ICEBREAKER: Time: 10 min.
Instructions: Let the participants say 3 things about them (two truths and one lie) and allow other participants to guess which one is a lie.
INTRODUCTION
Time: 10 min.
Instructions: Explain to the participants what the main objectives of the workshop are and what knowledge and skills they are expected to gain.
One of the most powerful tools to support women’s economic empowerment is creating own business. As we already know, women are less likely to become an entrepreneur in comparison to men. There are a lot of challenges that women have to overcome to succeed as an entrepreneur. The crucial success factors are to:
- know the environment one lives in and define the key resources at disposal/needed;
- know who your customer is, what are his/her needs;
- create a value for your customer.
In this workshop you will accompany Jane who wants to start her own business. You will get to know her and her family better. Together you will decide on a solid business idea that might help her to ensure a steady income for her family.
MEET JANE!
Time: 10 min.
Instructions: Divide participants in groups and let them read the following text. You can prepare the text as a worksheet so all groups have it at hand.
- Jane is 32 years old mother of two children – Sarah (3 years) and Matthias (1 years). She has a university degree in teaching English. Before having kids she used to teach in a high school in the centre of Prague.
- Jane’s husband Abdik comes from Saudi Arabia where his family is living, he is Muslim and works in a travel agency. Jane’s parents are living in the countryside far from them and they do not have a close relationship with Jane since they didn’t agree with the choice of her life partner.
- Jane lives with her husband Abdik in a small house with garden in the suburbs of Prague. There is only one kindergarten available, however the capacity is full. Since her first baby was born, Jane stopped working and takes care of the children and the household. However, she was always a curious person and she loved to learn new things. While she was on parental leave, she learnt how to build web pages and she also participated in an online marketing course. She knows that it wouldn’t be possible to return to her former teaching job since the private child-care facilities are expensive and her former employer did not offer to work part-time or from home. For that reason, Jane is thinking to start her own business, however she is not sure what she could offer that the potential customers might want.
- Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 pandemic, Abdik lost his job and the family is currently without a steady income. Abdik is registered with the Employment office and gets 500 EUR per month. Jane still has parental leave financial contribution from state which amounts to 400 EUR per month. The monthly expenses of the family are around 800 EUR per month.
HELP JANE TO COME UP WITH A SOLID BUSINESS IDEA
- Jane decided that now is the right moment to take the risk and start her own business. She saved around 3.000 EUR that she planned to use for her business and disposes of a car. She knows how to teach languages and excels in English, she gained practical skills in marketing and web design. She is also interested in healthy lifestyle, upcycling and makes handmade jewellery. Moreover, she is a certified yoga instructor.
THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS
STEP 1 – COME UP WITH THE BUSINESS IDEA
Now you know a lot of information about Jane and her life situation. You already know what resources Jane disposes of (education, experience, finances, material resources such as house, car etc.) and what environment she lives in (Suburbs of Prague, the political and economic centre of the Czech Republic. The economy is currently struggling with consequences of COVID-19 pandemic).
BUSINESS IDEA POOL
Time: 30 min.
Instructions: Let participants to work in groups and define a business idea based on the information they know about Jane and her skills and resources.
What business idea would you propose to Jane? Come up with your own ideas or choose from the idea pool.
Write down:
The business idea is: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
The products/services are:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
STEP 2 – MAP THE ENVIRONMENT
Time: 30 min.: 15 min. discussion in groups / 15 min. debriefing with follow-up questions
Instructions: Let the participants discuss in groups what the important factors are which might help or impede the success of the chosen business idea.
Now you know a lot of information about Jane and her life situation. Below you will find two mind maps with several micro and macro situational factors. Discuss if and how those factors might influence the success or failure of Jane’s business.
Follow-up questions:
- Which factors do you consider as the most influential regarding potential success of the chosen business ide?
- What precautions/mitigation strategies would you suggest to prevent risks connected to those factors?
STEP 3 – PROPOSE THE VALUE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER
You have already mapped the environment and now you are better prepared to come up with a business idea that might have potential to succeed.
YOUR CUSTOMER
Time: 30 min
Instructions: Guide the participants through defining the customer and his/her profile.
Now you are clear about the business idea and what products or services you are going to offer. The next important step is to define your customer?
Task: Imagine your customer as a person with his/her own life, needs, interests, habits and wishes. Try to describe your typical customer as detailed as possible. Use the table below:
1/ Age: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2/ Gender: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3/ Education: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4/ Profession: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5/ Income: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6/ Family status: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7/ Interests & hobbies: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………… 8/ Habits: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9/ Community: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10/ Problems and needs: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11/ Wishes, dreams, goals: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… |
VALUE PROPOSITION
Time: 30 min
Instructions: Now you know your customer better. You know how he/she lives, what his/her problems, needs and wishes are. To attract your customer, you have to create a value for him/her with the products or services you are offering.
Following questions will help you to define the value proposition:
- What problems/challenges does your customer face in everyday life? (at work, at home) What makes them feel bad, annoyed, feared or frustrated? What is your customer missing?
- What is your customer dreaming about? What would make him/her happy?
- What emotional needs does your customer want to satisfy? How does your customer want to feel?
- How does your customer want to be perceived by others? Is social status, good look or power important for him/her?
- What would make your customer’s life or job easier?
- What savings would your customer appreciate in terms of time, effort, money etc.?
- What is important for your customer? (price, quality, availability, design, guarantee, low risk, special features etc.)
Define your value proposition:
OUR (products and services) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
HELP (customer)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
WHO WANTS TO (needs, problems, wishes)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
BY (value proposition)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
PITCH YOUR BUSINESS IDEA
Time: 60 min
Instructions: Explain to participants what a “pitch” is and guide them through preparation of their pitches in groups. Let them prepare a presentation in groups answering the key questions. You can allow participants to use a presentation software and prepare slides (max. 5). Preparation phase is supposed to last max. 30 min. + presentation 30 min. (max. 2 min. pitches)
Now you know what products and services you offer, who your customer is, what his/her needs are and what value you propose. It’s time to present your business idea or as we say to “pitch”. You will have maximum of 2 minutes to persuade us about the uniqueness of your business idea. Prepare your pitch in groups by finding answers to following questions:
- PROBLEM – What is the problem/challenge/need your are solving with your product or service?
- SOLUTION – What solution do you propose to solve the problem/satisfy the need? What value do you propose for the customer?
- MARKET – Who is your customer? Who do you target at?
- UNIQUENESS – How do you differentiate yourself from your competition?
REFLECT
Time: 30 min.
Instructions: Guide participants through the final reflection. You can draw a tree on the flip chart and put there empty post-its representing “apples of knowledge”. Ask all participants to pluck couple of apples (post-its) and write down answers to following questions:
Case study reflection
- What next steps would you propose to Jane to make her business idea successful?
- How do you think that starting Jane´s own business will change her family life?
Personal gain reflection
- What new knowledge and skills did you learn in this workshop?
- What did you enjoy most?
- What was difficult for you?
- How are you going to use the gained knowledge?
