Nine blocks on one page: who you serve, how you make money, and what has to be true.
A business model canvas template is Osterwalder’s one-page model of how a company creates and captures value. This BMC template free-form page is for founders and operators who need the nine blocks filled with evidence, not workshop stickies.
Customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners, and cost structure. If two blocks contradict (enterprise sales + self-serve pricing), the canvas did its job.
Who pays. Not “everyone who needs X.”
The promise per segment — from the VPC or value-prop sheet.
How they find you and how you keep them.
How money comes in and what actually burns it.
What must be true to deliver the promise.
A vertical CRM for dental groups looked “PLG” on a sticky and “enterprise AE” in the cost block. Filling the canvas made the contradiction visible in ten minutes.
Chairside (dental group CRM)
| Field | Filled |
|---|---|
| Segment | DSOs with 8–40 locations, not solo practices |
| Value prop | One patient record across locations without a six-month impl |
| Channel | PE-backed DSO conferences + outbound to ops VPs |
| Revenue | Per-location ACV, annual, implementation fee |
| Cost tension | Onboarding squad required — not a self-serve motion |
The right side of the canvas is a guess until those two are honest.
“Content” is not a channel if you have no distribution.
A number. A motion. Not “freemium maybe.”
Enterprise close + PLG cost structure is the usual one.
The canvas is a snapshot. Date it.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Workshop stickies as the final artifact | Type it. Owners. Date. Or it never leaves the room. |
| One canvas for two businesses | A services line and a product line need two canvases. |
| Empty cost block | If you will not name the expensive activity, you do not have a model. |
BMC is the nine-block company model. Lean canvas swaps in problem, solution, and unfair advantage for early-stage product risk. Use lean when you are still searching; BMC when the model exists.
No. The BMC is the economic logic. A GTM plan is the motion, sequence, and owners for a launch.
Founder plus whoever owns finance and GTM. A marketing-only BMC is usually a value-prop poster.