The Business Model Canvas is a one-page way to describe how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. Strategyzer's official canvas has nine connected blocks. A completed canvas is a set of assumptions to test, not evidence that a business is profitable. The three examples below are invented teaching models, not descriptions of named companies or their confidential economics. Treat the blocks as questions to investigate, not a verdict on a real company's performance.
The nine blocks to fill in
Customer segments
Who are the distinct groups being served? A marketplace may serve buyers and sellers, whose needs and economics differ.
Value propositions
What problem is solved for each segment, and why would a customer choose this offer over an alternative?
Channels
How do people discover, evaluate, buy, receive, and get support for the offer?
Customer relationships
Will service be personal, self-serve, automated, community-based, or a mix?
Revenue streams
Who pays, what do they pay for, and is the payment one-time, recurring, usage-based, or another form?
Key resources
Which people, assets, intellectual property, data, equipment, or funding are essential to deliver the offer?
Key activities
What must the organization do consistently well, such as production, platform operation, or sales?
Key partners
Which outside organizations supply an essential input, capability, distribution route, or risk-sharing arrangement?
Cost structure
Which fixed and variable costs follow from the activities, resources, and partnerships?
Example 1: a neighborhood café
This fictional café serves nearby residents and commuters. Its value is convenient coffee and a dependable place to meet. Walk-ins, local search, and a simple loyalty program are its channels and relationship tools. Drinks and food generate revenue. Staff, equipment, a suitable location, and supplier arrangements are its key resources and partners. Daily preparation, service, and inventory control are key activities; rent, wages, ingredients, utilities, and payment fees make up much of the cost structure.
The canvas exposes a testable question: do morning sales and repeat visits support the rent and staffing needed for the proposed hours? A pleasant café story alone cannot answer that. The owner should collect local footfall, transaction, margin, and capacity evidence before expanding.
Example 2: a niche subscription publication
Imagine a small publication offering original reporting to professionals in one sector. Readers are the main customer segment; a paid subscription is the proposed revenue stream. The value proposition is timely, reliable information unavailable in generic summaries. Email, search, and referrals lead readers to the product; editors, reporters, publishing software, and source relationships support it. Reporting, fact-checking, publishing, and subscriber service are key activities.
The critical assumptions are willingness to pay, retention, reporting costs, and how many readers can be reached without spending more to acquire them than they contribute. An advertising tier would add advertisers as another customer segment and change the revenue, sales, and editorial-independence questions. The canvas should be revised when those facts become clear.
Example 3: a local two-sided marketplace
Suppose an app connects households with independent home-service providers. It has at least two customer segments: people seeking work done and providers seeking bookings. Search and app stores could attract customers; direct outreach might recruit providers. The platform might charge a booking fee, but it would need to test whether both sides accept the fee and whether enough relevant providers are available when a household searches.
Platform software, trust and safety processes, payment handling, and customer support become key resources and activities. Providers and payment services are important partners. Costs include acquisition, verification, support, engineering, and disputes. A marketplace canvas must show both sides; treating only the buyer as the customer hides a major dependency.
Turn a canvas into a decision
Mark each block as observed fact, a source-backed estimate, or an untested assumption. Identify the assumption that would invalidate the model if it proved false, then run the smallest ethical test that can answer it. Update the canvas after real customer interviews, transactions, and cost data rather than decorating it with aspirational adjectives.
Strategyzer provides the official blank template and describes the nine blocks. Use that template for your own organization; the examples here are explanatory, not a substitute for evidence about a particular business.