The paper discusses analytical applications of the business model canvas (BMC) formulated by Osterwalder & Pigneur [1]. From this model, a methodological tool was devised and used as part of an academic research project, in which the categories (blocks) of the BMC were taken as conceptual categories and further processed through a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). The specifics of reversing the business model canvas are examined, since the model was conceived for entrepreneurs and not strictly for the analysis of pre-existing companies. The application of the tool was done within the multidisciplinary mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) project ‘Business dynamics of the audiovisual industry in Bogota’, which was carried out from October 2017 to May 2019 at Manuela Beltran University in Bogota, Colombia. The methodological tool was applied to 32 key companies and four institutions of the local audiovisual industry through semi-structured interviews with people in managerial positions. The nine blocks of the BMC were conceptually developed to analyse the empirical data, holding them as internal variables. The assessment of the variables revealed opportunities for the growth and development of the companies and the whole industry, as well as patterns for the existing business models of the companies.