Business model canvas

The canvas exists to get a whole business model onto one page, and it works. What usually breaks it is that the filled-in version ends up as a picture nobody can change.

Drawn here, it stays editable, and each block can link out to the evidence behind it.


#When to reach for one

  • Early business or product planning.

  • Explaining an existing business to a new team.

  • Comparing model options side by side.


#How to draw it in Capable

Route

Use when

draw.io

The nine-block layout, reusable as a template.

Excalidraw

Workshop versions with sticky notes.


#The nine blocks

Block

The question

Customer segments

Who are we serving?

Value propositions

What problem do we solve for them?

Channels

How do they find and buy it?

Customer relationships

What relationship do they expect?

Revenue streams

What will they pay for, and how?

Key resources

What must we have?

Key activities

What must we do?

Key partners

Who do we rely on?

Cost structure

What does all of this cost?


#A few things that catch people out

  • Start with customer segments and value propositions. Everything else follows from those two.

  • Link blocks to evidence. A canvas of assertions is a canvas of guesses.

  • Keep one canvas per segment if the segments differ meaningfully.



Editable during the meeting beats pretty afterwards.