Business Model Canvas – a quick review

Late last year, I was introduced to a concept called Business Model Canvas. It is a tool that allows practitioners to describe business models of organizations.

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value

– from Business Model Generation:

The people behind this concept “believe a business model can best be described through nine basic building blocks that show the logic of how a company intends to make money.” Anybody who is trying to describe and define an organization’s strategy should seriously look into using the canvas to implement the strategy. The nine building blocks cover the four main areas of a business. They are:

As the name implies, the model canvas looks like a set of blocks where you identify and describe your own items to build. The nine building blocks described in the book are:

Business Model Canvas with descriptions

Usually, development of the business model canvas is a group exercise and works best when there is a large poster where the facilitator can post the various inputs required for each of the nine blocks. There are a number of details that are behind the nine blocks and the book describes them well enough to start developing the models.

I have used the methods and and let me tell you the end results are an eye opener. The beauty of the canvas is that it captures the essence of a business. What you do with the information is up to you. If you have spent countless hours trying to understand what your business is about, I would strongly recommend to look into business model canvas. The book is an excellent read and is very engaging and it has very many examples. It also contains other techniques to help with business models.

You can find more information here: Business Model Generation.

You can take a short cut to developing the business model canvas by investing in an iPad app, available on the App Store and it is called Business Model Toolbox. The app has additional features in that you can provide financial input for calculations.

Good luck.