Usually, people often confuse a good product with good business – but they’re not the same. An amazing product idea can still fail if the plan behind it isn’t on point. From the origin of an idea to how it will reach customers to how it generates revenue, each step in this process plays a major role in product/idea development. Business Model Canvas is such a powerful tool that it captures everything on one single page. It’s one of the foundational frameworks of YEEP – Young Entrepreneur Exchange Program; wherein students learn how to build a profitable business.
What Is a Business Model?
A business model is the core plan for how a company operates profitably, the complete strategy that decides what a product costs, how it is made, how it reaches the buyer, and how the business earns and keeps money. As Mr. Jay Sudani, CEO of the Parul Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Centre (PIERC), put it while teaching the framework at YEEP 2026, a business model is essentially a company’s core plan to run its operations profitably. No matter how strong the product, a poor or ill-conceived business model can doom it.
What Is the Business Model Canvas?
As coined by Alexander Osterwalder, it’s a visual tool that’s divided into 9 boxes or blocks. Each one is designed to showcase a different vision, it has a power that allows a founder to see an entire business at a glance. Each block is visionary and interconnected so this tool will help them in building their strategies as well!
9 Building Blocks of the Business Model Canvas!
There is a sequence to the canvas: you do not start anywhere, you build it step by step, beginning with the customer. The nine blocks are:
- Customer Segments: Who you are creating value for. Start here. A business cannot serve everyone, so define the specific groups of people or organisations who genuinely need your product.
- Value Propositions: The bundle of products and services that solves a customer’s problem or meets their need, and the reason they choose you over alternatives.
- Channels – The process of reaching & delivering value to customers – awareness, sales & after-sales support!
- Customer Relationships – From self-service to automated to community-driven approaches, it depends on what relationship you are forming and nurturing!
- Revenue Generation – Be it sales, subscriptions, licensing, fees or pricing, this factor plays a premium role in the journey. Each decision is interconnected with this block!
- Resources – Which model will work best for you? Physical, financial, intellectual or human version!
- Activities – From production management to problem solving or platform management, the business must do well in these criterias.
- Partnerships – Your network is your only net-worth. From suppliers to partners, having good relationships with them will help you acquire risk factors & resources.
- Costing structure – This block covers the major operating costs once resources, activities and partnerships are clearly defined.
This tool has two sides – right hand side and left. The right side signifies the customer segments, value proposition, channels, relationship and revenue. While the left side represents resources, activities, costing and partnerships. If you’re trying this model for your business/idea, ensure they both are balanced perfectly as that’s when it becomes a healthy model for your creation. Hence, the value you create is worth more than
The right-hand side of the canvas (customer segments, value propositions, channels, relationships, revenue) is about value and the market; the left-hand side (resources, activities, partnerships, costs) is about how you deliver it. A healthy model is one where the two sides balance, the value you create is worth more than what it costs to deliver. If you’re super passionate about building your idea, explore business-focused programs at Parul University such as BBA in Marketing, BBA in Financial Management, BBA in Digital Marketing, and BBA in International Business and build a successful career!
Founders & Business Model Canvas!
A business model is a company’s core plan to run its operations profitably. – Jay Sudani, CEO, PIERC, at YEEP 2026
The canvas became popular as it’s fast, visual and testable. A student founder or an aspiring founder can map out a model and can easily spot – assumption, weaknesses, customer expectations, and flaws. At YEEP 2026, after a few weeks of market research, the students from Parul University & Bern University of Applied Sciences filled a physical canvas to execute their idea into a strategic plan before the final pitching. This is the perfect process of using this tool!
How Parul University and PIERC Put It Into Practice?
At Parul University, the Business Model Canvas is not just a slide; it is a working tool inside a full startup ecosystem. Through PIERC, the university’s innovation and entrepreneurship centre, more than 300+ startups have been incubated and supported, together generating over Rs 60 crore in revenue and 1,600-plus jobs, with mentoring, prototyping labs, and staged funding available to student founders and external entrepreneurs alike. Students learn the canvas in management and entrepreneurship programmes and apply it live through PIERC and programmes like YEEP, testing models against real customers rather than only on paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Business Model Canvas?
The Business Model Canvas is a one-page strategic tool, created by Alexander Osterwalder, that maps how a business creates, delivers, and captures value across nine building blocks. It lets founders see their whole business at a glance and understand how each element connects to the others.
What are the 9 building blocks of the Business Model Canvas?
The nine blocks are Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partnerships, and Cost Structure. Together they describe who you serve, what you offer, how you deliver and earn, and what it costs to run the business.
How does Parul University support student startups?
Through PIERC, its innovation and entrepreneurship centre, Parul University has incubated 300+ startups generating Rs 60 crore-plus in revenue and 1,600-plus jobs. It offers mentoring, prototyping facilities, staged funding, and programmes such as the Young Entrepreneur Exchange Program (YEEP), and is open to both Parul students and external founders across India.
