The
Business Model Canvas
Examples from
Invention Capital
Business Model:
"A design of the operations of a business which
focuses on how revenue will be generated" (Dictionary.com)
A business
model describes the rationale of how an
organization creates, delivers, and captures
value (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010)
A business
model is a description of the activities
that a company performs to generate revenue or
other benefits, and the relationships,
information, and product flows a company has
with its customers, suppliers, and complementors
(Malone et al., 2006)
[A] Business Model
Canvas (BMC) is a strategic management tool, which
allows us to develop and sketch out new or
existing business models. It is a visual
template pre-formatted with the nine blocks of a
business model:
Key Activities: The
activities necessary to execute a company's
business model.
Key Resources: The
resources that are necessary to create value for
the customer.
Partner Network: The
business alliances which complement other
aspects of the business model.
Value Proposition: The
products and services a business offers. Quoting
Osterwalder (2004), a value proposition "is an
overall view of .. products and services that
together represent value for a specific customer
segment. It describes the way a firm
differentiates itself from its competitors and
is the reason why customers buy from a certain
firm and not from another."
Customer Segments: The
target audience for a business' products and
services.
Channels: The means by
which a company delivers products and services
to customers. This includes the company's
marketing and distribution strategy.
Customer Relationship:
The links a company establishes between itself
and its different customer segments. The process
of managing customer relationships is referred
to as customer relationship management.
Cost Structure: The
monetary consequences of the means employed in
the business model.
Revenue Streams: The
way a company makes money through a variety of
revenue flows. A company's income.
Figure 1. The Business Model Canvas with an Example
from Osterwalder & Pigneur
Figure 1 is an example from Osterwalder
& Pigneur, 2004. A template for the BM Canvas is
provided herein (Yeap, 2011b). Additional examples
based on real companies (Yeap,
2013) that have applied the BM Canvas are also made available for
reference purposes.
An illustrative video (cache) on the
Business Model Canvas:
Other good web resources on
Business Model Canvas:
[B] Social Venture Business
Model Canvas (SVBMC) was created Professor
Wong Poh Kam (Wong, 2015) and is a natural extension
of the original BMC. SVBMC allows social
entrepreneurs to utilise the commonly used Business
Model Canvas to pen down two additional dimensions
(Social Cost & Social Benefit) that is relevant to
many social enterprises.
Figure 2. The Social Venture
Business Model Canvas (Wong, 2015, pp. 92)
In conclusion, complementary to
Invention Capital Business Feasilibity Framework (Yeap
2011a), all Invention Capital investees are expected
to submit their respective BM Canvas for review
prior to an investment offer.
