Business Model Canvas: Getting Clear on Your Business Model

Running a business often feels like you’re juggling a hundred things at once. Should you run Facebook ads? Should you be on TikTok? Should you hire someone to help with sales? These questions are overwhelming if you don’t first have clarity on your business model.

That’s why we start here. A simple one-page Business Model Canvas helps you slow down, zoom out, and see the whole picture: who your customers are, what they value, and how your business makes money. Think of it as your map before you hit the road. Without it, you’ll waste energy and money going in circles.

We’ll use the Business Model Canvas we worked on with one of our Inclusive Beauty Program participants to walk you through each section. We’ll explain why it matters, share prompts to help you think it through, and show you how to make it your own. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap you can use to guide your marketing and sales decisions.

StitchCrew's Inclusive Beauty Business Model Canvas

Key Partnerships

The right partners can give you credibility, reduce costs, and expand your reach. Identify 2–3 partnerships that would unlock growth for you.

Goal: Build strategic relationships that strengthen your business.

Key Activities

You can’t be great at everything. Focus on what really drives your business forward. Pick 2–3 activities you must do consistently well, and assign an owner (even if it’s you for now).

Goal: Focus energy on the activities that matter most.

Key Resources

You can’t run your business without the right resources, whether that’s people, tools, or know-how. List your top 3–5 resources you can’t operate without.

Goal: Identify your “must-have” resources and protect them.

Value Proposition

Customers don’t buy products or services. They buy solutions to problems or progress toward a goal. Think about what outcome are you promising? (Save time, reduce stress, look better, grow revenue, reduce risk, feel joy, gain status.) What proof can you give (testimonials, before/after photos, data)?

Try finishing this sentence: Our product/service helps [customer] who struggles with [problem] achieve [desired outcome], unlike [competitor/alternative].

Goal: Connect your offer to real outcomes, backed by proof.

Customer Relationships

People don’t just want to buy from you once, they want to feel supported, understood, and valued. What type of relationship do your customers expect? High-touch personal service, or easy automated reordering? How do you build trust? Write down 2–3 ways you can strengthen relationships.

Goal: Create lasting relationships that increase repeat purchases and referrals.

Channels

If you’re not showing up where your customers already spend time, they won’t find you.

Where do your customers naturally hang out, learn, and shop? (Google, TikTok, Instagram, trade shows, referrals, local markets, newsletters, LinkedIn?) List the top 3 places your customers already are. Don’t overthink it, go where they are, not where you wish they were.

Goal: Focus your marketing where it will actually reach your audience.

Customer Segments

If you try to serve everyone, you’ll end up resonating with no one. Customers buy when they feel, “This was made for me.” If you are a Direct to Consumer Product (DTC) think about your end consumer, their age, lifestyle, motivations, etc. If you are a Business to Business solution or Service think about the buying organization, who’s the actual decision maker? (The one paying is often different from the one using.) Who do you want to help most? Write down 1–2 specific customer types, not “everyone.”

Goal: Get specific about who you serve so your messaging connects directly to them.

Revenue Streams

You need clarity not just on what you sell but how money flows into your business. Write down your main way of making money plus at least one secondary stream.

Goal: Diversify income so you’re not relying on a single type of sale.

Cost Structure

You don’t just need to know where money comes in, you need to know where it goes out. What does it cost to make and deliver one unit of your product? What monthly overhead must you cover? What hidden costs pop up?

Goal: Price your offers so they cover costs and leave room for profit.

Bringing It All Together

Once you’ve filled in your Business Model Canvas, step back and look at it as a whole. Does everything line up? Do your channels reach your customer? Does your offer solve a real urgent problem? Do your unit economics make sense?

This one-page tool becomes your roadmap. Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed about marketing or sales, come back to it. If something feels off, fix the model first before spending more money or time on tactics.

Call to Action

If you’re part of StitchCrew, bring your filled-out canvas to office hours. We’ll help you pressure-test it, refine your offers, and make sure your marketing and sales strategies connect to a solid foundation.

👉 Next up: Lead Development & Marketing.