Such assistance is performed during sales and/or after sales.

Personal assistance: Assistance in a form of employee-customer interaction.

Various forms of customer relationships include: That element should address three critical steps of a customer's relationship: How the business will get new customers, how the business will keep customers purchasing or using its services and how the business will grow its revenue from its current customers.

Customer relationships: To ensure the survival and success of any businesses, companies must identify the type of relationship they want to create with their customer segments.

An organization can reach its clients through its own channels (store front), partner channels (major distributors), or a combination of both. Effective channels will distribute a company's value proposition in ways that are fast, efficient and cost-effective.

Channels: A company can deliver its value proposition to its targeted customers through different channels.

A credit card company will provide services to credit card holders while simultaneously assisting merchants who accept those credit cards.

Multi-sided platform/market: For a smooth day-to-day business operation, some companies will serve mutually dependent customer segments.

Diversify: A business serves multiple customer segments with different needs and characteristics.

In the segmented situation, the business may further distinguish its clients based on gender, age, and/or income.

Segmented: A company applies additional segmentation within existing customer segment.

Niche market: Customer segmentation based on specialized needs and characteristics of its clients: e.g.

Mass market: There is no specific segmentation for a company that follows the mass market element as the organization displays a wide view of potential clients: e.g.

The different types of customer segments include: Various sets of customers can be segmented based on their different needs and attributes to ensure appropriate implementation of corporate strategy to meet the characteristics of selected groups of clients.

Customer segments: To build an effective business model, a company must identify which customers it tries to serve.

Qualitative – overall customer experience and outcome.

The value proposition provides value through various elements such as newness, performance, customization, 'getting the job done', design, brand/status, price, cost reduction, risk reduction, accessibility, and convenience/usability. According to Osterwalder (2004), a company's value proposition is what distinguishes it from its competitors.

Value propositions: The collection of products and services a business offers to meet the needs of its customers.

Complementary business alliances also can be considered through joint ventures or strategic alliances between competitors or non-competitors.

Partner network: In order to optimize operations and reduce risks of a business model, organizations usually cultivate buyer-supplier relationships so they can focus on their core activity.

These resources could be human, financial, physical and intellectual. They are considered assets to a company that are needed to sustain and support the business.

Key resources: The resources that are necessary to create value for the customer.

An example for Bic, the pen manufacturer, would be creating an efficient supply chain to drive down costs.

Key activities: The most important activities in executing a company's value proposition.: 16–17 Descriptions below are based largely on the 2010 book Business Model Generation. Osterwalder's canvas has nine boxes: customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partnerships, and cost structure. With his business model design template, an enterprise can easily describe its business model.

Many different business conceptualizations exist Osterwalder's 2004 thesis and co-authored 2010 book propose a single reference model based on the similarities of a wide range of business model conceptualizations. Formal descriptions of the business become the building blocks for its activities.

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