What is the goal of this module?
In the dream phase, young people have been working on a prototype of their pop-up business. They might have actually piloted their product/service/activity, or they might have worked on a scale model. In the pitch phase, young people presented this prototype to a wider audience so as to get input and feedback.
The goal of the design phase is to write an initial yet grounded business plan (i.e., a business model canvas) by making use of the information gathered in the previous two phases. The business model canvas comprises nine ‘building blocks’ that together describe the pop-up’s envisioned infrastructure, offerings, customers, and finances.
Filling out a business plan will help students not only to acquire essential financial knowledge but also to analyze, evaluate and (possibly) adapt their business idea. In turn, this might lead to a stronger business model and may help students in making calculated risks. The outcome of the design phase will serve as a basis for the next phase in which young people will actually run their pop-up as well as formulate a detailed financial and marketing plan.
What are the learning outcomes?
At the end of the DESIGN module,…
- The learner knows how to fill out a business model canvas.
- The learner is able to explain and value the basic building blocks of a business model.
- The learner is can compare his/her own business model to that of their competitors.
- The learner is able to formulate the strenghts and weakeness of their business model.
- The learner can devise potential solutions to the identified weaknesses in their business model.
Session plans
Options
Organize a two-day session in which students get acquainted with the diverse building blocks of the BMC and create a BMC for their own pop-up.
Total duration: 2 days
On the first day, young people get acquainted with the BMC. In the morning, the coach can opt to carry out the experiment demonstrating the relevance of a business model after which the BMC board game can be played. In the afternoon, the coach can send the students to some local enterprises in order to draft a BMC with the help of the local entrepreneur. The coach can facilitate this process by providing young people with a set of basic questions.
On the second day, young people will draft a BMC of their own pop-up after which they can present this to the coach and possibly to other students. In this phase, it is important that the coach acts as a critical friend who challenges and questions the assumptions of young people. Moreover, the coach can lead the young people to relevant videos that might help the young people with making strategic choices for each building block of the BMC.
Organize a one-day session in which attention is focused to drafting up a BMC for the pop-up.
Total duration: 1 day
In the morning, the coach can opt to carry out the experiment demonstrating the relevance of a business model after which the BMC board game can be played. In the afternoon, young people will draft a BMC of their own pop-up with the help of the coach.
Organize an online session around the BMC.
Total duration: 4 hours
In order to get acquainted with the BMC, the coach can choose to send out some relevant videos for the young people to watch. After this, the young people can meet online (e.g., through a Zoom-session) in which they try to draft a BMC for their own pop-up with the help of the coach.
As the business plan will make apparent both the strengths and the pitfalls/weaknesses of the pop-up, it is important that the coach is critical while at the same time also remains supportive. More precisely, in order to improve the business model of the pop-up, the coach will need to take on the role of a critical friend who challenges young people’ assumptions and asks open-ended questions.
Important! It is crucial that young people are challenged in this phase to fully make use of the information gathered in the previous two phases. As such, it may be wise for the coach to take on the role of the critical friend in this phase by challenging young people to elaborate precisely each and every building block of the business model canvas. Moreover, challenge young people to use concrete rather than vague wording (e.g., order young people to use numbers instead of words like ‘many’ or ‘few’; provoke young people who use words as ‘client oriented’ to make explicit what this means in their setting and why this is a unique trait).
Idea! In order to avoid demotivation when introducing the young people to theory of the business model canvas, it is relevant to avoid an overload of traditional instruction. This might be done by introducing the nine building blocks of the business model canvas in a playful manner and as such activate the students (e.g., through the BMC board game included in this module).