Explore your business model

Business Model Canvas

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What’s a business model?

The three elements

What’s a Business Model Canvas?

Where do I start?

Using the Business Model Canvas

Go further

Ready to build your business model?

A business model lays out how your product, pricing, people and value proposition all work together to create a successful company.

The Business Model Canvas could help you identify what each of these are for your business, and use them to create a plan.

The three elements of a business model

Desirability – who wants it?
Feasibility – can we do it?
Viability – is it profitable?

To develop a successful business model you need to find the sweet spot that combines these three factors.

What’s a Business Model Canvas?

A Business Model Canvas is a template you can use to plan out your whole business on one page. It'll help you to map the different parts of your business, see how they're connected, and find ways to improve.

It's broken down into nine key areas. You can fill them out one by one, and then adjust to make sure all of the elements work together to achieve your goals. Here's a completed example to show you what yours could look like:

So, where do I start?

Start by downloading the Business Model Canvas template (PDF, 723KB) . Then, add your answers to a few key areas. You can use the information below to help.

The left hand side of the canvas is the operational side of your business:

Key partners - who are they?
Key activities - what are they?
Key resources - what you need to carry out your business activity
Cost structure - what you're spending on partners, activities and resources

The right hand side is all about your customers and the value you deliver to them:

Customer relationships - the types of relationships you're establishing
Channels - touchpoints you have with your customers
Customer segments - the people or businesses buying the product or service you've created
Value proposition - the value you deliver to each customer segment
Revenue streams - the different ways the business makes money as a result of delivering value to your customers

More ways to use the Business Model Canvas

Improving and inventing

Can you challenge existing or create new business models?

Strategising

Can you create a blueprint for the future strategy of your business?

Understanding competition

Can you map out competitor business models?

Team alignment

Can you align team members to a common business strategy?

New innovations

Can you map out a new product/services innovation within an organisation?

A portfolio of BMC’s

Can you test different business models?

Go further with your Business Model Canvas

Looking for ways to continue developing your business model? Sign up to one of our wrap-around events to help you explore your business model further.

Join an event

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