Business Model Canvas

✅ Why this step shows how your product becomes a business

A great product is just the start—you also need a way to make it work commercially.

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) helps you map out the 9 core elements of how your product or service creates value, reaches customers, and sustains itself. It’s a one-page tool for aligning your team, testing assumptions, and evolving your strategy. It’s fast, visual, and built for iteration—perfect for early-stage innovation.

📘 What you’ll define

  • Who your product serves—and what jobs or pains you address
  • How you reach and interact with customers
  • Your revenue streams and pricing logic
  • Your cost drivers, partners, and required resources
  • The activities that make your model work in practice

🛠️ Tools and methods

✅ BMC Completion Checklist

Customer Segments — who you're creating value for
Value Proposition — what problem you solve for them
Channels — how you deliver and reach users
Customer Relationships — how you engage and retain them
Revenue Streams — how the business makes money
Key Activities — what you must do to deliver value
Key Resources — people, tools, assets required
Key Partners — suppliers, platforms, distribution partners
Cost Structure — what it takes to run the model

Example Business Model Canvas (summary view)

SectionExample Content
Customer SegmentsIndustrial SMEs, field service teams
Value PropositionReduce downtime with self-diagnosing hardware
ChannelsD2C online, partner distributors, trade shows
Customer RelationshipsSelf-serve + account manager for key accounts
Revenue StreamsHardware sale + annual diagnostics subscription
Key ActivitiesProduct design, sensor calibration, onboarding
Key ResourcesDev team, test rigs, calibration lab
Key PartnersPCB supplier, embedded systems consultants
Cost StructureBOM, support staff, partner fees
  • Use digital canvases (e.g. Miro, Strategyzer, Notion) or whiteboards
  • Start rough and refine over time—treat it like a living document

⚠️ What to watch out for

  • Copying another company’s model without testing if it fits
  • Skipping costs, pricing logic, or channel friction
  • Writing vague generalities instead of testable statements
  • Treating it as final—BMCs are meant to evolve

💡 From founders

“We had the product nailed—but the business model was weak. Mapping it out helped us realise we needed partners, not just customers.”

– Technical Founder, Environmental Monitoring System

💡 Your business model is part of your product. If it doesn’t work, the rest won’t either.

🔗 Helpful links & resources

  • Business Model Canvas Template (Notion + PDF)
  • Download: Example Startup Canvases
  • Article: How to Stress-Test Your Business Model Early
  • Follow-on: Go-to-Market Plan

✍️ Quick self-check

Have we clearly defined who we’re serving and why they care?
Do we understand how money flows in—and out—of this model?
Are we clear on what needs testing (e.g. pricing, partners)?
Is our model aligned with our MVP and customer feedback?

🎨 Visual concept (optional)

Illustration: A digital whiteboard shows a Business Model Canvas in progress. Sticky notes fill each section with sketches of channels, pricing, and customers. A team member circles “Revenue Stream” and adds a new note: “Add hardware–software bundle”.

Visual shows how the Business Model Canvas helps you translate product insight into a working commercial system.
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