In this section, we will focus on partnerships that contribute to making your business model more effective.
Who are your key partners/suppliers?
What is the most important motivation for the partnership?

The reason for partnership can differ and plays a vital role in making your business a success. Partnerships can optimise resources, reduce risk or help you gain access to knowledge and experience. You may partner with many organisations but not all parts are key partners in the business. Add only the important partners to the Canvas.
If your business is not able to function without xxx, then xxx is your key partner.
However, partnerships can change over the course of a business lifecycle. A partnership may be necessary during the first year of a start-up but differs throughout the years.
Key Partners:
- Analyse the nature of them based on the following key questions;
- Which partnerships are critical to our business?
- Who are our critical suppliers?
- Which of our suppliers and partners are sourcing our key resources?
- What type of partnerships would suit our needs?
- For a partnership to be healthy and sustainable, there need to be visible gains on both ends.When forming a partnership, evaluating the impact on the clients is important. Ensure your partnership fills the gaps of the business and is translated to the customer.
What to do:
Add your key partnerships to the Canvas. What is the impact of your key resources – cost and resources. If it is not a healthy or balanced option ask yourself,
“What can you do to reduce the risk/create control.”

How to Build a Great Business Model Canvas – The FREE Course
- Introduction
- Lesson 1 – Customers
- Lesson 2 – Value Propositions
- Lesson 3 – Marketing & Distribution Channels
- Lesson 4 – Customer Relationships
- Lesson 5 – Revenues
- Lesson 6 – Key Resources
- Lesson 7 – Key Activities
- Lesson 8 – Key Partners & Suppliers
- Lesson 9 – Costs

