---
name: business-model-canvas
description: Use when asked to build or explain a Business Model Canvas — a one-page, nine-block visual template covering value proposition, customer segments, channels, revenue, cost structure, and more — as a structured way to design or communicate a business model before or alongside a full business plan.
---

# Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management tool, developed by
Alexander Osterwalder, for describing, designing, and analyzing a
business model on a single page — nine building blocks covering the
core logic of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures
value.

## The nine building blocks

- **Customer segments** — the different groups of people or
  organizations a business aims to reach and serve.
- **Value propositions** — the bundle of products/services that create
  value for a specific customer segment.
- **Channels** — how a company communicates with and reaches its
  customer segments to deliver its value proposition.
- **Customer relationships** — the type of relationship a company
  establishes with each customer segment.
- **Revenue streams** — the cash a company generates from each customer
  segment.
- **Key resources** — the most important assets required to make the
  business model work.
- **Key activities** — the most important things a company must do to
  make its business model work.
- **Key partnerships** — the network of suppliers and partners that
  make the business model work.
- **Cost structure** — the costs incurred to operate the business
  model.

## Why a one-page format

The canvas's value comes largely from its constraint: fitting an entire
business model on one page forces prioritization and makes the model
easy to see as a whole, discuss as a team, and iterate on quickly —
much faster than drafting and revising a lengthy business plan document
for each iteration.

## Common pitfalls

- **Filling it out once and treating it as final** — the canvas is
  meant to be a living, iterated artifact, especially early on, not a
  one-time exercise.
- **Confusing value proposition with product features** — the value
  proposition block should describe the customer problem solved or need
  met, not simply list product features.
- **Skipping the cost structure and revenue streams blocks** — it's
  easy to focus energy on the customer-facing blocks and treat the
  financial blocks as an afterthought, but a business model isn't
  validated until both sides are addressed.
- **Building the canvas in isolation** — the canvas works best as a
  collaborative artifact, discussed and challenged by a team, not
  drafted solo and presented as finished.

## Learn more

- Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, *Business Model Generation* — the originating book.
- [[business-model-innovation]] for deliberately evolving a business model.
- [[pitch-deck]], [[vision-mission-values]] for related tools that draw on the same underlying model.