Business Model Canvas

Most businesses fail simply because they cannot keep their business model sustainable or profitable in the long run. It’s easy to brainstorm and come up with an innovative business idea, but the real struggle begins when you try to convert the idea into a full-fledged business capable of generating a revenue stream. 

But what if you get hold of a technique that solves all of the above challenges – wouldn’t that be great? This is exactly where the business model canvas comes in handy. 

Keep reading as we explore the ins and outs of the business model canvas, from its basic definition to its significance in today’s competitive world, and some excellent business model canvas examples and templates to get you started immediately.

Business Model Canvas: A Brief Overview

Simply put, a business model canvas is a strategic management tool that helps you define, communicate, visualize, and evaluate business concepts or ideas. It’s usually a one-pager comprised of 9 boxes, each highlighting a different business element, structuring the idea in a coherent manner.

The left side of the canvas focuses on internal business factors, whereas the right side concentrates on the customer and other external forces. 

Significance of Business Model Canvas in Business

The business model canvas offers a quick visual overview of the business model, which is simple to understand by everyone. It draws a picture of what the business idea entails, elaborating on the key points of business operations. Besides this, employees and stakeholders can easily share and edit it. And the best part is that businesses of all shapes and sizes – whether they are large multinationals or startups – all can take advantage of it. 

Moreover, one can incorporate a business model canvas template to guide brainstorming sessions capable of effectively defining business models. It’s an effective strategic tool that develops and modifies existing businesses. It provides a clear perspective of all the business elements and evaluates them in order to identify areas of opportunity. 

Business Model Canvas Examples

Undeniably, the business model canvas offers clear answers to what works for your business – its operations, resources, partners, and costs. Here are a few of the best business model canvas examples.

Google

LinkedIn

Facebook

Banks

Business Model Canvas Template

Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur initially conceptualized it as a visual framework to plan, develop and test business models. The business model canvas template represents different components of running a business, while providing a visual and broad overview of business operations. 

Here is an example of what a business model canvas template looks like:

The blocks of the business model canvas are listed below:

Customer Segments

The practice of segmenting customers into groups of individuals with similar specifications such as interests, buying habits, gender, and age. It provides a micro and macro perspective of the market and audience.

Customer Relationships

Develops personas to understand better your customer segments and their relationship with your brand. In simpler words, it’s defined by how a business interacts with its audience.

Channels

Channels are avenues through which your audience contacts your business and ends up becoming a part of your sales cycle. Typically, a marketing plan covers all these channels and considers various mediums such as social media, content marketing, offline advertising, email marketing, SEO, SEM, and networking. 

Value Propositions

The foundation of your business or product, the fundamental concept of exchanging value between your business and customer. Value is achieved when your business relieves your customers’ pain or offers a solution in exchange for money. 

Revenue Streams

These include all the methods through which your business converts the value proposition or solution of a customer’s problem into financial gain. 

Key Activities

Defines your business’s core activities or actions, allowing it to achieve the value proposition promised to your customer. 

Key Resources

Involves efficient utilization of resources to achieve the business’ key activities. Normally, it includes computers, office space, internet connection, vehicles, electricity, workforce, and others. 

Key Partners

Comprises all the external forces, suppliers, businesses, and parties that support your business in achieving your key activities and delivering value proposition to the customer. 

Cost Structures

The business cost structure is simply the monetary expense of operating the business, performing key activities, resources costs, and price of achieving the value proposition. 

Strategize Your Business Model Canvas - GoRetro

Coming up with a new business idea is easy; the challenging part is conceptualizing it into a sustainable and profitable business. A business model canvas is a strategic management tool used to visualize the building blocks of your business, taking 9 different elements into consideration. Actually, it’s way more than just an infographic. Instead, it provides a comprehensive view of your business. 

The business model canvas is a living document that needs continuous editing and updating to ensure accuracy. Each business model canvas template section must be defined comprehensively, ensuring its truthfulness. 

But if you are looking for a simpler, collaborative, data-driven process that can help efficiently manage the business model canvas, GoRetro is at your disposal. 

We are ISO 27001 and SOC-2 Type II certified for your complete peace of mind regarding data security and protection. Moreover, our retrospective tool comes with countless retro boards and templates, allowing you to easily share it with your team members. As a result, there is no obstacle in your development workflow and nothing to stop you from moving forward in the right direction. 

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