The most common and widespread tool for developing and visualizing a business model is the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. The canvas was co-created with many practitioners and was based on The Business Model Ontology developed by Alexander Osterwalder in 2004.  The results are a best-seller book, entitled Business Model Generation, and the tool Business Model Canvas. The canvas has been published online with a Creative Common License and therefore published and iterated by many practitioners.

The 9 Building Blocks

The underlying idea is, that a business model consists of nine building blocks describing the value proposition, customers, value delivery and value creation, as well as the financial perspective.

• Value Propositions: What kind of value do you deliver to your customer (e.g. efficiency, convenience, social status, low prices)? How do you satisfy your customers’ needs?
• Customer Segments: For whom are you creating this value? Can you differentiate between different customer groups?
• Channels: How do you deliver the value to your customer segments? This starts from raising awareness and also applies to purchasing, delivery and aftersales.
• Customer Relationships: What is the relationship between you and your customer? E.g. self-service, personal assistance during sales, creating a community where members share knowledge.
• Revenue Streams: How do you generate revenue? Whom do you generate revenue from and what form does the revenue have (e.g. subscription fee, renting fee, advertisement, etc.)?
• Key Activities: How do you generate value (service / product) for your customer?
• Key Resources: What knowledge, infrastructure and financial resources do you need?
• Key Partnerships: Who are our partners that help us to create value? Who are our suppliers?
• Cost Structure: What costs arise from creating and delivering value to your customer, from your key activities and your key resources?