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How to Create a Practical Crisis Management Plan [+ Templates]
Launching a new business or product?
You’ll have to figure out how to create value, who to sell to, what to charge and how to generate revenue, among other things.
Without a visual framework that keeps things organized, it can get pretty overwhelming.
To make matters worse, you can get so caught up in the daily grind of your business that you miss the big picture.
That's where a business model canvas comes in handy. It's a structured, one-page visual overview of your business that gives you clarity of purpose as you move it from an idea to a profitable venture.
A business model canvas template helps you flesh out or assess your core strategy for doing business profitably.
Even if you’re an established business, a regular review of your business model canvas can help you identify and manage risk, edge competition and scale your business.
In this article, we’ll explain how the business model canvas works and provide 10 customizable templates to help you visualize your idea or concept.
Let’s get to it!
A business model canvas is a strategic planning tool that helps you visualize, analyze and improve your business model. It was created by Alexander Osterwalder, a Swiss entrepreneur and Strategyzer co-founder, as a part of his PhD research.
This visual framework serves as a roadmap for your operations and explains how you plan to make money and stay profitable.
A typical business model canvas breaks down your business into nine key elements or building blocks, including:
When you put these business model components on a whiteboard template, here’s what it will look like:
If you’re looking to create yours quickly, this business model template (and the ones we’ve shared below) is a great starting point. You can easily plug in your company's information and customize it to suit your needs.
The best part about a business model canvas is how easy it is to digest. Essentially, you’re simplifying your business plan into a condensed, easy-to-understand format. It's like having an executive summary that highlights the most critical aspects of your plan.
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Creating a business model canvas has many benefits.
For example, when pitching to investors, you’ll need to explain your business model—how your company plans to generate revenue.
This canvas lays out your ideas in a way that allows investors to grasp the intricate details without reading a 20-page document.
Here are other key benefits of using a Business Model Canvas:
Here are the key elements you should add to your business model canvas:
Visme offers thousands of templates to help you create visually appealing whiteboards for business modeling, strategic planning, brainstorming and more.
Hear what one of our users thinks about Visme templates.
Business Owner
Here are ten business model canvas templates you can easily customize.
If your business makes raw materials or finished goods, you absolutely need this whiteboard template. It visualizes the core aspects of your business and provides actionable insights into your operational framework.
By filling out each block, stakeholders can understand how your company delivers products to the end user and operates profitably. You can use this tool during brainstorming sessions to figure out how to improve your product or maximize value and profit margin in a highly competitive space.
This business model template has plenty of white space and uses square stickers and circular icons to represent different building blocks. You can swap out the text with yours, replace the icons with static or animated ones or change the colors of the design elements.
The franchise model is a popular business framework used in the restaurant industry. It’s also applicable to other industries, like fitness, transportation and retail.
Like every other business, it comes with risks. This visual framework can help you navigate the complexities associated with this model. Use this template as a risk analysis tool to evaluate various aspects of your business model, including revenue sources, cost structure and market dynamics.
It helps you identify potential risks that could thwart your success and develop strategies to mitigate them. Not only that, you can easily identify the type of partnerships and resources you need to run a successful franchise business.
Unlike our previous example, this whiteboard presents information in a table format. The sprinkle of lemon and green creates a design harmony, while the 3D graphic keeps your readers glued to your whiteboard.
Despite being the most common model, this type of business is highly competitive. Compared to the other examples, this template splits the business model of a new retail company into the planning and launch phases.
By breaking down the model into smaller pieces, you can thoroughly analyze each building block. This also helps you identify what you need to take your business from ground zero to the planning and launch phases.
With this level of detail, you have a well-thought-out business model that is more likely to succeed. You'll find it easier to allocate resources and delegate responsibilities.
From a design perspective, this business model template also uses a table format with beautiful icons and a blue color theme that grabs attention. If you need to share more information, you can expand the canvas or add pages to your whiteboard.
Adapting your e-commerce model to keep up with changing customer needs and the business landscape can give you an edge. But it starts with analyzing your model to see what’s working and what needs improvement. That’s where this business model canvas shines.
This whiteboard provides clarity for e-commerce businesses across key divisions—marketing, operations and customer service. It visualizes the key partners, activities, resources, channels, cost structure, customer segments, value proposition and revenue streams for each department. You can easily track how each department’s activities fit into your company’s overall vision.
The beauty of using this whiteboard template is that it is flexible enough to accommodate changes to your business model. During company-wide meetings or departmental meetings, you can sketch out ideas, test different ideas and make adjustments based on feedback. You can quickly customize various parts of this canvas with our dynamic fields feature.
The subscription-based model is used in nearly all industries. What sets this model apart is the emphasis on customer success and improving buyer retention to create a steady revenue stream that drives year over year growth.
This detailed business model canvas example not only breaks down each building block, but also adds a description to make things crystal clear. Notice how the sample company offers monthly, 6-month and annual subscriptions and the pricing strategy for each. Similarly, it provides a list of its partners and outlines their respective responsibilities.
With this holistic view of your business, you can ensure there are no loopholes that can hurt your business. The Post-it notes help you gather ideas, sort and resort ideas as your model develops. You can easily move them around, change the colors and add images.
Bundling allows you to roll different products or services into one and sell them as a unit. Offering bundled products at a discount allows you to lift revenue at the expense of margin.
This business model canvas bundles three services: internet, cable TV and landline phone services. It uses yellow sticky notes to provide information about the elements for each service. Below the main canvas, the total cost of bundling these services and monthly revenue are marked with blue sticky notes.
Once you’ve filled this out, you can download and share it individually with partners, stakeholders and advisors to facilitate discussions. Likewise, add a page or two to your business plan to validate your concept.
In a freemium business model, you offer some of your products or services for free and charge for premium features. If you’re new to this model, this business modeling canvas can serve as a blueprint for setting up your company.
Use this canvas to plan your partners, activities, channels and resources. It emphasizes the specific groups of customers you are focusing on, the unique benefits you offer, how you interact with customers and how you generate income.
To avoid cluttering the canvas, you can incorporate interactive elements like hover effects or clickable pop-ups to provide more context. For example, add a hotspot that reveals additional information, such as your marketing activities, partnership or platform maintenance plan. Alternatively, you can link your stickers, icons or text to another website or document for readers to get more info.
Map out your business model for your distribution company with this customizable canvas. It addresses all the key aspects of starting a new business or growing an existing one.
As you grow your business, use it as a tool for continuous improvement or iteration. Experiment with alternative revenue streams, distribution channels or customer segments to stay ahead of competitors and adapt to changing market conditions.
Communicate and engage stakeholders effectively by embedding images, videos and other interactive content into your whiteboard. For example, you can record a short explainer video to walk your audience through the content of your business model.
If you need to quickly record a short video to add to your whiteboard, report, presentation or any other project, you can do it directly in Visme. Go to Media > Videos > My videos and click on the Record button. You can switch off your camera, mute the mic, pause, restart or delete the video.
It's easy to get sidetracked by everything that goes into running a business. Having a business model canvas keeps you focused on your value proposition, which is the core of why your business exists.
Use your value proposition as a guiding star to give you direction as you fill out all other parts of the canvas. Identify areas where you can innovate or differentiate your business from competitors.
What makes this stylish whiteboard design special is the clear and organized visual layout. In the right column, revenue streams, sales channels and target customer profiles are displayed on gray stickers, while the left column showcases products, packages and pricing information. Right below it, the value propositions are laid out horizontally with stunning icons.
The smart use of beautiful dual-color icons and shapes makes the whiteboard visually engaging. Customize this template to fit your branding with Visme’s Brand Design Tool. Just input your URL and the tool will pull up your brand assets and save them to your brand kit. You also get access to a beautifully branded template specially curated for your brand.
Crowdsourcing is a great way to generate fresh ideas and innovations.
With this crowdsourcing business model whiteboard template, you can easily map out an effective strategy to engage your audience, pool ideas and build a viable business.
From defining your value proposition to outlining key resources, activities, revenue streams and more, this template has everything you need to pitch your ideas to partners and investors. It has editable sections and trendy design elements to make your ideas shine.
When editing this template, let your creativity shine. Visme has a vast library of premium, high-quality stock photos, 2D and 3D icons, shapes and characters (static and animated) you can use.
Let's check out some real-life business model canvas examples from top brands.
Amazon is one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world, with over 310 million active users worldwide, including business and retail customers. However, it operates a diversified business model, with about 40% of its revenue generated from online stores. The remaining 60% comes from other business segments, including:
Another important aspect of their business model is research and development and the use of data and technology. Amazon collects vast amounts of data on customer behavior and uses this information to personalize the shopping experience and target advertising.
Their aggressive focus on R&D hasn't only made them a dominant player in the e-commerce space but has become their secret sauce as they continue to innovate and expand into new markets and industries.
Amazon's business model centers around offering competitive prices, wide product selection and convenient services. As communicated in its value proposition, Amazon strives to provide fast and reliable shipping, easy returns and excellent customer service to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Netflix is a streaming and subscription service that offers a wide variety of on-demand content such as movies, TV, documentaries, etc. Its business model revolves around providing customers access to a vast library of content at an affordable price. Although it started as a DVD rental company, Netflix’s revenue sources are primarily subscriptions, partnerships and ad revenue.
Netflix leverages strategic partnerships to maintain a diverse and constantly updated library of content for its subscribers. It also allows Netflix to continually serve users great content, expand their reach and appeal to a global audience.
These partnerships include film studios, distributors, content creators and producers. For example, Netflix has partnerships with major studios, such as Disney, Warner Bros and Universal, which provide access to their movie libraries for streaming on Netflix.
Netflix also maximizes value through revenue-sharing agreements and partnerships with telecom companies, cable providers and OEMs like LG, Samsung and other big brands.
Like other businesses in that space, Netflix's cost structure will include:
Uber's business model is based on a multi-sided platform model that connects riders with drivers. Their primary revenue stream is the commissions on each ride on the platform, surge pricing, partnerships and advertisements.
Uber's customer segments are the riders and customers. Their value proposition hinges on convenience, reliability and transparency. Customers can get a cab quickly and see ride estimates before the cab shows up.
When it comes to key resources, Uber has a digital platform (website & apps), a wide network of drivers and riders, technology infrastructure and a strong brand image. In addition to its core ride-sharing service, Uber has expanded into other areas such as food delivery, freight and electric bikes and scooters.
They rely on external stakeholders and key partners like drivers, technology and commercial partners, map API providers and payment processors to keep their business and platform running.
Dropbox provides cloud storage and file-sharing solutions to individuals and businesses.
Unlike Uber’s commission-based model, Dropbox‘s revenue streams come from a freemium model. In this model, Dropbox offers a basic version of its platform for free and charges fees for premium features.
If you sign up for a free account, you'll get 2GB of storage and you can earn even more by referring people. However, they offer paid plans for more space and advanced features.
This freemium model helps Dropbox attract a large user base that can be nurtured into paying customers. Their revenue is a function of how many users they convert into paid users.
Dropbox reaches customers through channels like websites, mobile apps and partnerships with other technology companies. By forming strategic alliances with device manufacturers, internet service providers and other software companies, Dropbox has been able to seamlessly integrate their product into a wide range of third-party products and services.
To provide seamless services, Dropbox invests in key resources such as servers, storage infrastructure and software applications. The team is dedicated to continuously developing the platform and ensuring the security of its users' data is its top priority.
However, providing such services comes at a cost. The company's cost structure includes server maintenance, software development, bandwidth costs and customer support.
Mapping out your business model is a collaborative activity and Visme’s powerful online whiteboard makes it a breeze.
It has an infinite canvas that allows teams of all sizes to collaborate, brainstorm and visualize your idea effectively. Here’s how to use Visme:
Sign up for a new account or fill in your login details (if you’re an existing user). Once logged in, you'll be redirected to the dashboard where you can access lots of exciting features to give your business modeling exercise a boost.
On the dashboard, click the “Create New” button and select “Whiteboard” from the dropdown menu.
You will find the Visme templates page, where you can choose your favorite brainstorming, flows or wireframe templates from our library. Type “business model canvas” in the search to quickly find the perfect template for your business model.
If you prefer to create your whiteboard from scratch, select “Blank Template.”
Once you select your favorite template, hover over it and click the “Edit” button. You will be redirected to the editor dashboard of your whiteboard. Visme’s intuitive editor makes it easy for you to move elements around your canvas.
You can zoom in and out of the canvas as you work on it or add a new page to continue your visualization. To add a new page to your whiteboard, click on the Pages button on the taskbar and the Pages menu will open on the right-hand side of the screen.
If you’re using a template, click on the placeholder text to replace it with yours. Feel free to play around with the text’s color, font, style, animation, effects, blur, and alignment. You can also use the AI writer to generate ideas for your content or proofread your text.
Then use the taskbar at the bottom of the canvas to add new text, sticky notes, arrows and shapes and reactions for each building block of your business model. Remember that you can change the color, size and position of each of these elements. There’s also a “Draw” tool for annotations during brainstorming. Choose between a pen or marker, then select the color and thickness of the drawing.
In addition, you can continue to use other assets and design features from the left sidebar in your whiteboard as well. Elevate your whiteboard by tapping into our extensive array of assets like 3D animations, graphics, characters, gestures, effects, icons, illustrations, images, data visualizations, wireframes, widgets and a premium stock photo library.
If you can't find the right image, no worries! Visme's AI image generator can help you create stunning visuals from text prompts. Choose from various output styles, such as photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art and more.
When working on your project, you can invite people to collaborate on your whiteboard. Visme allows you to set permissions for team members to view, edit or comment on a project.
Once you’ve provided access, collaborators can view, tag each other, leave feedback, reply to comments or edit the project in real-time or asynchronously. This feature is helpful in a strategy or brainstorming session where participants need to share their ideas.
Once your whiteboard is ready, you can share it online with a URL or download it in multiple formats.
To share online, click Share at the top right of the editor. Then, head over to Publish for Web, add a title and hit Publish. You’ll find a shareable link you can copy. There’s also an option to shorten the URL and Share on Social media.
What’s more, you can share privately with people on your team, restricted to specific people or anyone with the link. Or click Embed to generate an embeddable code for your website.
If you want to download your whiteboard for offline use, click Download and you’ll see options to download in multiple formats, including:
Whiteboards are automatically downloaded in custom sizes. Each downloaded whiteboard page will have a unique size, showing only the parts filled with your content.
Remember, when you download and present offline, the HTML version will keep all the cool interactive stuff and animations in your project. With Visme analytics, you can track how many people have viewed your canvas and how they’re engaging with it.
And that's a wrap! Whether you're starting a new business or pivoting in a different direction, having a business model canvas in your toolkit is essential.
This concise, one-page summary is invaluable for communicating your business concept with investors and stakeholders. We’ve shared everything you need to know about creating an efficient business model, plus business model canvas examples to give you a creative jumpstart.
Now, the ball is in your court. Empower your team with Visme's cutting-edge online whiteboard software to visualize your business model collaboratively. Not only does it offer an infinite canvas, but it also provides you with an extensive library of templates, features, interactive design elements and visual assets to bring your project or strategy to life.
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