Does the value proposition match the customer segment? Do revenues cover costs? Are key activities supported by key resources?
2. Identify assumptions and risks (5 min). Highlight the riskiest assumptions. Plan experiments to test them.

Materials needed

• Large printed BMC poster (A0 or bigger) or digital template
• Sticky notes and markers
• Research data on customers and market

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Filling it alone. The BMC is a team alignment tool — fill it collaboratively or lose its primary benefit.
• Treating it as a plan. The canvas is a hypothesis generator. Test assumptions, don’t just document them.
• Ignoring the connections. The blocks are interdependent. A change in one ripples through others.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Ensure the canvas template has large, readable block labels.
• Read each block’s content aloud during review.
• Provide the canvas in digital format for remote and screen-reader users.

Variations

• Lean Canvas (Ash Maurya): Replaces Partnerships and Activities with Problem, Solution, Key Metrics, and Unfair Advantage.
• Social Business Model Canvas: Adds social and environmental impact dimensions.
• Multi-canvas comparison: Map current state and desired future state on separate canvases.

When NOT to use this

• When the business model is mature and well-understood by all — use for new ventures or pivots.
• When detailed financial modelling is needed — the BMC is strategic, not financial.

Source & further reading

• Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010). *Business Model Generation.* Wiley.
• Strategyzer AG. businessmodelgeneration.com.