Business Model CreationENTR 300

Application Workbook Fall 2016

For further information contact:

Dr. Stephen Preece

Academic Director

Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship

spreece@wlu.ca

519-884-0710 x2636

ENTR300 Application WorkbookFact Sheet

Please note the following:

• Your application must be approved before you can enrol in the course

• We will accept rolling applications for Fall Term 2016 during three successive application time periods:

•January 1-31, 2016•April 1-30, 2016•July 1-31, 2016

• You must apply as a group with at least 2 members (only one has to be officially registered in the class), but no more than 5

• This will be an intensive course requiring substantial customer discovery activity. Please do not apply if you are not willing to devote the requisite time, energy and enthusiasm to this effort. Depending on the size of the group, some teams may spend as much as 20 hours a week on this course

• On the flip side, this may end up being one of the most valuable experiences of your educational journey, if you are up for it.

Introduction

Workbook Instructions:

Rename this workbook file: ENTR 300 Application Worksheet F16 - <insert last names of all team members>

Before submitting your application, delete all slides not relevant to your idea/project

The following slides will take you through the very early steps of innovating towards startup formation. Please complete these steps even if you have already made progress on your project, or if you are starting from scratch. We understand that the need you want to focus on might change, but for this exercise we want to:

●Understand how you approach the entrepreneurial challenge

●Your commitment to addressing an important problem area ●Your thinking and experience around a particular startup

idea●What makes you tick as an entrepreneur

PART I: YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL CHALLENGE

This application starts with user needs, rather than solutions (we will get to those).Your new venture idea will necessarily be focused on solving problems (addressing pains/gains) for those who will use your product/service. You also need to be deeply committed to a problem area in which to seek solutions.

Goal:

Exploring a

user need.

Your area of focus is a group of users/customers and pain/gain points you want to explore.

Examples of possible needs:1. Needs of elderly caregivers 2. New parents shopping for baby accessories 3. Lead generation for sales teams in startups

Our area of focus is:

1. Choose your area of focus

The user journey is an important tool to help you better understand your user. This is a diagram of the current experience of your key user as she tries to fulfill a particular need. This exercise can help you identify pain points and information gaps you need to further explore.

2. Draw your User Journey

This is an example of a user journey for renting videos. In color, you can see the way that Netflix revolutionized the video renting experience.

On the next slide, insert a photo of your user journey.

2. Draw your User Journey

Insert a photo of your user journey here.

On paper, whiteboard, or using Post-It notes, write down the facts/observations/experiences driving the assumptions around your design challenge. Recognize that these are all assumptions that need to be tested. Complete this activity with your team and then insert a legible photo of your diagram in the following slide. (Note: Color Post-Its and categories are for example purposes…use a format that works for you!)

Blue:

Assumptions

drawn from

yellow and pink

Post-Its

Many bosses have trouble hiring.

Orange: Personal

experiences,

stories, or

observations

An article in New York Times

said bosses have trouble hiring

Yellow: List things you’ve learned from various sources

My boss had a hard time finding an employee

3. Identify assumptions

3. Identify assumptions

Insert a photo of your assumptions here.

Interviews, observations, and/or experiments help address gaps in your knowledge and lead to a better understanding of the user. In the chart below, try to imagine at least 4 different interviews, observations, and/or experiments that would help verify and expand your startup ideas.

4. Plan for interviews, observations, and experiments

Who or what will we study? Where will we find people or information?

What questions/issues will we explore?

A design challenge can help you focus on a problem or pain/gain point and how it impacts your target user. You might find a design challenge in gaps or inefficiencies in the user journey or your interviews/observations/experiments. Define up to 5 design challenges (related to your idea) you would like to explore as a team. Simply identify the NEED; don’t offer a proposed solution.

5. Identify design challenges

Underrepresented youth in our area NEED A BETTER WAY TOaccess entrepreneurial education

__________(user)

NEEDS A BETTER WAY TO

_________(problem)

6. Assess design challengesAssess each of your (up to) 5 design challenges (drag/copy a to identify the most relevant box)

Name of design challenge 2:

What is your level of curiosity around this design challenge?

low medium high

How important is the challenge to the user? low medium high

How well do you understand the problem? not at all somewhat very well

How much data/information do you currently have? none some lots

Name of design challenge 1:

What is your level of curiosity around this design challenge?

low medium high

How important is the challenge to the user? low medium high

How well do you understand the problem? not at all somewhat very well

How much data/information do you currently have? none some lots

6. Assess design challenges

Name of design challenge 4:

What is your level of curiosity around this design challenge?

low medium high

How important is the challenge to the user? low medium high

How well do you understand the problem? not at all somewhat very well

How much data/information do you currently have? none some lotsName of design challenge 5:

What is your level of curiosity around this design challenge?

low medium high

How important is the challenge to the user? low medium high

How well do you understand the problem? not at all somewhat very well

How much data/information do you currently have? none some lots

Name of design challenge 3:

What is your level of curiosity around this design challenge?

low medium high

How important is the challenge to the user? low medium high

How well do you understand the problem? not at all somewhat very well

How much data/information do you currently have? none some lots

Our first-choice

design

challenge:

Identify the first- and second-choice design challenges that you want to work on. Explain why you selected these challenges.

7. Select a design challenge

Because:

Our second-choice design challenge:

Because:

PART II:

YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA

We now turn to your startup idea to address the need identified in PART I. We do not expect your ideas to be fully formed at this point (don’t worry if they are still very preliminary). This is just an opportunity for you to share any initial thoughts you have.

1) Startup Description2) Business Model Canvas3) Minimum Viable Product

Please tell us about your idea—(use whatever space, slides, diagrams, pictures, clips, etc. you need…the box is just to get you started)

1. Description of your startup idea

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The Business Model Canvas can help communicate hypotheses (guesses) you have about how your new venture idea will fit together into a viable business system. Remember, these are just preliminary ideas for your startup.

2. Business Model Canvas

Insert a photo/diagram of your Business Model Canvas here.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Please use this slide (feel free to use more slides if necessary) to illustrate any preliminary ideas you have regarding a Minimum Viable Product for your idea (you can delete this text and the title box to make room if necessary).

PART III: PERSONNELYou must have at least two team members in your group (no more than five). For each team member in your group, please provide one slide (or more) to outline the following (see example on next page):

NOTE: it is possible to have team members that are not registered in the class, as long as at least two team members are registered. Include all anticipated team members (registered or not) in this personnel section.

1) Photo

Name/ID#

Email/Phone #

2) Past Experience

3) Course Aspirations

Past Experience: What life experiences have you had that are relevant to entrepreneurial success?

Course Aspirations: Why do you want to be in this course? What skills and experiences do you hope to acquire? How do you envision this course impacting your future career plans?

Mary SmithID#0071234567Email: msmith@hotmail.comPhone: 519-999-9999

Program of Study:History, Film Studies Minor

Year at WLU:Fall 2016, 3rd yr

Visit or call Dr. Stephen Preece, Academic Director, Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship, for help with your application process.

Regular Office Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm (Monday-Friday) Location: P3058Phone: 519-884-0710 x2636Email: spreece@wlu.ca

(NOTE: Dr. Preece is typically in his office, but not always. . . call or email ahead to make a firm apt, or you can just drop by and hope for the best)

Drop-In Hours: Come Ask Questions