Strategy on a Page: The Power of the Business Model Canvas
From Propositions to the Bigger Picture
The Value Proposition Canvas helps to sharpen individual offerings, but organisations rarely succeed with one proposition alone. The challenge for leaders is to step back and see the the proposition in the wider business landscape: how multiple propositions, customers, and capabilities connect to create a coherent business.
That’s where the Business Model Canvas comes in.
Why the Framework Matters
Created by Alexander Osterwalder and the Strategyzer team, the canvas distils business strategy onto a single page. It brings together nine building blocks:
Customer Segments
Value Propositions
Channels
Customer Relationships
Revenue Streams
Key Activities
Key Resources
Key Partnerships
Cost Structure
At first glance, it looks deceptively simple, but the real power of the framework lies in what happens when leaders use it to map their business model and expose tensions:
Do our revenue streams match the value we deliver?
Are we investing in the activities that really drive differentiation?
Where are we carrying cost or complexity that doesn’t add value?
The canvas is not about filling in boxes - it’s about creating a shared language that makes the whole business visible on one page.
Applying the Canvas in Practice
In my experience, the canvas becomes most valuable when it is applied with discipline; not as a one-off workshop tool, but as a lens for how the business really works.
A few key reflections:
Start with the customer side. Who are the customer segments we serve, and what value propositions do we offer them? Too often, organisations jump straight to cost and revenue without clarity on the why.
Look at delivery next. Which activities, resources, and partnerships make those propositions possible? This is where strategic choice emerges - deciding what we must excel at ourselves, and what is stronger through collaboration.
Then consider money flows. Revenue streams and cost structures are not just financial outcomes; they’re reflections of the model itself. Are they aligned with the value we create, or are they shaped by legacy and inertia?
The canvas is not about perfection. It’s about surfacing assumptions, testing fit, and building alignment across leadership teams.
A Real-World Example: Bringing Three Units Together
When I was tasked with bringing together three business units into a single organisation, the complexity was clear.
In one part of the business there were multiple contracts, each providing different support to different customers. These contracts weren’t being run as silos - there was good intent, some coherence, and pockets of structure. What was missing was a whole-business view of the contract portfolio.
The Business Model Canvas gave us that view.
By mapping how value was created across the newly combined organisation, we could see:
Customer Segments & Propositions: how different contracts aligned, and where capabilities could be applied more broadly.
Activities, Resources, Partnerships: which partnerships were critical to deliver a coherent service for existing customers, and which capabilities we could share across contracts.
Revenue & Cost: how we might shift the model beyond “volume of sales” toward exploring licensing opportunities
In short, the Canvas made the connections visible. It helped us move from managing contracts in isolation to building a business that could scale.
Bringing the Pieces Together
The greatest value of the canvas lies not in the individual building blocks, but in how they interact:
A strong value proposition without the right partnerships won’t scale.
A revenue model that doesn’t match cost structures will erode margins.
Customer relationships that don’t align with channels will frustrate users.
By laying everything out side by side, leaders can see interdependencies clearly. In my experience, that visibility often sparks the most valuable discussions - the ones that challenge assumptions, surface trade-offs, and create alignment.
Strategic Elevation: Why Executives Should Care
At a leadership level, the Business Model Canvas is more than a diagram. It’s a tool for clarity and choice.
It helps executives:
Align leadership teams around how the business actually works.
Spot gaps or overlaps between propositions, customers, and capabilities.
Decide where to invest, where to divest, and where to partner.
Explore new revenue models and test their credibility.
And critically, it brings everyone onto the same page…literally. When you can see your business in one view, decisions about growth, transformation, and focus become clearer and more confident.
Lessons Learned and Common Traps
The most common trap is treating the canvas as a static artefact -filling it in once, then filing it away.
Its real value lies in being used dynamically:
Revisited when new opportunities or challenges arise;
Compared across business units to spot synergies and tensions;
Shared across leadership teams to test assumptions and build alignment.
Three reflection questions for leaders:
Which parts of our business model are based on history rather than future relevance;
Where do our revenue streams and cost structures no longer match the value we create;
How might partnerships expand or strengthen our model beyond what we can deliver alone?
Closing Reflection
Complex organisations rarely succeed through incremental fixes alone. Sometimes the most powerful step is to step back and see the business as a whole.
The Business Model Canvas makes that possible. It simplifies complexity into a single page, giving leaders clarity, teams alignment, and organisations the confidence to grow and transform.
👉 In the next article, I’ll explore the McKinsey 7S Framework — a model for ensuring the organisation itself is aligned to deliver the strategy it has chosen.
