Untitled

StartUp! Foundation Intern Learning Experience v.
Copyright © 2014 Digital Opportunity Trust
www.dotrust.org
2
StartUp! Foundation Intern Learning Experience v.1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About the StartUp! Foundation Skills Development Course .................................... 5
Skills Development Schedule ................................................................................. 12
Welcome and expectations .................................................................................... 16
Insert Jumpstart content here – 3 full days .......................................................... 19
Module 1, Articulate your business vision ............................................................. 20
Module 1, Group coaching session ........................................................................ 37
Module 2, Know your customers ............................................................................ 45
Module 3, Estimating annual sales income ........................................................... 67
Module 4, Validating the customer problem assumptions ................................... 89
Module 4, Group coaching session ...................................................................... 108
Module 5, Design your Value Proposition ............................................................ 115
Module 6, The Value Proposition Sheet ............................................................... 136
Module 7, Test your minimum viable product ..................................................... 146
Module 8, Revenue and pricing strategy ............................................................. 159
Module 8, Group coaching session ..................................................................... 174
Module 9, Reaching Customers, Key Activities and Resources .......................... 178
Module 10, Prepare your business story ............................................................. 188
Business presentations ........................................................................................ 192
StartUp! Foundation philosophy ........................................................................... 194
Customer conversations and pivots..................................................................... 199
Review your facilitation experience ..................................................................... 207
3
Traditional vs. learner-centred learning .............................................................. 212

Minimum viable product fair ................................................................................ 217
Coaching pitfalls ................................................................................................... 223
Coaching poster session ...................................................................................... 238
practice facilitation teams and assignments ...................................................... 240
practice facilitation wrap up ................................................................................ 254
Listening for understanding ................................................................................. 256
Coaching with powerful questions ...................................................................... 264
Coaching structure ............................................................................................... 271
Offer the next steps .............................................................................................. 286
Writing powerful blog posts ................................................................................. 293
Laser coaching ...................................................................................................... 303
M&E Part 1, Prove and improve ............................................................................ 309
M&E Part 2, Successful M&E surveys .................................................................. 317
M&E Part 3, The DOT profile ................................................................................. 323
Develop your Showcase ....................................................................................... 327
Making your future conference ............................................................................ 330
Skills Development wrap up................................................................................. 333
4
ABOUT THE STARTUP! FOUNDATION

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT COURSE
DOT LEARNING MISSION
• To promote the development of lifelong learning practices that will help learners
become leaders in their communities
• To empower DOT learners by facilitating the learning process, rather than training
simple skills
GOALS OF STARTUP! FOUNDATION SKILLS

DEVELOPMENT
The StartUp! Foundation Skills Development course described in this Facilitator Guide is the
first face to face Intern Learning Experience for StartUp! Interns. This program provides the
Interns with a complete picture of the StartUp! Foundation Participant experience. They
observe how each module should be facilitated as well as discovering connections between
and among concepts through their own business ideation process.
Included in StartUp! Foundation Skills Development are key facilitation and coaching skills
that are important for Intern’s work with Participants. Also included are core skills for other
key Intern responsibilities.
STARTUP! FOUNDATION TARGET AUDIENCE

StartUp! Foundation is the first course the Enterprise Track—developed by Digital
Opportunity Trust (DOT) (www.dotrust.org) to help Participants start and/or grow a business.
The goal of StartUp! Foundation is to help Participants develop an effective business model
that will reduce the risk of having their startup business fail. At the end of the course,
Participants will have a solid idea of their business and will be prepared to present it to
stakeholders.
The target audience for StartUp! Foundation is made up of Participants who have either
completed ReachUp! or the Business Ideation Bootcamp, known as Jumpstart. They enter
the StartUp! Foundation Course with a business idea. They are familiar with DOT, DOT
concepts of empowerment and sustainability, and DOT learning processes.
Participants are individuals who want to start or grow a business or recover an at-risk or
failed business.
They need to:
• Have completed ReachUp! or the Business Ideation Bootcamp.

• Have a vision for their business that is based on their skills and passions and
available assets.
• Have considered the feasibility of their business idea against available assets and
the attractiveness of the idea to them and their customers (see ReachUp! module 7).
5
HOW STARTUP! FOUNDATION SKILLS

DEVELOPMENT IS DESIGNED
StartUp! Foundation Skills Development leads StartUp! Interns first through a business
ideation process, Jumpstart, so that they create a business idea. They then take that idea
through the StartUp! Foundation process of business model development and market
testing. They will experience the participant curriculum directly.
We have attempted to provide classroom time to accommodate the Application to Business

section that participants perform on their own. However, in some cases, Interns will also
need to work on their own for some of the modules as there is not enough time in the
classroom schedule for them to do the detailed testing and analysis that the program
requires of participants. The amount of personal time that Interns spend on their own is
totally at the discretion of each business team.
After Interns complete the modules of the StartUp! Foundation participant learning
experience, they will then explore the key skills that they must have in order to effectively
deliver the curriculum to participants. There are 4 separate modules devoted to debriefing
their learning from the participant experience and transferring that experience into what it
might mean for their own work in the field.
After a through exploration of the rationale and impact of the StartUp! Foundation program,
Interns then explore facilitation skills required to deliver the program. The facilitation modules
are followed by coaching modules, as StartUp! Interns will also be coaching participants
toward achieving their business goals.
Teams of Interns will practice facilitation the key modules within StartUp! They will receive
feedback from you as well as their peers on clarity of their work.
The final modules of StartUp! Foundation Skills Development centre around two other
important Intern activities: Measurement & evaluation and blogging.
The program takes 5 full weeks to complete. The suggested schedule for StartUp!
Foundation Skills Development appears starting on page 11. You will see that it is planned
to last 22 days. That will give you some leeway to lengthen to a full 5 weeks if you need to
add content that is country specific or if you wish to add formal class time to allow Interns to
work on the Application to Business sections.
MATERIALS
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS SHEETS
The output of StartUp! Foundation is a Business Model Canvas Poster and a compelling
business presentation. In this ILE, Interns will work on each block of the Business Model
Canvas separately on Business Model Canvas Sheets and then bring them together to form
the poster.
The Business Model Canvas Sheets need to be updated whenever an Intern learns
something new that will impact their business idea. You may choose to have Interns work in
6
pencil so they can erase and update each Sheet as necessary. Alternatively, you can
provide additional copies when requested. Whatever action you decide to take must
encourage Interns to update the Sheets whenever needed.
Interns should stick the sheets together as they are completed to build their canvas. As
each sheet is added, Interns gain a more complete understanding of their business.
LIST OF BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS SHEETS

• Complete Business Model Canvas (StartUp! Foundation Module 1)
• Vision (StartUp! Foundation Module 1)
• Customers (StartUp! Foundation Module 3)
• Value proposition (StartUp! Foundation Module 6)
• Revenue (StartUp! Foundation Module 8)
• Pricing strategy (StartUp! Foundation Module 8)
• Channels and relationships (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)
• Key activities and resources (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)
• Costs (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)
WORKSHEETS
Whenever the activity involves a complicated set of steps, we have provided a worksheet for
Interns to use.
LIST OF WORKSHEETS
• Annual sales income estimation worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 3)
• Problem validation worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 4)
• Problem validation form (StartUp! Foundation Module 4)
• Product market fit worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 5)
• Feature benefit worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 5)
• Competitive position worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 6)
• Customer test worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 7)
• Customer values worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 8)
• Profit or loss worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)
WORKED EXAMPLES
We have included worked examples within StartUp! Foundation for use with Participants.
You may also choose to use them with Interns. Having a worked example to refer to after the
class will help Participants apply the principles at a later time. We have chosen to provide
these coaching tools for some of the more complicated activities. If you find that they are
needed for all Participants, you may choose to hand out copies along with the worksheets. If
cost of printing is a problem, you can create them on flipcharts that can be then reused.
LIST OF WORKED EXAMPLES

• Completed annual sales income estimation worksheet (StartUp! Foundation
Module 3)
• Family Africa problem validation worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 4)
• Family Africa product market fit worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 5)
• Family Africa feature benefit worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 5)
• Family Africa customer values worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 8)
7
• Family Africa profit or loss worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)
BUSINESS JOURNAL
Participants are encouraged to bring a Business Journal to the course where they can
record all their thinking and research about their business in one place. It is recommended
that Participants staple their worksheets into their Business Journals to keep them safe.
Interns should also be given blank notebooks to use as Business Journals to use during
StartUp! Foundation.
PREPARING TO FACILITATE
In order to be an effective facilitator, it is essential that you prepare thoroughly before
facilitating each module. You should also plan on having a team to facilitate the program as
5 weeks is a very long time to be on stage. Consider using a co-facilitator for each module
and divide the modules up into co-facilitation teams.
Remember, Interns will deliver the curriculum exactly as they have experienced it so you
must be fully prepared to facilitate. Most of this content will be new to you; only through
becoming totally familiar with it can you focus on facilitation.
Preparation should occur at both the individual and group level.
INDIVIDUAL PREPARATION
1. Read through the modules to get an understanding of what happens in each module.
List the flow/steps on a sticky note and attach to the front page of the module as a
quick reminder.
2. Go through each module a second time and add any facilitation tips that you can
recall from the Intern Learning Experience. What did you see the DOT facilitators do
when they facilitated the module? What ideas do you have for how to facilitate this
module effectively?
3. Go back through each module a third time and underline the key points. What are the
key messages in each section of the module? How might you convey these in your
own words?
4. Complete each and every activity in the modules.
5. Make a list of any elements you are unsure of for discussion with your group.
6. Make sure you understand how the module links to other modules in the curriculum.
GROUP PREPARATION
1. Walk through the module as a group. Take turns to lead the preparation of each
section. The Intern responsible should:
i. Summarise what he/she plans to do in the section and highlight the key
points.
ii. Talk through the answers of the exercises.
iii. Share any concerns/questions about the content.
2. Compile the key points for the module and share these with the DOT facilitator for
feedback.
FINAL PREPARATION
1. The night before you facilitate a module, go back through the module to refresh what
you will be doing.
2. Ensure you arrive at the venue AT LEAST 30-45 minutes before the session starts to
do any final preparations (e.g., prepare flip charts, arrange the room, etc.).
8
3. Use the timer on your BlackBerry to keep time each day and ensure you move
through the content at the appropriate speed.
In addition, you should go through the business model generation process for your own
business idea prior to facilitating this course. This will ensure understanding of key concepts
and will also provide concrete examples that can be shared with the Interns.
The following resources will also help you prepare to facilitate this course:
OVERVIEW OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP APPROACH

Osterwalder talking about the approach (video):
http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/osterwalder-guest-talk-012912.mov
Blank, S. (2013). Why the lean startup changes everything. Harvard Business
Review.
http://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything
Udacity Course taught by Steve Blank: How to Build a Startup (series of videos,
approximately 8 hours)
https://www.udacity.com/course/ep245
Business Model Generation website http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com
CORE BOOKS RELATED TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP APPROACH

Osterwalder, A. & and Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley. http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/book
Blank, S. & Dorf, B. (2012). The Startup Owner’s Manual. Pescadero, CA: K&S
Ranch. http://www.stevenblank.com/startup_index_qty.html
Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup. New York: Random House.

http://theleanstartup.com/book
Guillebeau, C. (2012). The $100 Startup, New York: Random House.

http://100startup.com/
COACHING RESOURCES
Thornton, C. (2010). Group and Team Coaching. East Sussex, Routledge.
Schwarz, D. & Davidson, A. (2009). Facilitative Coaching. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Stoltzfus, T. (2008). Coaching Questions. Virginia Beach, VA: Stoltzfus.
Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for Performance (4th ed.). London.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
GROUP SIZE
StartUp! Foundation is designed to be facilitated to a group of 15-20 Intern. The curriculum is
not designed to be effective with large groups. If the group is large, the chance for
Participants to achieve the learning objectives is greatly reduced.
9
CLASSROOM
Throughout StartUp! Foundation, Participants work in small groups and with partners,
participate in group discussions, and do individual work. They “learn by doing,” using
experiential methodology in every module. Learning from other members of the group is an
important part of StartUp! Foundation. Discussion, questions and answers, and individual
presentations encourage the exchange of ideas.
Participants will need work tables to conduct their small group discussions and other
activities. The facilitator will need a materials table, a work table, coloured markers, and a
white board and/or flip charts.
LANGUAGE CONSIDERATIONS
Facilitators deliver the course in the local language to literate community Participants. All
StartUp! materials, including the Facilitator Guide, are written in English. Facilitators will
need to be aware of the language skills of Participants. This means the vocabulary level of
the Participants in their local language, as well as their reading and comprehension of
English. Facilitators should review materials in advance and be prepared to translate as
required.
CULTURAL AND GENDER CONSIDERATIONS

You will deliver StartUp! Foundation in communities with different cultural characteristics.
You need to be aware of those characteristics and accommodate differences that otherwise
might undermine the effectiveness of the program. You are a role model and can use that
position to make sure that women and men are given equal voice during the sessions, equal
opportunities to share their stories and ideas, and equal time on computers. You must also
be aware, in terms of your own presentations and interactions with Participants, of the local
context for what is considered appropriate behaviour between men and women in a
classroom.
GENDER SENSITIVE FACILITATION

Gender sensitive facilitation entails an understanding of existing gender relations and the
obstacles to active participation. It takes into account the needs and expectations of both
men and women. While it is important to be aware of these gender differences, it is
important not to highlight them. Highlighting them runs the risk of alienating men or women.
You are expected to facilitate StartUp! Foundation in a way that ensures men and women
are able to graduate with equitable benefits. This means that men and women have
equitable skill levels and equitable outcomes, such as business creation.
GENDER DIFFERENCES
Men and women have different needs and priorities. They have different roles in
communities, different sources of income, and spend money in different ways. Men and
women have different life experience and society has different expectations of them. As a
result, they also participate and learn in different ways. Thus, when facilitating StartUp!
Foundation, it is important to take these differences into account to ensure both men and
women learn and are empowered by DOT’s programs.
10
A good facilitator recognises the different experiences of men and women and adjusts their
facilitation approach to ensure that both men and women understand and relate to the
material. For example, women tend to have lower literacy levels, have a greater labour
burden at home, and have different personal safety issues than men. This can affect their
confidence to enrol and attend programs, so you might have to be more supportive in
encouraging women to attend and consider location and timing in the delivery of the
program.
While men may have more access to collateral, many microfinance programs are targeting
women, which may make it a challenge for poor men to access start up capital. Thus, when
making linkages with microfinance institutions, it is important to make sure that there are
options presented that will work for both men and women.
EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION
You should create an environment conducive to the participation of both women and men by
using gender neutral language, avoiding sexist references, recognising the different
experiences of men and women, and encouraging both sexes to see different perspectives
and respect different experiences.
Having both male and female co-facilitators introduces balances, ensures that there are two
different perspectives and styles represented, and may make both sexes more comfortable.
When having visitors come to talk to Participants, you should ensure a balance of male and
female presenters.
Using a variety of facilitation methods will encourage both men and women to participate in a
way that suits them and makes the most of this learning opportunity:
• Men don’t usually like to share personal information, particularly with other men.
• Women avoid taking part in open debates.
• A mix of individual, small group, and large group work usually allows different
individuals to feel comfortable and participate in their own way.
• Groups can be either mixed or single sex depending on what the purpose is. If
mixed, there should be at least 30% representation of both sexes to ensure everyone
feels comfortable.
• Men tend to talk longer and interrupt women. They also respond to questions
quicker. Women tend to take a few extra seconds to think of their answer and are
less likely to interrupt. Waiting for a few extra moments after a question has been
asked may facilitate a greater number and diversity of responses.
11
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
SCHEDULE
The suggested schedule for StartUp! Foundation Skills Development
appears on these next three pages. You will see that it is planned to
last 22 days. That will give you some leeway to lengthen to a full 5
weeks if you need to add content that is country specific.

Day
Module name Length Day length
1 Welcome and expectations 60
1 JS Entreprenerial skills 180
1 JS Generating ideas 180
420
2 JS Creating asset maps 140
2 JS The opportunity markeplace 180
2 JS Action planning, part 1 100
420
3 JS Action planning, part 2 115
3 JS Showcase 210
325
Set context for the following modules (how they will

4 work; how it will end; how ATB will work) 60
StartUp! Foundation Module 1, Articulate your business
4 vision 180
4 Debrief and Application to Business (ATB) 120
360
5 Group coaching session 1 180
5 StartUp! Foundation Module 2, Know your customers 180

5 ATB 60
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 3, Estimating annual sales
6 income 180
6 ATB 60
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 4, Validating the customer
7 problem assumptions 180
7 ATB 60
420
8 ATB 240
12
420
13
Day
StartUp! Foundation Module 5, Design your value
9 proposition 180
9 ATB 60
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 6, The Value Proposition
10 Sheet 180
10 ATB 60
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 7, Test your minimum
11 viable product 180
11 ATB 240
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 8, Revenue and pricing
12 strategy 180
12 ATB 180
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 9, Reaching customers, key
13 activities and resources 180
13 ATB 180
420
StartUp! Foundation Module 10, Prepare your business
14 story 180
14 StartUp! Foundation Module 11, Business presentation 240

420
15 StartUp! Foundation Philosophy 90
15 Customer conversations and pivots 135
15 Review your faciliation experience 60
15 Traditional vs. learner centred 45
15 MVP fair announcement and prep 60
390
16 Minimum Viable Product Fair 180
16 Coaching pitfalls 120
16 Coaching poster 60
16 Practice facilitation teams and assignments 60
420
14
Day
17 Practice Facilitation preparation 220
17 Practice facilitation session 1, Know your customer 180
17 Self assessment, tip sheets and coaching notes 20

420
18 Practice facilitation session 2, Annual sales estimates 180

Practice facilitation session 3, Validating the customer
18 problem assumptions 180
400
Practice facilitation session 4, Design your value
19 proposition 180
Practice facilitation session 5, The Value Proposition
19 Sheet 180
400
20 Listening for understanding 120
20 Caoching with powerful questios 60
20 Coaching structures 120
20 Offer the next steps 120
420
21 Writing powerful blog posts 145
21 Laser coaching 120
21 M&E Part 1, Prove and Improve 50
21 M&E Part 2, Successful M&E surveys 60
21 M&E Part 3, The DOT profile 50
425
22 Develop your showcase 180
22 Making your future conference 180
22 Skills development wrap up 60
420
15
WELCOME AND EXPECTATIONS – 60

MINS
60 minutes
TIMING
! Read through the module to get a sense of the flow and to
PREPARATION gain an understanding of what happens
! Work through the exercises as if you are a Participant to
develop examples or samples for explanations
! Read through the module and add notes and your own
phrasing and explanations to any complex concepts
In this session, Interns will:

OUTCOMES • Begin to know each other
• Explore the 5 week Skills Development schedule
• Learn the context for the StartUp! Foundation modules
This module introduces Participants to the Business Model Canvas,
PURPOSE which is the core tool used throughout this course.
MATERIALS
Welcome 15 mins
MODULE What’s your superpower? 20 mins
SECTIONS Overview of the 5 week schedule 10 mins
Set context for the next three weeks 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
WELCOME – 15 MINS
Introduce yourself and your fellow facilitators. Greet each Intern by
name and take care of that everyone knows the logistics of the space.
WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER? – 20

MINS
This is a light hearted icebreaker designed to truly break the ice and
reinforce the idea that this classroom is a safe place to be yourself
16
and not take yourself too seriously. The success of this icebreaker
depends on your own ability to model those behaviours.
Introduce yourself as a superhero, using your superpower. For

example, stand like a superhero and say in your best superhero voice,
“I am Super-Organization Woman. My super power is that I always
know where to put things. My filing systems are incredible. The sign
that I wear on my Super Organization Woman costume is a set of file
folders, neatly organized.”
Now you will each have 5 minutes to come up with your own Super
Hero. Begin with something you do really well. For example, if you can
squeeze into a matatu or an elevator no matter how crowded it is, your
Super hero name might be Incredible Squeeze Man. If you can keep
your temper no matter what happens, your Superhero name might be
Peace Girl.
Decide on your superpower and pick your Superhero name. It can be

a goofy one; it can be a serious one.
Call time at the end of 5 minutes.
Remember your superhero voice and stance. It’s time to reveal your
Superhero to another class mate.
Allow the group to circulate around the room, until everyone has met
everyone else. Once everyone has met, call the group back together
and debrief the experience:
? What did you learn about the people in this room?
? What superpower was the most interesting? Why?
? How did it feel to create and share your own superpower?
? How does knowing someone’s superpower help you know

them?
? What might you do with what you have learned about each
other?
OVERVIEW OF THE NEXT 5 WEEKS –

10 MINS
For the next 5 weeks, you will be exploring all of the skills and
knowledge you need in order to effectively facilitation StartUp!
Foundation. During the first three weeks, you will go through the
StartUp! Foundation business development experience, exactly as if
you are participants. You will begin with the Jumpstart program, which
focuses on business ideation or coming up with a business idea. That
will last three days. Next, you will go through the StartUp! Foundation
17
business model development experience, which will last another 11

days. You will spend the final 1.5 to 2 weeks developing facilitation
and coaching skills. You will practice those skills through a practice
facilitation session that you will teach. You will also practice your
coaching skills with each other.
It is a very full 5 weeks and will require your total attention. Are you
ready?
SET CONTEXT FOR STARTUP!

FOUNDATION – 15 MINS
For the next 14 days, you will experience the StartUp! Foundation
course exactly as if you are a StartUp! Foundation Participant. You will
come up with business ideas and form business teams to take your
ideas forward. You will work on these business ideas with the same
seriousness that your Participants will bring to the program, as if you
are investing your family savings in these businesses.
There are a few conditions that you have to accept about the business
ideas that you take forward. These are non-negotiable.
1. Your target customer must be within 2 Km o this training centre

location. You will be holding face to face conversations with
your prospective customers nearly every day of these first
three weeks so they must be in reach.
2. You will need to spend about $25 US of your own money in
order to build your business MVP for testing. Each business
partner will contribute equally.
Adjust this amount as makes sense. If you have Interns who

absolutely have NO money, you may provide other means of support
for them. However, creating an MVP that results in a real customer
experience will usually cost something
3. There are NO obligations to continue the business idea that

you come up with beyond this Skills Development workshop.
? Are there any questions before you get started on your

business development journey?
18
INSERT JUMPSTART CONTENT

HERE – 3 FULL DAYS
19
MODULE 1, ARTICULATE YOUR

BUSINESS VISION
180 minutes
TIMING
! Watch the following video that explains the Business
Model Canvas:
http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/osterwalder-
guest-talk-012912.mov
! Print out the Business Model Canvas Sheets and tape
together a complete blank Business Model Canvas Poster
In this session, Participants will:
OUTCOMES • Take steps to create a positive learning atmosphere
• Develop their business vision statement
• Adjust their business based on anticipated market change
• Practise sharing their business vision
This module introduces Participants to the Business Model Canvas,
PURPOSE which is the core tool used throughout this course.
Business Model Canvas Poster (x1)
MATERIALS Vision Sheets
Welcome 10 mins
MODULE Leaders and followers 20 mins
SECTIONS Introducing the Business Model Canvas 15 mins
Develop your business vision 40 mins
Growing with the market 45 mins
Share your vision 40 mins
Debrief and application to own business 10 mins
MODULE NOTES:
20
WELCOME – 10 MINS
Welcome to StartUp! Foundation.
In this course, you will learn how to make a business successful from
the moment it launches. You will learn to apply cutting-edge
entrepreneurial approaches to starting a business.
Throughout this course, you will be designing, building, and testing

your business idea until you have a business that will appeal to your
customers and will make you money. We will cover all of the important
business areas.
We recognise that each of you brings valuable life experience and

knowledge into this room. We welcome you as learners and as
leaders. This course will rely on your life experience as a key
knowledge source. We encourage you to participate and share your
stories and support each other.
This course consists of 10 modules. Each module includes the

following components:
• 3-hour classroom session

• Applying what you have learned to your own business idea in
your own time
• 3-hour group coaching session
• 1-2 hour tutoring session
Explain each of the elements (see the Course Structure session in the
Front Matter of this Guide) and emphasise the importance of the
second bullet above.
Indicate when and where you will meet for each of these sessions.
Our goal is to ensure that after you leave this course, you will be able
to complete all the steps you need to take and grow a business on
your own.
Once you have been in business for a few months, you will know more
about the kinds of actions you need to take on behalf of your
business. DOT has a number of specific shorter StartUp! Foundation
modules that will help you accomplish those tasks.
? Are there any questions before we begin?
Either answer questions or write them on a parking lot so that you can
come back to them when appropriate.
21
LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS – 20 MINS

ACTIVITY – 15 MINS
The purpose of this activity is to create a positive, supportive
atmosphere to start the course and allow Participants to introduce
themselves to each other. Participants will create that atmosphere
themselves in this icebreaker. It will also provide them with the chance
to take a leadership role and encourage them to take ownership for
their learning in this course.
Divide the group into small groups of three and share the following
instructions.
In this icebreaker, everyone will have a chance to be a leader and a

follower. Leaders, you have the responsibility for creating a positive,
supporting, and encouraging atmosphere in this room.
The shortest person in each triad is the leader in the first round.
Leaders, you have power over your followers but you must only use
your power to create a positive, supportive group atmosphere in the
group. Take one minute to think about something that your followers
can do to create a positive, supportive group atmosphere for all of the
people in the room. Leaders, once you have an idea in mind, give
instructions to your followers telling them what they must do to create
this positive atmosphere.
Let’s do an example together to start. I will be the leader and you will
be my followers. Followers, go around the room and introduce yourself
to people in the room you have not yet met and tell them one thing
about the StartUp! course you are excited about. Try to meet as many
new people as you can in the next three minutes.
Here is another example. Leaders, you might instruct your followers to

ask a simple question of each Participant and then listen carefully and
smile while listening.
Offer two of your own creative ideas that are culturally appropriate to
ensure that Participants understand the exercise.
OK, it is now your turn. Leaders, take one minute to come up with your
task.
Call time at the end of 1 minute
Now, tell the followers their tasks. Followers, you will have 3 minutes
to accomplish your task. As soon as you receive your instructions,
move around the room to fulfil your task. When you approach a
22
person or small group, first tell them your instructions and then carry
them out.
Now the tallest person in the triad will be the leader. Leaders, take a
minute to think about something your followers can do and then give
them the instructions. Followers, once you have received your
instructions, carry them out.
Now the person with the middle height will be the leader. Leaders,
take a minute to think about something your followers can do and then
give them the instructions. Followers, once you have received your
instructions, carry them out.
Call time at the end of 5 minutes and end the icebreaker.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
The purpose of this activity is to allow Participants to create their own
positive atmosphere in the room.
? What is different now from the time you entered the room?
? What did you learn as a leader from this experience?
? What did you learn as a follower from this experience?
? What have we learned that we should do in every class

session in future?
BUSINESS PLANS VS. STARTUP!

FOUNDATION METHOD
Entrepreneurs Steve Blank and Bob Dorf realised when they wrote
their book, T HE S TARTUP O WNER ’S M ANUAL, that successful startups
are NOT small versions of big companies. As such, it doesn’t always
make sense to copy what long standing established businesses do
when you are starting a new business.
All businesses make money from selling something to customers.

Established businesses know the facts about their customers; they
KNOW exactly what their customers will buy. Whereas established
companies spend their time planning based on the facts and then
acting on their plan, startups act, learn from their customers, revise
their plan, then act on their plan, learn again from their customers,
revise, and so on. Startups continue to go through the act-learn-revise
cycle until they arrive at a business model that makes money.
23
Draw the diagrams on the flip chart as you describe

them.
A common way that most people try to start a business

is to write a business plan, pitch it to investors, get
funding, create a product, and then try to sell it. Does
this sound familiar? Often, however, this doesn’t work.
People think they know what customers want but often
they are wrong. In fact, recent research from Harvard
suggests that 75% of all start-ups fail (Blank, 2013).
A business plan is often written “in isolation at a desk

before an entrepreneur has even begun to build a
product. The assumption is that it’s possible to figure
out most of the unknowns of a business in advance,
before you raise money and actually execute the idea”
(Blank, 2013).
Writing a business plan before you know the facts about your
business will mean that your business plan will include a lot of guess
work. Often hours and hours are invested before the entrepreneur
ever speaks to a customer and then learns the hard way that they
created a product or service that nobody wants. The good news is that
there is a better process for starting a business that is less risky and
more successful. It’s called “lean start up” and it will guide all the work
you do in this course.
In this course, you’ll spend your time actually doing business in a

small way and then testing and refining the business to be profitable.
You’ll do that using an adapted Business Model Canvas, the core
concept of which was adapted from the book B USINESS M ODEL
G ENERATION , by Alex Osterwalder and 470 other practitioners from 45
countries.
This process focuses on:
• Lots of market tests throughout the business planning process

to ensure you are on the right track rather than lots of
elaborate planning upfront before any action is taken (as is
required when writing a business plan)
• Getting real customer feedback early, as you plan what you
are going to sell rather than guessing what customers want
(as is required when writing a business plan)
Once a startup has successfully made money for about a year, then it
begins to resemble an established business. And then, and only then,
is it time for a formal business plan—once the facts that need to go
into a business plan are known.
24
INTRODUCING THE BUSINESS MODEL

CANVAS – 15 MINS
The Business Model Canvas is a large poster on which you will record
assumptions about your business. As you learn more about your
business, you will update your Business Model Canvas. Throughout
this course, you will create a Business Model Canvas Poster.
You will work on each block of the Business Model Canvas separately
and then bring them together to form the poster. You will complete
each block and then test your assumptions with actual customers in
the market. Then you’ll come back and update that piece of the
Business Module Canvas with the facts that you have gathered from
the market.
To be successful you must use a “get out of the building approach”—

you will continue to work on your business idea outside the time we
spend together in the classroom by talking with potential customers.
Talking to customers early will mean that if your business idea is not a
good one you will fail early and can “pivot” to a new idea without
wasting lots of time and energy. While you may find it uncomfortable
to approach potential customers, it is something that is essential to
success; don’t worry though, we will help you through it every step of
the way.
Let’s look at the entire Business Model Canvas Poster and the story it
tells. The Business Model Canvas is what you will use to think through
and document ALL aspects of your business. It will help you come up
with an effective business model. You can use it to design and invent
new business models and/or challenge an existing model.
Show the Business Model Canvas.
25
Point to each of the blocks as you describe the story:
Businesses
Gesture to include the entire Business Model Canvas Poster
make money
Point to the Revenue block
by helping customers solve problems or achieve goals
Point to the Customers block
using your products or services.
Point to the Value Proposition block
Businesses deliver products or services to customers through

channels and relationships.
Point to the Reaching Customers block
In order to reach customers for these products or services, businesses
Gesture to include the entire Business Model Canvas Poster
perform key activities
Point to the Activities block
and use key resources,
Point to the Resources block
26
which costs the business money.
Point to the Costs block.
When all of these parts work together, businesses are successful. The
picture is in balance. When one block is out of balance or missing,
businesses don’t work well and may fail.
The following description is based on Alex Osterwalder’s talk that can

be viewed at
http://steveblank.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/osterwalder-guest-talk-
012912.mov. You should review this talk prior to facilitating this
module.
Let’s look at it a different way, in greater detail using a simple story.
Paulina wants to start a child care service in her home. What is her
business vision?
A home-based child care service
? Who might her customers be?
Take a few suggestions and then pick only one customer type to
continue to use in the example. For example, you might choose to
work with the customer who is a full time working mother with young
children in school.
? Okay, our customer is _________________. What might that

customer want from a home-based child care service?
Again, take a few more suggestions. Try to get some creative

suggestions into the mix, like she might want the children to be bathed
and ready for bed when she picks them up so that she has some time
to spend with her husband once she returns home.
? Okay, she wants us to help her have more time. What else
might she want?
She wants her children to be safe.
Okay, she wants a child care service to keep her children safe. So
now we this we know a bit about who our customer is and what she
wants from our service. We know a little bit about the Value of what
we are offering.
Point to the Value Proposition Block.
And it changes our business vision, right?
Now it’s time to go talk to a few potential customers and find out
whether or not we are right. We do that. Were we right? We found out
something else that she wanted. What else did she want?
27
Take another suggestion that adds to the value proposition AND

changes the vision, like: She didn’t really want to have the children
ready for bed, but she wants to have a meal ready that she can take
with her so she doesn’t have to cook dinner when she gets home.
Okay, let’s look at our Business Model Canvas. We only need to make
a few changes. Let’s update our vision and update our value
proposition based on what we learned.
? Now, we know what we are selling. What will we charge for our
service?
Take a few quick ideas.
We make a few notes on the Pricing Block of our Canvas and then. . .
we do some research in order to test our price. Will our customers pay
this amount for our service? Will they pay MORE?
Point to the Customer block.
We found out what our customers were willing to pay. Our customers
told us that they were all interested in safe child care. A few seemed
interested in picking up a good home cooked meal to take with them.
So we have two different options for our customers. How does that
change our Vision and our Value Proposition?
Now we need to figure out how to reach our customers. How will they
learn about our service? How will they decide between our service
and other solutions that they currently use? How will they pay us?
How will we make sure that they are happy with the service we
provide?
As we look at the top portion of our canvas, we can see all of the
information we need that describes WHAT we are selling, WHO we
are selling to and HOW we are reaching them. The top portion of the
Canvas is all about our offer.
Let’s look at the bottom portion of the Canvas. If the top is all about
the outside of the business, our offer and our market, what is the
bottom showing us?
The inside of the business
The bottom part of the canvas that captures what goes in inside the
business, like how much money we expect to make and how. What
we need to have and do in order to make that money and how much
all of it will cost us.
So, the top is the outside the customer facing portion and the bottom
is the inside, the business owner’s portion. You can see how these
parts all work to balance the business. You now have a big picture of
28
all parts of your business and what you need for it to be successful.
And it all goes on one poster so you can see how each part impacts
all the other parts of the business.
OPTIONAL NEWSPAPER EXAMPLE

You need to think about which customers you are serving in your
business. What are your “customer segments” or types of customer?
Let’s think about a newspaper business.
What are the customer segments for a newspaper business?
There are two main customer segments: readers who want to be

informed and advertisers who want to reach an audience to sell
something.
For each customer segment, you will have a different value

proposition; a product or service that will help the customer get the job
done.
You then need to ask yourself what your customers would be willing to
pay for your product or service and how they would like to pay.
Through a subscription? Rent? Buy?
Once you know who you are targeting and what you are offering them,
you then need to ask yourself, “How do they want to be reached?
Through which channels do they want to communicate with me as a
company? Through which channels do they want to receive the goods
I am selling them? Through stores? Via the web? Through a delivery
service?”
What type of relationship will you build with your customer? A

personal relationship? A more automated relationship that can be
scalable? How are you going to get, keep, and grow your customers?
That’s the top part of our canvas: The “What”. Now, let’s look at the
bottom half: The “How”. How are we going to do it? What do we need
to create our business?
The first question is to ask what resources you need. Do you need a
shop? A factory? A brand? Servers? What are the key things you
need to have in order for you to deliver on what you are promising?
Once you know what you need to have, you need to ask yourself what
you really need to do, what you need to excel at for your business to
work—the key activities. Is it marketing and sales? Managing staff?
Don’t worry, you don’t need to do everything yourself; you can work
with partners. So, you need to ask yourself, in addition to materials
and supplies, who are the key partners that can help you leverage
your business.
Knowing these three elements on the bottom of your Business Model

Canvas can help you very quickly calculate your core costs.
There is no need to worry about the detail of each component at this

time. We will complete one part of the Business Model Canvas each
29
module and you will add assumptions about each block of your
business to the Business Model Canvas Poster.
After each assumption is recorded, you will then test your

assumptions in the field. For example, you will record your
assumptions about customers and what they need. Then you will go
out and find out whether your assumptions are correct. After each test,
you will come back and update that part of the Business Model
Canvas Poster. The Business Model Canvas Poster should always
reflect your most recent knowledge of your business.
DEVELOP YOUR BUSINESS VISION –

40 MINS
INTRODUCTION
Customers buy from a business because they believe that they are
receiving something of equal or greater value than the cost that they
pay. Customers will pay to get something that helps them in some
way. A successful product or service helps the customer solve a
problem or achieve a goal that is important to them.
In short, businesses make money by helping their customers. You

might notice that as you begin to think about your business as an
exercise in helping, you begin to care about your customer. That’s a
good thing.
CREATE YOUR HELPING STATEMENT

REFLECT AND MAKE NOTES – 20 MINS
In this activity you’re going to describe your product or service, who
your customer is, and what problem your product or service is going to
solve for your customer.
In your Business Journal, describe your product or service in one or

two sentences.
Here is an example of how one service description might sound.
My business provides battery recharging services in customers’

homes.
? What is your product or service?
Pause and allow Participants to complete this activity.
Describe your ideal customer in brief.
Here is an example of how one customer description might sound.
30
My customers are people in rural communities who don’t have access

to electricity in their homes and who own mobile phones or electrical
appliances.
? Who is your customer?
Finally, describe either the problem your customers face or the

desired goal that they would like to achieve.
Here is an example of how one problem solution might sound.
My customers often have to walk many miles carrying heavy car

batteries to recharge them or have to plan when and how to use their
phones and how to recharge them. There are often several days of a
month when they cannot use their phones at all, sometimes when they
need them most.
? What problem(s) does your product or service solve for your

customers? What goal(s) does it help them accomplish?
Write the following statement on a flip chart.
My product or service helps customer description solve problem or

achieve goal.
Let’s put it all together.
My battery charging service
Point to the underlined product or service on the flip chart.
helps rural customers without access to electricity
Point to the underlined customer description on the flip chart.
use their phones and appliances more regularly, more often, and more
easily. Plus, it eliminates the need to make long trips to a charging
location.
This idea is based on a crowd-funded micro startup business

in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Point to the underlined problem or achieve goal on the flip chart.
Think for a minute about your product or service and fill in the blanks
in this sentence.
My _______________ helps ____________________ solve

_____________ or achieve _______________.
31
Write your completed sentence in your Business Journal.
DISCUSS YOUR BUSINESS VISION – 20 MINS

? Why might you want a clear, simple statement of your
business? How can it help you? Where might you use it?
You are going to work with a partner to clarify your statement so that it
is easily understood. You want it to be clear to others who will hear
your business vision.
Number the blanks in the sentence you wrote on the flip chart:
My _______3________ helps __________1__________ solve

_____2________ or achieve _______2________..
Point to each component as you describe what the partners will be

doing in the next activity.
You will do that through a short conversation.
1. Partner A will begin by describing their ideal or target

customer. Partner B will ask questions to make sure that they
understand who the customer is.
2. Once both of you are clear on the customer description,
Partner A will describe the customer need that the business
addresses. Partner B will ask questions to make sure they
understand the customer need.
3. Once you are both clear on the customer need, Partner A will
describe how the product or service responds to the need.
Then you will switch roles and work on Partner B’s business idea.
Find a partner and begin. You have 8 minutes to come up with the
answers. Then you will switch roles.
Partner A, ask your partner, “Who is your ideal or target customer?”
Keep asking questions until you understand who the customer is and
then move on to the problem or goal. Then go on to the product or
service.
Discuss for 8 minutes, then switch. Make sure to take notes about
what you learn about your business idea.
Call time at the end of 8 minutes and have partners switch roles.
32
GROWING WITH THE MARKET – 45

MINS
INTRODUCTION – 5 MINS
You’ve created a clear helping statement around which to focus your
business. You’ve identified who your customer is and you’ve identified
at least one of their problems and at least one solution.
Now you’ll write a description of your market in a year from now and
how you plan to respond to that market.
Make the point that business owners who stay competitive try to
predict what might happen to their market in the future so that they are
prepared to respond. Use a local example of a business that predicted
how the market would change and was ready to respond to that
change or use the battery charging example that follows.
Your vision should include the following:
Add the following to the flip chart:
4. What will the market look like one year from when you start
your business?
5. How do you plan to respond to the market in a year?
Let’s talk about how your customer might change in a year.
? How might your customer change in a year? Will you have

additional and/or different customers? Will they be the same
customers but have different problems or goals?
This thinking focuses on your business future and will ensure that the
business you design will be sustainable and competitive.
Let’s continue to work with the battery charging example.
Picture the changes that might happen in a year’s time.
? How will the market for rural battery charging services change
in a year’s time?
Encourage Participants to share what might look different in the rural

market in a year’s time. Here are a few examples of how the market
may change. You may use these to start the discussion:
• More people will have mobile phones.

• More young people will move to the cities and their families will
want to keep in touch with them using mobile phones.
• People will buy additional electrical appliances that need
recharging.
33
• The community may want to purchase a community charging

station.
So, I would answer question 4 (What will the market look like one year
from when you start your business?) this way:
There is a growing demand for mobile phones and electrical

appliances, which means that the need for available electricity will
grow. Once the demand for battery charging is high among community
members, the community may wish to offer a community-owned
solution.
BRAINSTORM YOUR FUTURE WITH A PARTNER – 15 MINS

Because two heads are often better than one, get back together with
the partner who helped you clarify your helping statement. This time,
you’ll brainstorm together about the types of changes that might
happen in each of your markets. You’ll have about 7 minutes each.
Call time after 7 minutes and have partners switch.
COMPLETE QUESTION 4 INDIVIDUALLY – 7 MINS

Now, working on your own business idea, come up with 3-4 ways that
your market may change in one year’s time. Write them in your
Business Journal to complete question 4. I will walk around and
answer any questions that you have as you work.
COMPLETE QUESTION 5 – 7 MINS

? How can you take advantage of those market changes?
Now that you know how your market may change in a year’s time, you
can plan on how you might respond to those changes, keeping you
ahead of any competition you might have. Let’s answer question 5,
How do you plan to respond to the market a year from now?
Back to our battery charging example. Based on our thoughts about

the market, here’s how my service might change.
In a year, communities may wish to pool their income and invest in

their own battery charging station. I will sell and service community
charging stations in addition to selling charging services.
Answer question 5 in your Business Journal. You may work with your
partner again if you get stuck. I will walk around and answer any
questions you might have.
34
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER – 10 MINS

In your Business Journal, you are going to put all of your work
together to create a simple business vision. Look at your answers to
each of the 5 questions. How do they fit together to describe your
business vision? How would you explain your business vision to
someone who knows nothing about it?
Take 10 minutes to put together a clear description of your business

vision that you would use to describe your business. Practise saying it
to yourself.
SHARE YOUR VISION – 40 MINS

TEST YOUR VISION – 25 MINS
You will now test your business vision to make sure that it is easily
understood.
Make sure that your vision includes information that answers

all 5 questions on the flip chart.
You’re going to work with a different partner of your choice to do

this.
You’ll each spend:
1. 4 minutes using your business vision to explain your

business.
2. 4 minutes answering questions from your partner to help clarify
your business vision.
3. 4 minutes listening to your partner explain what they
understand about your business vision
At the end of 12 minutes, you will switch roles and repeat the process.
At the end of each 4 minute segment, remind participants of their next

task.
REFINE YOUR VISION STATEMENT – 15 MINS

This was your first test of whether others understand your business
vision. Based on what you learned in the last activity, refine your
business vision while the ideas are still fresh in your mind. What do
you need to clarify about your vision to better help others understand
your business idea? You’re not changing your business idea here, just
clarifying the vision so others understand what your business will do.
Distribute the Vision Handout.
Complete the Vision Sheet for your business. You will see how we will
use it in the next module. Make sure that the description you add to
35
your Vision Sheet contains information that addresses all 5 questions

on the flip chart.
DEBRIEF AND APPLICATION TO OWN

BUSINESS – 60 MINS
? What do you know now about your business that you didn’t
know before?
? How did your thinking change when you approached your

business from the perspective of helping a customer rather
than making money from a customer?
? What will you do differently as a result of the work you

completed in this module?
APPLICATION TO OWN BUSINESS

You will have an hour of class time to apply what you have learned to
your business idea and to test it in the marketplace. After each
StartUp! Foundation module you will be given some time to test your
assumptions in the marketplace. You may NOT SKIP THIS STEP!
You are welcome to use additional personal time in order to fully test
your assumptions. Each module will require its own test.
For this module, test and refine your business vision with two other
people. You only want to test the clarity of the vision to ensure it’s
easily understood. DO NOT change your ideas based on their
response; only refine and clarify the wording of your vision!
When you have revised your business vision, update that piece of the
Business Model Canvas. Remember, the Business Model Canvas
should always reflect your most recent knowledge of your business.
You will update it as you learn more about your business.
Remind Participants when and where the next group coaching session
will be held. For them to get the most out of each coaching session,
they should complete the application to own business before the
coaching session.
36
MODULE 1, GROUP COACHING

SESSION – 180 MINS
PREPARATION
" Read through the module to get a sense of the flow and to gain
an understanding of what happens
" Work through the exercises as if you are a Participant to
" Read through the module and add notes and your own
" Arrange for a laser coaching volunteer who is willing to be
coached in front of the group
" Prepare the agenda flip chart
" Prepare the Laser Coaching Process flip chart
" Practise laser coaching with a peer
MATERIALS
" Ball of string
" Agenda flip chart
" Flip chart and markers
" Laser Coaching Process flip chart
TIMING
OUR COMMUNITY ASSETS ICEBREAKER 15 MINS
PRESENT THE AGENDA 15 MINS
CHECK-IN 15 MINS
ESTABLISH THE GROUP CHARTER 30 MINS
LASER COACHING SESSION 35 MINS
PEER COACHING 65 MINS
FINAL DEBRIEF 5 MINS
OUR COMMUNITY ASSETS

ICEBREAKER – 15 MINS
Ask Participants to form a circle and give one of them a ball of string.
Ask them to share one strength they have. Once they have shared
this, ask them to hold the end of the string in one hand and toss the
37
ball of string to another person in the circle. The person who they
throw the ball to then shares one of their strengths. They then hold
onto the string and throw the ball to another person, thereby creating a
web with the string. Repeat until all Participants have spoken at least
twice. If you have time you can go around more than twice.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What did you learn that you didn’t know before?
? What can you do with the information that you have now?
This web that you have created represents the rich set of resources
that are in this group. There are a lot of strengths, skills, and passions
here. We can each draw on these during the group coaching
sessions, while developing our businesses, and beyond.
PRESENT THE AGENDA – 15 MINS

Prepare a flip chart with the agenda and the focus of the day’s
coaching session.
The goals of the coaching sessions are to:
• Help you overcome challenges you face in applying the

concepts to your own business though peer coaching
• Build rapport and group strength among your group
• Teach group and peer coaching tools and processes that you
can used during and after DOT, at home, at work, or in your
business
• Create a support and business network that you can continue

to draw on after StartUp! Foundation
You will be helping each other in this process. We have just seen how
many strengths there are in this room; so, let’s use them to create
successful businesses.
All of our group coaching sessions will follow a similar format.
We’ll start with a quick check-in each session to get an idea of how
everyone is doing in terms of applying the module’s concepts to their
own business. What is going well? What have you learned? Where
are you struggling? This will help to focus the coaching session.
Next, you’ll learn a new coaching technique. We are giving you

coaching tools so that you have the skills you will need to support
each other throughout this course and after it has finished. You can
become a powerful business network within your community if you
support each other.
38
You’ll then see a laser coaching session in action. Laser coaching is

very targeted coaching that is brief—about 10 minutes—and focused
on a very specific topic. It can be helpful if you are stuck on one
specific thing and need help moving it forwards. I will coach a
volunteer as a demonstration. You are all working on starting or
improving a business so it’s very likely that you face similar issues.
Make sure you listen carefully and see what you can learn from
another person’s coaching session that might help you in your own
business efforts.
Then, you’ll coach each other using the tools you have learned and
what you learned from watching me do the laser coaching session. As
we move through this course, you will spend more and more of the
time peer coaching as you develop the skills you need to help each
other. Again, we’re focusing on peer coaching so you have the skills
you need to support each other even once you leave DOT.
Each group coaching session will end with you setting a specific
short-term goal that you will work on over the next days. This will
ensure you keep moving forwards with your business.
Today we will add one thing to this list, creating a group charter. A
group charter outlines the way in which we have decided, as a group,
to work together in these sessions. It will ensure we create a trusting,
confidential, and supportive environment in which to do our work.
Today, the focus of the group coaching session will be on refining your
business vision and your perspective of your future market that you
began in the last classroom session and have been testing with others
since then. Remember, it’s really important to test your assumptions
with potential customers throughout this course in the time you are
away from the classroom.
? Are there any questions before we get started?
Let the group know that they will choose their own peer coach and
that they don’t have to share anything with the larger group until they
feel comfortable.
CHECK-IN – 15 MINS
The check-in sets the stage for coaching by bringing everyone’s
attention to the session. It allows each person a voice in the group and
also allows the group to hear and think about common issues or new
perspectives. You must always start the group coaching sessions with
a check-in. You may use the following questions to get the check-in
started.
We’re going to start every group coaching session with a brief check-
in regarding how you are applying the most recent concepts we have
39
discussed to your own business. The check-in allows us to put away

the stray thoughts from the rest of our day and our life and to focus
our attention on the session before us. It’s important that we hear all
voices in the group; however, if you don’t feel comfortable talking
when we come to you, you may choose to pass.
Think for a minute about the following questions. Then we’ll go around
the room until everyone has had a chance to speak. Keep your
answers to 1-2 minutes so that we have a chance to hear from
everyone.
? Where has your attention been this last week?
? What have you been working on?
? What are your key learnings when you tested your business
vision with others?
After the group has had 30 seconds or so to think about the questions,
begin the check-in. This is not the time to solve problems. You just
want to get a feel for how the group is doing. What are the common
issues? Where are they struggling?
Acknowledge the themes from the check-in, thank Participants for

sharing their information and move on to the next session.
ESTABLISH THE GROUP CHARTER –

30 MINS
It’s important that we develop a set of guidelines that we can agree on
as a group in order to begin to work well together. Recall the pictures
you drew when you described the desired future in ReachUp!. Recall
that we created a list of behaviours and conditions that we wanted to
remain true to for the ReachUp! experience. We’re going to create a
Group Charter poster now for how we want to act in this group.
Prompt the group to come up with behaviours that should be included

in each group coaching session. Write them on a flip chart or large
sheet of paper that can be brought to every session. The Group
Charter represents a set of agreements under which the group will
operate. You can agree as a group to add to the charter later if
necessary but it will require opening the charter up again for
conversation. The Charter is essential for establishing the boundaries
of group trust. Spend as much time as needed to create a strong
charter. Below is a partial list that you can use to get the group
started:
• Arriving on time demonstrates respect for everyone in the

group
40
• Be open to learning from a variety of experiences and

perspectives
• Each member is valuable and brings rich experiences, no
matter what their background (or maybe because of it)
• Preserve the confidence of the group; don’t share outside this
group without specific permission from group members
• Protect the ideas that belong to others. Ask permission before
borrowing them for yourself.
• Focus your attention/Be present
• Listen carefully, with eyes, heart, and ears
• Ask questions when you don’t understand, etc.
LASER COACHING SESSION – 35

MINS
Set up two chairs facing each other in the front of the room.
WHAT IS LASER COACHING? – 5 MINS

I’m now going to demonstrate a laser coaching session with a
volunteer. Laser coaching is one-on-one coaching that happens in a
very brief time period on a very specific topic. Laser coaching can be
very helpful for moving a specific issue forward.
Show the Laser Coaching Process flip chart.
1. Invite participation from the coachee.
2. Ask questions to ensure you understand the issue.
3. Probe for the question the coachee wants to answer or areas

where they are uncertain.
4. Ask questions to pull out obstacles, create options, and/or help

with decision-making.
5. Recap key points.
6. Debrief.
7. Gain commitment.
The laser coaching session will follow the format on the flip chart. I’m
not going to go through the process before we begin but look at the
flip chart as the session proceeds to see where we are in the session.
I’m going to begin by setting context for my audience, all of you. Even
though the coaching occurs with a specific person and a specific
purpose, it can also help each of you in the audience.
Today, we’re going to be working on an issue related to the business

vision with [volunteer name]. As you watch this laser coaching
session, think about the types of questions I’m asking. How would you
41
answer the questions I’m asking [volunteer name] about your own
vision?
Invite your volunteer up to be seated in one of the chairs.
Now we’re going to begin the session.
LASER COACHING SESSION – 10 MINS

Begin the laser coaching session following the process outlined,
starting with inviting participation from the volunteer. Ask:
? What would you like to work on today regarding your business

vision?
1. Make sure the issue is small enough to talk through in 10

minutes. Ask questions that will allow the Participant to identify
a specific need that is small enough to work on in a 10-minute
session. For example, in response to “I would like to work on
defining my business vision,” ask “What particular part of your
business vision would you like to work on?” If you need to
narrow further, ask a question like, “How far do you think we
can get on that issue in 10 minutes?”

where they are uncertain: “What exactly about X is unclear for
you?”
4. Work on the issue asking questions to pull out obstacles,

create options, and/or help with decision-making.
5. Recap what was said to demonstrate you are listening fully

and test your understanding.
6. Debrief by asking, “What are you taking away from this session
today?”
7. Gain commitment by asking, “What are you going to work on

regarding this issue?” Make sure the commitment represents a
SMART goal.
42
You may use versions of these questions to help guide your laser
coaching conversation. As you develop your coaching proficiency,
questions will come to you more easily. Above all, remain focused
and curious about what the coachee is telling you and do not offer
advice.
• What is still unclear for you? What do you have questions

about?
• What have you tried that worked?
• What are you taking away from our session?
• What are you going to work on now?
LASER COACHING DEBRIEF – 20 MINS
Go around the room and ask a few volunteers:
? What did you notice about the process we followed?
Walk through each stage in the process and ask:
? What did I do here? What did you notice?
? What seemed to work well?
? What were your own big takeaways or discoveries as you

watched the laser coaching session?
PEER COACHING – 65 MINS

WHAT IS PEER COACHING? – 5 MINS
Peer coaching means coaching your peers. You will coach each other.
You will take turns being the coach and the coachee. This allows each
pair to act as thinking partners, offer objective support, and bear
witness to the goals that each sets.
When you look for a thinking partner, it’s helpful to have someone who
is not like you, who can offer a different viewpoint. In addition, a peer’s
thinking isn’t limited by what might have worked in the past. He or she
can offer possibilities or strategies without being bound by past
history. Finally, we are much more committed to goals that we have
shared with another person than those which we keep secret. We feel
a responsibility to deliver if we have said we will do it.
SET UP PEER COACHING – 10 MINS

Think about the kinds of questions that I asked during laser coaching.
? What questions did I ask?
? What did they help [volunteer] do or see?
43
BEGIN PEER COACHING – 25 MINS

Find someone you trust to do a 10-minute laser coaching session.
You will each have 10 minutes to be the coach and 10 minutes to be
the coachee. Once you have found your partner, you may begin.
Follow the process on the flip chart. Make sure you conclude each
session by agreeing on the goal that you will work towards before the
next peer coaching session. Make sure it is a SMART goal. Write your
goal in your Business Journal.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes, remind the coachee to write their
goal in their Business Journal, and then have partners switch roles.
BEGIN PEER COACHING SESSION 2– 25 MINS

Now find a new peer coach; again, someone you trust. We’ll go
through another peer coaching session. You may choose to work on a
different issue or work in more detail on the same issue. You will get a
different perspective from working with a different person.
You will each have 10 minutes to be the coach and the coachee.
Once you have found your partner, you may begin. Follow the process
on the flip chart. Make sure you conclude each session by agreeing
on the goal that you will work towards before the next peer coaching
session. Make sure it is a SMART goal. Write your goal in your
Business Journal.
goal in their Business Journal.
FINAL DEBRIEF – 5 MINS

Use the final debrief time to establish/reinforce the positive aspects of
the group/peer coaching experience, answer any outstanding
questions, and remind Participants about the time and location of the
next classroom session.
? What worked with our group charter?
? What might we need to add?
? What are you pleased with from today’s session?
? What key learnings are you taking away from this session?
44
MODULE 2, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

180 minutes
TIMING
! Prepare the Persona flip chart
OUTCOMES • Place the customer at the heart of the business
• Create customer personas to represent their target customers
The purpose of this module is for Participants to begin to create their
PURPOSE business around a customer. Customer-centred startups have a much
better chance of success than those that are based on the founder’s
assumptions of needs or problems in the marketplace. Business
owners greatly improve business decision-making by asking, “What is
the value to the customer?”
Flip chart paper
MATERIALS Markers
Tape
Persona flip chart
Introduction 20
MODULE Creating customer personas 140
SECTIONS Debrief 10
Application to own business 10
MODULE NOTES:
45
? What part of the Business Model Canvas does it make the
most sense to start with?
Customers
? Why start with customers?
Unless customers buy the product or service, there is no business.
In the following story, replace the items in brackets with something

that is relevant to your Participants.
Benow’s friends always ask her to make her special [snack] for their
parties. They say that she makes the best [snack] they have ever
tasted. She is always happy to show off her cooking skills and is proud
of being able to make [snack] that is even better than the ones her
mother makes.
One day a friend said, “Benow, why don’t you sell your [snacks]? They
are so good that I know you could make a lot of money”.
Before Benow invests a lot of money in building a business, she tests

her [snack] with people who aren’t her close friends. She goes to a
very busy market downtown where she gives out free samples in
return for answering four questions. She has a friend ask the
questions after people have sampled the snacks. People are asked to
be completely honest.
1. What is the thing you like most about [snack]?

2. What is the thing you like least about [snack]?
3. What is the one thing you would change about [snack]?
4. What would make you want to buy this [snack]?
She receives the following answers to the first question, “What is the
thing you like most about [snack]?”
• It reminds me of the [snack] my mother made when I was

growing up.
• The [part of the snack] is very tasty, better than others I’ve
had.
She receives the following answers to the second question, “What is

the thing you like least about [snack]?”
• It’s too salty.

• It’s too bland.
• It’s not fancy enough to serve at a party.
46
She receives the following answers to the third question, “What is the
one thing you would change about [snack]?”
• It’s too expensive. It needs to be cheaper.

• It’s too sweet.
• It needs to have fresher, seasonal ingredients.
She receives the following answers to the fourth question, “What

would make you want to buy this [snack]?”
• It is cheaper than I can make it myself.

• It is better than I can make it myself.
• It is too hard to make myself.
• It is something that is special for parties, not something anyone
can get anytime.
• Friends tell me about this wonderful [snack] they had at
another party.
Businesses are successful and make money because customers buy

their product or services. They don’t make money if customers don’t
buy their product or service. Many startups fail due to a lack of
customers.
? How can Benow create a product that everybody will buy?
She can’t. Somewhere, someone won’t buy from you because the
product or service doesn’t meet their expectations or needs.
? What are some reasons that customers DON’T buy?
• They don’t want it

• They can’t afford it
• They don’t think it’s worth the price charged
• It won’t work for their specific circumstances
? How can you create a product or service that meets

everyone’s expectations?
You can’t meet everyone’s expectations. A customer base that

includes everyone is too broad.
? How can you increase your chances of meeting a customer’s

expectations?
You can design something for that specific customer or a set of

customers, as long as there are enough of them to make enough
money to support and grow the business.
47
CREATING CUSTOMER PERSONAS –

140 MINS
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A PERSONA AND HOW DOES IT
WORK? – 20 MINS
Businesses often get started because someone thinks they have a
good idea for a product or service. But we learned earlier that you
can’t create a product or service that’s good for everybody. You need
to know what your target customer needs or wants.
For example, Yutola goes into a fabric store and notices that among
all the fabrics available, there is very little bright red fabric. She says to
herself, “I will create bright red fabric because there isn’t much
around”.
? How does she know that people will buy red fabric?
She doesn’t. Just because it’s not there doesn’t mean that she knows
there is a need for red fabric.
If you start your business by creating a product or service with a

customer in mind, you greatly improve your chance of business
success.
Yutola needs to first think about WHO might want to buy red fabric,
what issues they face in finding red fabric, and how they currently deal
with the issue of not having red fabric.
To do that, she will make assumptions about who her potential

customer is and what this person will do. Then she will test her
assumptions in the marketplace. Based on what she finds, she will
add to or change her business idea and she will update her Business
Model Canvas Poster with her new learnings.
Once you know who your customer is and how they behave, you can
use the information to help you make decisions; like how to market to
them, how to add value to your business idea, how to price, etc.
Rather than keeping these ideas in your head, you are going to write
them down.
? Why might you want to write these assumptions down?
• They will be more precise than a vague idea that you hold in
your head.
• You can share thinking with others about customer issues and
opportunities.
• You can include others in your conversation about product or
service design.
48
One way that businesses make assumptions conscious is to create a

model customer. This is a fictitious person who represents the
customer set (or group) that a business is trying to reach. If there are
a group of customers who have different needs than the model
customer, the business can redesign the product or service to better
meet this different group of customers’ needs. Let’s look back at the
battery charging service example that we used last module.
? What did I say that the market might look like in a year?
In a year, communities may wish to pool their income and invest in

their own battery charging station.
My original customer model was someone who wanted to charge their

cell phones and use electric appliances, so my business was a service
business. In a year, if my customer assumption about communities
proves true, I might also have a product business selling charging
stations to communities. These communities would be represented by
a second model customer because their needs are different from the
first customer model.
We call these customer models “personas. “
CREATE EXAMPLE PERSONAS – 20 MINS

Draw the following on a flip chart.
Block 1 – Customer name Block 4 – Behaviours
Block 2 – Demographics Block 3 – Needs and goals
49
Let’s create a persona together for one of our battery charging

customers.
Start with Block 2.
In Block 2, we’ll list information about customer demographics. That

means things like: gender, age, income, employment, marital status,
education, etc.
We want to add enough information in our description so that we can

pick them out of a crowd.
? What demographics are important for us to fully describe this

group?
They live in a rural area without access to electricity. They own a

mobile phone and a small television. They are men around 25-30
years old. They make approximately 50 a month in income.
In Block 3, you’re going to list customer problems and goals that this
customer persona has when charging their phone and using their
television. What causes them problems? What do they need to do?
What would they like to achieve?
The batteries are heavy to carry. They need a way to charge car
batteries without having to carry them long distances to a charging
station. They need to be able to charge their mobile phones regularly.
They would like to have regular access to electricity.
In Block 4, you’ll list how they act as they try to meet their needs or
achieve their goals, specifically with regards to using their mobile
phone or television.
They might not use their mobile phones very often because they are
trying to preserve the charge. They use their televisions only on
special occasions. Those who have charged mobile phones
sometimes rent their phone to those who don’t have charged phones.
They have an easier time getting phones charged because they are
more fit than other members of their community.
Finally, in Block 1, you’ll draw a picture of this customer and give them
a name.
Draw a face and add the customer persona name to Block 1.
Now, when we make decisions about our battery charging business

and we want to know how these decisions will impact our customer,
we can test the decision against what we know about our customer.
50
CREATE SUPERMARKET PERSONAS – 25 MINS

Now, you’ll work in a group to practise creating personas before you
create one for your own business. We will create personas based on a
product that we might all be customers of. Let’s say someone is
starting a supermarket business and wants to know what their
customers want so that they can compete with other supermarkets.
? What kinds of things do you, the customer, want from a

supermarket?
Participant answers may relate to the following, but allow them to

come up with their own answers:
• Good variety
• Low cost
• Convenient location
• Delivery service
Sort the answers into categories that define types of customers based
on their wants and write each category on a flip chart. You want at
least four categories.
These different sets of needs represent different customer personas.
? Ready to create a customer persona for the supermarket

business?
Divide the class into groups of four and have each group represent
one type of customer. Create at least four or five different groups.
Give each group a sheet of flip chart paper.
You will now use what you know to create a single persona for the
model customer you have been assigned.
You may use pictures and/or words in bullet points to complete each
of the four blocks of your persona.
Divide your paper into four blocks like we did in our example and
complete each block. You have about 20 minutes to complete this so
manage your time accordingly and make sure you don’t spend too
long on any one block.
IMPROVE THE PERSONAS WITH FEEDBACK FROM THE

REPRESENTED GROUP – 15 MINS
Post the posters. Ask Participants to gather under the poster that best
describes them. Have them read the poster and discuss it. Then have
them edit, add additional, or correct information about the persona.
CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONAS – 60 MINS

Think about your business idea. How many customer groups do you
have? Try to come up with at least two groups who represent the best
51
customers for your product or service idea. The goal is to know them
so well you can make product or service decisions based on what you
know about the customer.
In your Business Journal, create a persona for each group just like
you did in the last activity.
Don’t worry if you don’t finish each of your personas. You will have a
chance to complete them after class if you need more time. What’s
important is that when you have finished you have detailed, accurate
personas that you can use.
I will walk around and answer any questions you might have. Also,
feel free to work together if you find that helpful.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What do you know about your customers now that you didn’t
know before?
? How can you use the customer personas to make decisions

about your business?
? How can you make sure that your personas are accurate?
APPLICATION TO OWN BUSINESS – 60

MINS
Continue to work on your personas so that they become real enough
that you can understand how they think and act. It’s important that the
personas are accurate so that you can use them to make the correct
business decisions.
For this module, you will go to places where your potential customers
can be found and observe them. Use what you learn through
observations to build and refine your customer persona.
If you have current customers, ask them a few questions about the
problems that you think they face or the goals that they want to
achieve.
You will be using this work in Module 3, so ensure your personas are
complete before the next module.
52
they should complete the persona work before the coaching session.
53
COACHING TOOL
The Family Africa example provided below is an example that is used throughout the
StartUp! Foundation Course. You can use it to demonstrate each block of the Business
Model Canvas AND to show how it all fits together. You may use this as an additional
example when you are coaching Participants as they work on their own business.
FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE

Middle-class American families are interested in visiting East Africa but
don’t know how to plan a trip on their own. They are also afraid of what
to expect when they arrive due to a lack of knowledge of the culture, the
visa requirements, how to get around, where to stay, and the language.
Guided safaris only offer a single experience and are often out of the
price range of middle-class families.
Middle-class families want an affordable, safe, varied, family-friendly

experience that includes national treasures and landmarks, animals and
outdoors, and more intimate, personal connections to individuals and
rural life in East Africa.
Family Africa will help middle-class American families experience safe,

customised holidays, specifically designed for each family group.
From the comfort of their own home, using the Internet, families can plan
their trip and be assured that they will be fully prepared to enjoy their
East African experience.
Family Africa customers will receive:
• A Planning Guide that allows them to develop an itinerary based

on their own interests, objectives, and needs.
• A Preparation Guide that provides a step-by-step guide to getting

required visas, papers, vaccinations, etc.
• A Packing Guide specific to the needs presented by the itinerary.
• A local, English-speaking guide who will meet them at the airport

and remain with them for the duration of the trip. Each group will
also have a car and driver suited for their itinerary.
As more American families become comfortable travelling in East Africa,

they will tell friends about the experience. More families will be
54
interested in having their own experiences. They will want a wider

variety of experiences including a greater number of countries and entry
and exit points. Family Africa will continually add destinations and
partners to enable this wider variety of experiences.
In the far future, it is expected that trips to more remote locations will
receive greater interest than those in the urban centres, which bear
resemblance to Western cities. The interest in rural locations will grow.
In a few years, villagers who had little potential for income and therefore
moved to the cities will now have people interested in experiencing the
local assets and culture. Cultural assets will be built up in the rural areas.
Here are two additional persona examples for two personas for Family Africa. You may use
these as coaching tools as you walk around and assist Participants in completing their
personas.
55
FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE PERSONAS – ARGENT FAMILY

Block 1 – Customer Name Block 4 – Behaviours
Argent Family
Spend time on the Internet learning
about other places
Travel with their children on family
holidays
Holidays often include learning
experiences
Curious about Africa; not many friends
have been
Curious, slightly adventurous
Family income: $100,000 a year Want increased exposure to other

2 parents, 2 children cultures and experiences
Adults: 30-45 years old Want affordable, safe solutions to travel
Children: 8-18 years old to foreign locations
Live in America Lack knowledge to design their own
Parents are university educated experience
Own their home Lack confidence and knowledge to
conduct their own experience
56
FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE PERSONAS – RUDY WITH GORILLA TREK TOURS

If Participants are struggling with customer segments/different personas, you may make the
point that the Argent family might not be the only customer of Family Africa. Individual tour
operators and local providers of tourist services might also be customers for Family Africa.
Tour operators might be willing to pay a fee to have access to these customers, customers
who normally only go to the international, large, luxury safari tour operators. An example of
that type of customer can be seen in the persona below.
Block 1 – Customer Name Block 4 – Behaviours
Advertises in one tourist

publication
Relies on referrals from friends
who work in hotels and tourist
offices
Cannot plan more than a month
ahead as customers schedule
tours once they arrive
Gross annual earnings: $100,000 Needs additional customer

Costs: permits, drivers, gasoline, car sources
maintenance Would like to be able to plan
Low profit margin on gorilla tours further ahead of time
Owns two touring cars Wants to add additional tour
Operates an average of 2 tours per services
week Reduced customers due to
Can only schedule 1 tour per day increased gorilla permit fees
Car is rarely full of passengers
57

PREPARATION
" Prepare Listening Guidelines flip chart
MATERIALS
" Discovery Bingo cards (one per Participant)
" Agenda flip chart
" Listening Guidelines flip chart
TIMING
DISCOVERY BINGO ICEBREAKER 25 MINS
CHECK-IN 15 MINS
LISTENING IS AN ACT OF RESPECT 50 MINS
58
DISCOVERY BINGO ICEBREAKER – 25

MINS
Hand out Discovery Bingo cards.
A person A person A person A woman A person

over 55 who draws who walks who grew
years old or paints more than up in
pictures 4km every another
day country
A person A person A bachelor A person A person
whose under 5 feet who plays who sews
hobby is tall sports
singing
A left- A A A person A person

handed grandparent community under 25 who raises
person leader years old animals
A man A single A person A person A person

parent whose who is over 6 feet
hobby is married tall
reading
A person A person A person A person A person

who built a who speaks who cooks who was who has
house more than 1 for others raised on a owned a
language farm business
We’re now going to play a game that allows us to discover the wide
variety of experiences and backgrounds in the room. On the Discovery
Bingo Sheet, you will see a description of an individual characteristic
in each box. The object of the game is to go around the room and to
find a person who matches that characteristic. When you find
someone who matches that characteristic, have them write their
initials in the box. To win, you must have a complete row of boxes
(vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) signed by other players. When you
have a complete row or column or diagonal filled out with initials, call
out “Bingo” and we will stop the game.
Allow the game to go for about 10 minutes or until someone wins. If

someone wins too quickly, you may continue the game, allowing
another person to Bingo. The first winner can also play, trying to Bingo
again. Acknowledge winner(s) with applause and ask Participants to
return to their seats.
59
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What happened when you were trying to get initials to fill the
boxes?
? How would you describe the group of people in this room?
? How many personas were represented by the people you

spoke with?
? What did you learn that surprised you?

coaching session. You may use the bolded words in the list to create
your flip chart.
Today, you have an opportunity to help each other work on issues and
obstacles that you encountered when completing your customer
personas.
We will do the following in the three hours we have together.
1. We’ll begin today’s session with a check-in to allow us all to

become fully present in this session and to learn what others
have been working on over the past week.
2. Then we’ll learn how to really listen to each other. Listening
is not only useful to your peer coaching but it is a skill that you
can use throughout your life, with your family, at your
workplace, with your friends.
3. Our listening practice will be followed by a laser coaching
session. This time I will coach [name volunteer]. The rest of
you will observe. You can use this observation time to reflect
on the questions I am asking and the topic we are discussing
to see if you can remove any of the obstacles you have
encountered applying this last concept to your business.
4. Then you’ll pair up and do some peer coaching. You can use
the same tools and questions that you saw me use.
5. After that, you’ll establish goals for yourself.
6. We’ll conclude by sharing any key learnings that came out of
the session.
feel comfortable.
60
started.
As you recall from our first group coaching session, we start every
group coaching session with a brief check-in regarding how you are
applying the most recent concepts we have discussed to your own
business. It’s important that we hear all voices in the group; however,
if you don’t feel comfortable talking when we come to you, you may
choose to pass. The check-in allows us to put away the stray thoughts
from the rest of our day and our life and to focus our attention on the
session before us.
everyone.
? What are your key learnings when you developed your

personas?
LISTENING IS AN ACT OF RESPECT –

50 MINS
BLIND LISTENING – 25 MINS
CONVERSATION – 15 MINS
Think about a time when you felt like someone really heard what you
were saying.
Ask for a volunteer to tell you a [quick!] story about that time.
? How did that conversation make you feel?
When you are truly listened to you feel respected. Someone has
demonstrated that they value what you have to say and what you
61
know. Listening, really listening, is an act of respect. Today we’re

going to practise listening.
Get in groups of 3 (make a group of 4 if there is an odd number) to

have a conversation. Do that now.
Once the groups are formed give the next set of directions.
You are going to have a conversation about the last group coaching
session.
There are three rules:
1. You may talk about anything you like, related to that subject.
2. Make sure that everyone has a chance to talk.
3. You will keep your eyes closed during the entire conversation.
You will have 10 minutes to hold your conversation. Begin.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
Open your eyes.
? What did you notice about the conversation with your eyes
closed?
? What was is like when you were talking?
? What was is like when you were listening?
Responses might include that having eyes closed was either a

distraction or a focus. Call attention to either or both, whatever comes
up. Use what you are given to draw the following conclusions:
• It’s hard to listen fully when we are distracted
• When you visually tune out distractions, you are often able to
tune out the distractions that come with them
LISTENING TRIADS – 25 MINS

Show the Listening Guidelines on a flip chart.
Here is a Listening Guidelines poster that we can use to ensure that

we are fully listening. I’m going to put it up so that everyone can see it.
Ask for a volunteer to read the guidelines aloud or read them aloud
yourself.
Listening Guidelines
• Stop talking to others and to yourself. You can’t listen and talk
at the same time.
62
• Focus completely on the speaker and show that you are

focused.
• Pay attention to body language; pay attention to what isn’t

being said.
• Put yourself in the speaker’s shoes as you listen. What is it like

to be this person saying these things?
• Don’t interrupt.
• Don’t judge or evaluate. Listen affirmatively.
• At key points in the conversation, rephrase what the other

person has said. This demonstrates that you are listening and
allows you to check that you understand.
LISTENING PRACTICE – 10 MINS

You are now going to practise listening in groups of three. You will
have three minutes for each conversation. There will be a speaker, a
listener, and an observer for each conversation. We will hold three
separate conversations. Everyone will have a chance to play each
role. I will tell you when to switch roles. This time the conversation will
be about your experiences applying what you’ve learned so far to your
business.
Choose who will go first and begin.
Call time at the end of 3 minutes and ask Participants to switch roles.
Call time again at the end of 6 minutes and ask Participants to switch
roles again.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What did you notice when you were the speaker?
? How did you feel?
? What did you notice when you were the listener?
? What was hard?
? How did you overcome it?
? What did you notice when you were the observer?

MINS
Set up two chairs facing each other in the front of the room. Show the
Laser Coaching Process flip chart.
As before, this session will follow the format on the flip chart.
63
Even though the laser coaching occurs with a specific person and a
specific purpose, it can also help each of you in the audience.
Today we’re going to be working on an issue related to personas with

[volunteer name]. As you watch this laser coaching session, think
about the types of questions I’m asking. How would you answer the
questions I’m asking [volunteer name] about your own personas?

? What would you like to work on today regarding development

of the personas?

session. If you need to narrow further, ask a question like,
“How far do you think we can get on that issue in 10 minutes?”

you?”


today?”

SMART goal.
64
advice.

about?
LASER COACHING DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What did you notice specifically about listening during the laser
coaching?

watched the laser coaching session?


65

Business Journal.

You will use the final debrief time to establish/reinforce the positive
aspects of the group/peer coaching experience, answer any
outstanding questions, and remind Participants about the time and
location of the next classroom session.
? What was different when you followed the Listening

Guidelines?
66
MODULE 3, ESTIMATING ANNUAL SALES

INCOME
180 minutes
TIMING
OUTCOMES • Determine the size of their addressable market
• Begin to fill out the Customers Sheet of their Business Model
Canvas
• Estimate their annual income
In this module, Participants determine whether their business is
PURPOSE sustainable based on estimates of market size. Estimating the size of the
market early in the program will allow Participants to rethink their business
concept before getting too deep into the rest of the process.
Customers Sheet
MATERIALS Annual Sales Income Estimation worksheet x2
Flip chart paper
Introduction 5
MODULE Adding customer information to the 15
SECTIONS canvas
Estimating annual sales income 60
Complete the Annual Sales Income 60
Estimation worksheet
Debrief 15
Customer problems and goals 15
MODULE NOTES:
67
Estimating annual sales income is an art and not a science.

Participants will need to be creative using numbers that they are able
to find. They will use a variety of number types (e.g., actual numbers,
percentages) based on what they know or can find through research.
You will need to help them do the calculations based on the numbers
they find. To ensure you are prepared to help Participants, complete
the Annual Sales Income Estimation worksheet for the following
potential products:
• day care services in the local community

• fresh mushroom sales to hotel restaurants
• café sales
This is also the first financial projection that Participants complete and
is the first point to introduce conservative estimates, as was
mentioned in the front matter of this guide.
That is the first issue that you may run into with Participants, is that
they are overly optimistic about their ability to make significant sales in
a new marketplace. The other issue is that Participant’s will often say
that they have no competition. You must make the point that there is
no such thing and no competition in this kind of an estimate.
Competition includes not only direct competitors, businesses who offer
the same product or service but competition for pocket share – where
potential customers spend their money when they don’t spend it with
you.
Before you can determine whether your business will succeed, you
have to make an educated guess about how many customers you
might have. Can your business make money? If you only have a total
market of 50 customers who will buy from you one time, your business
might not last very long.
In this module, you will be working on the Customer block of your

Business Model Canvas Poster. You’ll begin by adding some of the
information from your personas to the canvas. Then you’ll estimate
how many of each persona type you are able to serve. You’ll use that
information to estimate your annual income for your business.
ADDING CUSTOMER INFORMATION

TO THE CANVAS – 15 MINS
Each of the personas you created in the last module represents a
customer segment. A customer segment is a customer type that is
different enough that you would do something different for them, either
by changing the product or service or by offering additional value.
68
Now that you know your customers, it’s time to fill in another portion of
the Business Model Canvas Poster.
You will only need to add a few words that clearly describe your
customers on the Business Model Canvas.
? If the canvas only needs a few words, why did we describe the
customers in such detail when we created the personas?
You use the customer personas that you created to make detailed
decisions about your product or service so it’s important that the
personas are as realistic as possible.
The persona detail will help with making business decisions; the
Business Model Canvas will act as a big picture record of the detailed
work. We will work with different levels of detail throughout this
course, always coming back to record the big picture on the Business
Model Canvas Poster.
? What did we do in class to improve the personas for the

supermarket?
Had the target group check and improve them.
? What can you do to ensure that your personas are as

accurate a customer representation as they could be?
Make the point that since you will use the customer personas to make
decisions about your product or service, customer research is
important to ensure that your personas are accurate.
Ask for a volunteer who is willing to talk about his or her personas.
Ask:
? How many personas did you create?
? How are they different from each other?
? How might you change your product or service for one persona
over another?
Emphasise the areas where the Participant might change or add to

their product or service to add value for a particular segment.
Here’s one example just to illustrate the difference you are looking for
but you should create your own example or pull an example from the
volunteer’s situation.
Example: You sell a house cleaning service. In addition to the

customer segment who only wants house cleaning services, there
might also be a bachelor customer segment who also values meal
service; a mother also might want
69
child care. These represent two additional customer segments.
Hand out the Customers Sheet.
Use one row for each customer segment. In the “Who?” column, add a
few bullet points to describe each customer type that you defined in
your customer personas. Add just enough so that anyone working in
your business can understand who that segment represents.
Add at least two words for each customer segment:
1. Name
2. Demographics
3. Needs and goals
4. Behaviours
? How might we complete this for one of our supermarket

customer segments?
Someone pick one of the persona names.
? How would you describe the characteristics of this persona

from the demographics block?
? How would you describe this persona’s needs or goals related

to shopping in a supermarket?
? How would you describe how this persona behaves as they try
to meet their needs or achieve their goals related to shopping
in a supermarket?
Now complete the “Who?” column of the Customers Sheet for your
own business. Do that for each customer segment.
ESTIMATING ANNUAL SALES INCOME

– 60 MINS
Hand out two copies of the Annual Sales Income Estimation
worksheet to each Participant.
You are now going to estimate the annual sales for the first year of
your business to see whether you have a viable business idea. These
numbers should be conservative, especially if this is the first year you
will be doing business, but you want to make sure that you can
support the business long enough to get it up and running. To do this,
you will complete an Annual Sales Income Estimation worksheet.
We will work through one example together and then you will
complete the worksheet for your own business.
Below is the completed worksheet for the worked example:
70
QUESTION RESULT
1. Number of customers in the total 2,766
market
Assumption based on: The number of primary and secondary
schools in the country (source: Wikipedia)
2. Number of best potential customers: 2,200
Market segment
Assumption based on: The number of primary schools in the
country (source: Wikipedia)
3. Number of customers you can 220
reasonably serve: Addressable market
Assumption based on: Population of the country = 11 million.
Population of capital city = 1 million. 10% of population lives in
capital city, therefore 10% of primary schools are in capital city.
4. Number of customers served by the 220
competition: Competitor market share
Assumption based on: 4 competitors currently serve the entire
capital city primary school market
a. How many customers will you 33
take from your competition?
Assumption based on: Bruno and Adele are selling stools
rather than chairs so they can supply seats for students that
are much cheaper than their competition. They assume that
they can take 15% of the customers away from each
competitor.
b. How many customers are not 2
currently served by the
competition?
Assumption based on: Adele recently read a newspaper article
that announced that two new primary schools will open this
year in the capital city.
5. Number of your customers (a + b): 35
Business market share
6. Number of products each customer will 20
buy in a year: Annual purchase per
customer
Assumption based on: The principal they spoke with said he
buys 20 new chairs per year and his school is of average size
7. Number of products purchased 700
annually in your market share: Annual
purchase in market share
Assumption based on: Business market share x annual
purchase per customer. Does not include supplying all the
chairs for the new schools.
8. Selling price $20
9. Estimated annual sales income $14,000
You know who your customers are. Now you need to make some
assumptions about how many customers you might have in the
market.
71
Let’s start out with a story of how one set of business partners
estimated market size. Bruno and Adele want to start a business
making stools for children to use in schools.
Bruno uses the Internet to find the number of primary and secondary
schools in the country. Using Wikipedia, he learns there are 2,766
schools. This represents the number of customers in the total market.
Enter 2,766 in line 1 of the worksheet.
? What assumptions is this number based on?
The number of primary and secondary schools in the country (source:

Wikipedia).
There are 2,200 primary schools and 566 secondary schools. Bruno
decides to make stools for primary school pupils because it is a much
larger population and therefore a bigger market. With 1.6 million pupils
in primary schools Bruno thinks his business could make a fortune as
that is a lot of stools needed: “If we sell stools for $20 we can make
$32 million!”
The number of primary schools (not the number of pupils) is the

number of customers in the market segment that Bruno and Adele
plan to serve. Enter 2,200 in line 2 of the worksheet.
The number of primary schools in the country (source: Wikipedia).
? Does Bruno have a good market estimate? What could go

wrong based on his estimation?
? What did Bruno fail to consider when he did his market size
estimations?
Bruno based his market assessment on market potential. That means

he used the total number of customers that he could possibly have.
? How likely is it that Bruno will sell to all customers?
Not likely.
Bruno told his partner Adele about the potential income of the
company. Adele was pleased but wanted to know how Bruno had
arrived at the number. Bruno described the process.
Adele said, “Do you think we can sell to all schools?”
Bruno thought before speaking. Then he said, “What if we only sold to

one half of them?” That still sounds ambitious to Adele, especially for
their first year but this time she doesn’t say anything.
72
Adele and Bruno share their business idea with a friend who says,
“Wow! That’s terrific. How are you going to deliver the chairs to the
schools?”
Bruno and Adele were intending to use a small truck that belongs to a
friend. But the truck is old and sometimes breaks down. They can’t
really drive it beyond the city limits. That means that they can’t deliver
all over the country; they can only deliver in the capital city.
Adele answered, “We can use Eric’s truck to deliver to schools that
are in the capital city”.
The size of the market that they can actually serve based on their
current business model is called the addressable market. In this case
it is a geographic area of the country.
Bruno and Adele now need to know how many customers are in the
capital city. They search on the Internet but can’t find the number of
primary schools in the capital city. However, they find the population of
the capital city is around 1 million and that the total population of the
country is 11 million. Based on the fact that 10% of the country’s
population lives within their target geographic area, they assume that
10% of the total number of primary schools is also located in the
capital city. That means that their total addressable market is 10% of
the market segment number which is 220 schools.
Enter the size of the addressable market on line 3 of the worksheet.
10% of the country’s population lives within their target geographic

area, therefore, 10% of the total number of primary schools is also
located in the capital city.
Adele says, “That’s still a potential market value of $3.2 million. It’s still
worth it.”
Bruno is now thinking about it. He asks, “Are we the only ones in this
area who make and sell seating to primary schools?”
They decide to visit the school that Adele’s children attend to talk to
the school principal.
Bruno: I’m here to show you some wonderful stools for small children.
Principal: We already have chairs for our students.
Bruno thinks: Schools already have chairs and won’t all need them.
Bruno: Do you have any that are wearing out that you need to
replace?
73
Principal: Yes, but we get them from Jorge’s Chairs down the street.
Adele thinks: There are other businesses who sell chairs to this
market. How many customers buy chairs from someone else?
Adele asks: How often do you buy new chairs?
Principal: I buy maybe 20 per year.
Adele: And there are about 700 students in your school?
Principal: Yes.
Bruno: Do you know how many other chair suppliers there are in your
area?
Principal: I think there are about 4.
They thank the principal and leave the school. They have a lot to talk
about.
They just learned that there are 4 chair providers in their geographic
area. Even though Bruno and Adele produce the only stools, their
competitors are those businesses with which customers spend the
money that they might spend with Bruno and Adele. They assume that
those competitors serve the entire addressable market of 220
customers. This is the competitor market share.
Enter the size of the competitor market share on line 4 of the

worksheet.
4 competitors currently serve the primary school market in the capital

city
Adele: How many customers will buy stools from us rather than chairs,
which are more expensive to make?
Bruno: I’d say that we can take away 25% of the customers from the
competition.
Adele: Really? In the first year? Let’s be more conservative and say
that we can capture 15% of the existing market. We’ll really have to
work at it, with advertising and sales calls but I think we can do that.
Bruno: Okay, that’s a good place to start.
Enter the number of customers you will take from your competition in
line 4a.
? What is 15% of 220?
33
74
Bruno and Adele are selling stools rather than chairs so they can
supply seats for students that are much cheaper than their
competition. They assume that they can take 15% of the customers
away from their competitors.
Adele: I also read a newspaper article last week that said that they
were planning to open 2 new schools in the capital city this year.
Bruno: I’ll bet we can beat our competitors to those schools.
Adele: Probably. But, for now, let’s just assume we’ll sell them the
same number of chairs as other schools to be conservative.
? How many customers are not currently served? Enter this in

line 4b.
Adele recently read a newspaper article that announced that two new
primary schools will open this year in the capital city.
? How can you calculate the total number of customers projected

by Bruno and Adele?
Add number of customers you will take from competition and number
of customers not currently served by the competition (4a + 4b).
Add that number to line 5 to show their business market share.
Now they need to estimate how many stools each customer will buy in
a year.
They know that in this one school, the principal buys 20 chairs a year.
They know that his school size is 700 students.
Bruno: The size of that school is close to the average school size. So
we can estimate the annual purchase per customer as 20 stools.
Enter that number in line 7, annual purchase per customer.
Bruno and Adele now have the information they need to estimate the
total number of chairs they could sell in a year.
? How would they calculate this?
Take the number of customers in their business market share (line 5)

and multiply it by the annual purchase per customer (line 6). Their
annual purchase in market share is 700 chairs sold per year.
Enter that number in line 7, annual purchase in market share.
75
They are planning to sell the stools for $20 per stool.
Enter that number in line 8, selling price.
Now multiply the selling price (line 8) by the annual purchase in

market share (line 8) and add that number to line 9 to find their
estimated annual sales income.
Adele and Bruno look at each other. That’s a lot less than they
expected at the start.
Adele asks: We have only considered replacement stools. I wonder if

the schools are growing, adding students. And I wonder how many
stools the new schools might buy?
Bruno likes the idea, but he also wants to base the business on
conservative numbers. A business that makes $14,000 a year to start
isn’t a bad business.
Bruno: First, let’s see if we can build a working business model around
this small number. If we can make a profit at this level, any additional
sales will just add to our profit.
You can see from this story that estimating the potential size of your
market is more of an art than a science.
You can also see how much the market narrows

from the number you begin with.
Draw the following on the flip chart and point out

the steps that Bruno and Adele took to narrow
market numbers to make them reasonable.
It is important to estimate annual sales income in

this way, even if it seems long and complicated.
One common error that new business people
make is basing their estimate on how much they
can produce rather than how much they can sell.
Let’s see what would have happened if Bruno and
Adele had taken this approach.
Bruno and Adele figured out that they could make

300 stools in one month. They decided that they
would sell each stool for $20. They multiplied 300
stools by 12 months and figured out that the
company would take in $72,000 a year.
? What do you think? Do they have a good estimate of their

annual sales income? What could go wrong?
? What did they fail to consider when they estimated market

size?
76
They might not sell every stool they make. There might be slower
months.
COMPLETE THE ANNUAL SALES

INCOME ESTIMATION WORKSHEET –
60 MINS
Now it’s your turn. Complete the Annual Sales Income Estimation
worksheet for your business. You will use it to estimate your first year
annual sales income to make sure that your business can sustain
itself. For now, you will use your best guesses of market size, but
before the next coaching session you must conduct research to test
your guesses and ensure the numbers you use are accurate. The goal
of this exercise in class now is to let you apply the process of
estimating annual sales income to ensure you understand it and can
do it when you have the “real” numbers.
As you complete the worksheet, write down where your estimate or

assumption came from for each number. Under each number line
there is a place to enter this in the worksheet.
Once you have completed your Annual Sales Income Estimation

Worksheet, write the number from line 5, Business Market Share, into
the column “How Many?” in the Customers Sheet.
I will walk around and answer any questions you might have as you
work. You have about one hour to work.
You can hand out the worked example of the Annual Sales Income
Estimation Worksheet to give Participants a reference tool to help
them as they do their own work.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
? Why do you want your estimates to be conservative? What
might happen if they aren’t?
? What if your market isn’t big enough to build a business

around? What can you do?
? How did you manage your estimates to make sure that they
were conservative, realistic estimates?
? Where did you find the numbers you needed to start your
estimate?
? What do you wish you knew about your estimates? How would
knowing help you? How might you find out?
77
? How can the market estimates help you make decisions about
your business?
CUSTOMER PROBLEMS AND GOALS –

15 MINS
Before we end today’s session, let’s complete the rest of the
Customers Sheet.
You have recorded needs and goals for each customer segment in
your customer personas. Based on the needs and goals of your
customers, what kinds of problems do they face when trying to meet
their needs or achieve their goals? What gets in their way of getting
what they need? What keeps them from attaining their goals?
Complete the Problems column of the Customers Sheet with 2-3

problems that each of your customer segments faces. Don’t stop at a
single customer problem.
Then complete the Goals column with 2-3 goals that each of your
customer segments wants to accomplish. Don’t stop at a single
customer goal.

MINS
When Participants do their research to find the numbers they need to
estimate market size, they may find estimates either as percentages
of a total population or as actual numbers. If the information they find
uses percentages, they will need to calculate the actual number to find
their market size.
For this module, you will conduct research to complete your Annual
Sales Income Estimation worksheet with accurate numbers. Use
these numbers to calculate your annual sales income projection.
Then, review your annual sales income projection.
Is it realistic? Can you build a long-term business around this market?
As you learn from your research, update the appropriate parts of your
Business Model Canvas with the new information. Remember, the
78
Business Model Canvas should always reflect your most recent

knowledge of your business. You will update it as you learn more
about your business.
What part of your Vision do you need to update, now that you have
clearer assumptions about who your customer is, the problems they
face and the goals that they want to accomplish?
coaching session.
Make sure to check the estimated annual sales income of all of your
Participants (line 10). Look for both overly optimistic or those whose
sales estimates aren’t big enough to support a business. If a business
doesn’t seem to be able to pay for itself in the first year, the Participant
may need coaching to adjust their business idea to appeal to a
broader market or change the idea completely.
It is very important that at the end of each module, you follow up with
Participants to ensure that the work they did in that module reflects a
successful business idea. If not, plan additional coaching sessions
outside of the regular group coaching. You may use the ReachUp!
material to support your coaching work.
79
ANNUAL SALES INCOME ESTIMATION

WORKSHEET
QUESTION RESULT
1. Number of customers in the total market
Assumption based on:
2. Number of best potential customers:
Market segment
3. Number of customers you can
reasonably serve: Addressable market
4. Number of customers served by the
competition: Competitor market share
a. How many customers will you
take from your competition
b. How many customers are not
currently served by the
competition
5. Number of your customers (a + b):
Business market share
6. Number of products each customer will
buy in a year: Annual purchase per
customer
7. Number of products purchased annually
in your market share: Annual purchase
in market share
8. Selling price
9. Estimated annual sales income
80
INDIVIDUAL COACHING TOOL

You may use the Family Africa Annual Sales Income Estimation Worksheet as a coaching
tool as you walk around and assist Participants in completing their annual sales income
estimates.
FAMILY AFRICA ANNUAL SALES INCOME

WORKSHEET
QUESTION RESULT
1. Number of customers in the total market 116,011,000
Assumption based on: Households in the U.S., 2006 U.S. Census
2. Number of best potential customers: Market 15,535
segment
Assumption based on: U.S. household income between 100,000-199,000,
2005 U.S. Census
3. Number of customers you can reasonably serve: 1000
Addressable market
Assumption based on: Initial countries available, website capacity, capacity to
locate and assess partners
4. Number of customers served by the competition: 0
Competitor market share
Assumption based on: The combination of family, affordable, multi-country and
broader than safari focus seems to be unique based on Internet searches for
African tour operators
a. How many customers will you take from your n/a
competition
Assumption based on: See assumption for line 4
b. How many customers are not currently 1000
served by the competition
Assumption based on: See assumption for line 4
5. Number of your customers (add a + b): Business 1000
market share
6. Number of products used per customer .1
Assumption based on: Each customer will only take one trip in their lifetime. I
assume that 10% of my customers will purchase each year.
7. Number of products purchased annually in your 100
market share: Annual purchase in market share
8. Selling price $200
Planning and concierge services
9. Estimated annual sales income $20,000
81

PREPARATION
" Prepare the Question Guidelines flip chart
MATERIALS
" Paper and tape
" Agenda flip chart
" Question Guidelines flip chart
TIMING
WHO AM I? ICEBREAKER 30 MINS
CHECK-IN 15 MINS
ASKING QUESTIONS 35 MINS
WHO AM I? ICEBREAKER – 30 MINS

Have each Participant write the name of a famous person on a piece
of paper in large letters so that the name can be easily read. Gather
up all the names and turn the pieces of paper face down on a table
and shuffle them. Have each Participant take one name, not showing
it to anyone, and tape the paper they have chosen to the back of
another Participant.
82
Each Participant needs to identify who the famous person is they have
taped to their own back. They can only ask questions that can be
answered with a yes or no answer.
Call time at the end of 25 minutes if everyone hasn’t guessed by then.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What made it difficult to figure out who you were?
? What was the question you asked that finally helped you
discover who you were?

coaching session.
Today, you have an opportunity to help each other work on issues and
obstacles that you encountered when completing your annual sales
income projection and estimating your market size.

2. Then we’ll learn key questioning techniques. Questioning is
not only useful to your peer coaching but it is a skill that you
can use throughout your life, with your family, at your
workplace, with your friends.
3. Our questioning practice will be followed by a laser coaching
session. This time I will coach [name volunteer]. The rest of
you will observe. You can use this observation time to reflect
on the questions I am asking and the topic we are discussing
to see if you can remove any of the obstacles you have
encountered applying this last concept to your business.
the session.
feel comfortable.
83
perspectives. You must always start with a check-in. You may use the
following questions to get the check-in started.
As before, we’ll start the session with a brief check-in on where you
are with the ideas and the application to own business that you have
been doing. It’s important that we hear all voices in the group,
however, if you don’t feel comfortable talking when we come to you,
you may choose to pass. The check-in allows us to put away the stray
thoughts from the rest of our day and our life and to focus our
attention on the session before us.
everyone.
? What are your key learnings when you completed your annual
sales income projection and estimated your market size?
begin the check-in.
ASKING QUESTIONS – 35 MINS

NO QUESTIONS PAIRS – 10 MINS
You and a partner are going to hold a 5-minute conversation about
something that is of interest to you in your community. The only rule is
that you can’t ask questions during this conversation. The rest of the
conversation should be completely normal. Just no questions.
Find a partner and begin.
? What was that experience like?
HOW QUESTIONS WORK – 10 MINS

Imagine: You and two other people have started a conversation. The
first person, let’s call him [name], tells you all about himself, pretty
much without pausing. He’s had a lot of experiences and he’d like to
share them all. The second person, let’s call him [name] finally finds a
84
bit of empty space in the conversation and turns to you. He says,

“What brought you here today? What do you hope to get from this
conversation?”
? What’s different between the two people?
? Who are you more likely to want to talk with again?
? How can asking questions open up conversations with people

you want to speak with?
ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS – 15 MINS

Asking questions is a way to really engage with another person.
Questions connect us. Really good questions enrich a conversation.
They connect what has been said to a deeper, new part of the
conversation.
In order to create really good questions, we can begin with a set of

Question Guidelines.
Show the Question Guidelines flip chart.
Question Guidelines
• Ask one question at a time.
• Wait in silence for the person to answer.
• Ask open questions to open up the conversation; ask closed

questions to confirm information.
• Open questions start with who, what, when, where, how, or

why; closed questions can be answered with one or two words,
like yes or no.
• To lengthen an answer, say, “Tell me more about. . .”
• Ask your questions from a point of curiosity.
• If you don’t understand, ask another question.
• Rephrase the answer in your own words to confirm your

understanding.
• There are no dumb questions.
Let’s go through the guidelines one at a time. As we go through each,

I’ll demonstrate the wrong way, then I’d like a volunteer to
demonstrate the correct approach to that guideline.
We’ll start with the first guideline: Ask one question at a time. Here’s
my wrong demonstration:
What do you think is the best way to increase sales income?

Find more customers or build a bigger set of products? What
85
have you done in the past that worked for you? What didn’t
work?
Ask a volunteer to correct your demonstration.
Go through the same process until you get to the end of the
guidelines.

MINS
Set up two chairs facing each other in the front of the room. Show the
Laser Coaching Process flip chart.
As before, this session will follow the format on the flip chart.
Even though the laser coaching occurs with a specific person and a
specific purpose, it can also help each of you in the audience.
Today we’re going to be working on an issue related to projecting your

annual sales income and estimating your market size with [volunteer
name]. As you watch this laser coaching session, think about the
types of questions I’m asking. How would you answer the questions
I’m asking [volunteer name] about your own work?

? What would you like to work on today regarding projecting your

annual sales income and estimating your market size?

session. If you need to narrow further, ask a question like,
“How far do you think we can get on that issue in 10 minutes?”

you?”

86

today?”

SMART goal.
advice.

about?
LASER COACH DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
? What did you notice about the process we followed?
? What did you notice about the questions that I asked?
? What seemed to work well?

watched the laser session?

PEER COACHING SESSION 1 – 25 MINS
87



? What did you do differently now that you know about how to
ask good questions?
? What might we need to add to the Question Guidelines?
88
MODULE 4, VALIDATING THE CUSTOMER

PROBLEM ASSUMPTIONS
180 minutes
TIMING
! Prepare the Interview Goals flip chart
! Prepare the Customer Questions flip chart
! Prepare the Problem Validation for Family Africa flip chart
OUTCOMES • Compare the difference between “need” and “want”
• Record their assumptions about customer needs and goals
• Prepare to test those assumptions with customers
• Develop a customer list for testing
Participants use assumptions about their customers to design a
PURPOSE sustainable business. In this module, Participants will develop a plan for
testing the assumptions that they have made about their customer.
Accurate testing and correction of these assumptions will guide
Participants to a sustainable, successful business.
Interview Goals flip chart
MATERIALS Problem Validation for Family Africa flip chart
Problem Validation Worksheet
Problem Validation Form
Flip chart paper
Introduction 5
MODULE Need versus want 10
SECTIONS Record your assumptions 45
Prepare for the interview 70
Create your customer interview list 30
Debrief 10
MODULE NOTES:
89
? Who can remember the two reasons most startups fail?
50% of all startups fail due to 1) lack of market, meaning the business
didn’t appeal to enough customers and 2) lack of money, meaning the
business spent too much money before bringing in income.
In this module, you will learn how to test your key assumptions about
your customer’s problem by talking to customers and conducting a
customer interview. By performing these tests, you can protect
yourself against the key reasons that startups fail. Because you have
a better understanding of your customer problems and goals, you can
then design a product that will deliver what your customer wants. And
because you are building a business based on the facts about your
customers and your market, you can avoid spending money on items
that won’t deliver value to your customers.
NEED VERSUS WANT – 10 MINS

Before you design your customer interview, let me share a story about
need versus want.
Surinda was really excited to have found an unmet need in the local
market. She had gone to help a friend at her stall. Even though her
friend had given her directions on how to find her stall, it still took her
15 minutes. She thought, “People who come to the market need a
map to find what they are looking for. I can create a map and sell it to
everyone who comes to the market. It will save them time since they
can go straight to that market stall, buy what they need and leave”.
Surinda spent the next four market days carefully walking around the
market and drawing each aisle and recording the stalls that could be
found on each aisle. She went home and created a very attractive
map of the market. She then scanned it and produced 50 copies. She
was ready for the next market day.
Surinda stood at the main entrance to the market and tried to sell her
maps. By the end of a very long day, she had only sold 3. She couldn’t
figure out why this idea hadn’t worked.
? Why didn’t Surinda’s idea work?
Gather some responses, acknowledge them, and then go on with the

story.
The next market day, Surinda watched people in the market. She
made a discovery. People didn’t go directly to a stall to buy something;
they wandered around. They ran into friends and spent time talking in
the aisles. While finding the right stall and the right product was part of
90
the market experience, market goers seemed to be in no hurry to find

what they wanted, buy, and leave.
? So, why didn’t Surinda’s idea work?
Surinda decided that people needed to save time. They might actually
need to save time, but in this case, they didn’t want to save time. They
didn’t value it.
? What did they value?
Wandering around and seeing what was available, meeting friends,

etc.
You need to be sure that what you are offering is what people want
and not what you know or think they need.
RECORD YOUR ASSUMPTIONS – 45

MINS
You’ve now written down your best guesses about who your
customers are, what their goals are, what problems they face, and
what they want. However, like Surinda, many times we think we know
what the customer needs only to find out that we have developed a
good product or service that no one wants to buy. The best way to
avoid the expense of developing a business that has no market is to
go out and talk to the market.
You will go out and talk to your potential customers. The more
conversations you have with customers, the less risk you will have
later on when you release your product or service and the greater your
chance of business success.
You’re going to find out if the areas you have decided to focus your
business around, actually matter enough to your customers for them
to spend money to achieve them.
You’ll perform this test as follows:
1. Create a list of assumptions you have made about your

business so you know what you need to validate
2. Design your introduction and the conversation you want to
have with the customers
3. Find customers to talk to
4. Go out and talk to them to collect information
5. Come back and update the Customers Sheet of your Business
Model Canvas Poster
91
It’s important that the problem or problems you are planning to solve
are important problems to your customer and ones that they want to
solve too.
Show the Interview Goals flip chart:
You want to find out the following information from your customers:
1. Are the problems you have identified in your Problems section

the problems the customer has? Do they have others that you
haven’t thought about?
2. What is the order of importance of the problems listed? Are
there bigger problems that you haven’t considered that need to
be solved first?
3. Does the customer know that they have these problems?
4. Does the customer currently have a way to solve these
problems or are they actively looking for a way to solve these
problems?
5. Has the customer set aside money to solve these problems?
Are they currently paying for a solution?
These are NOT the exact questions you will ask the customers. You
will have to design questions and conversations to gather the
information you need to be able to answer the questions on the flip
chart.
We’re going to use two different worksheets to prepare for the

customer interview. The purpose of the interview is to make sure that
the customer gives you clear feedback on the customer problem.
Before we complete an interview plan, you’re going to create some of

the critical content that will be used in the interview using a Problem
Validation Worksheet.
Since we’re using the interview to validate our thinking about the
customer’s needs, you must prepare that information ahead of time.
WALK THROUGH FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE – 15 MINS

Hand out the Problem Validation Worksheet and Problem Validation
Form.
I’m going to share another business idea that I will use at various
points throughout the course to help explain some of the concepts we
talk about. The business is called, Family Africa.
FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE

Middle-class American families are interested in visiting East Africa
but don’t know how to plan a trip on their own. They are also afraid of
what to expect when they arrive due to a lack of knowledge of the
culture, the visa requirements, how to get around, where to stay, and
92
the language. Guided safaris only offer a single experience and are
often out of the price range of middle-class families.
Middle-class families want an affordable, safe, varied, family-friendly

experience that includes national treasures and landmarks, animals
and outdoors, and more intimate, personal connections to individuals
and rural life in East Africa.
Family Africa will help middle-class American families experience

safe, customised holidays, specifically designed for each family group.
From the comfort of their own home, using the Internet, families can
plan their trip and be assured that they will be fully prepared to enjoy
their East African experience.
Family Africa customers will receive:
• A Planning Guide that allows them to develop an itinerary

based on their own interests, objectives, and needs.
• A Preparation Guide that provides a step-by-step guide to
getting required visas, papers, vaccinations, etc.
• A Packing Guide specific to the needs presented by the
itinerary.
• A local, English-speaking guide who will meet them at the
airport and remain with them for the duration of the trip. Each
group will also have a car and driver suited for their itinerary.
Now, let’s return to planning your interviews using the Problem

Validation Worksheet. You can follow along on your own worksheet as
we walk through an example worksheet for Family Africa, the business
you just heard about.
Show the completed worksheet example on a flip chart. Walk through

each column, showing how the information in the first cell in column 1
connects to the first cell in column 2 and column 3.
93
FAMILY AFRICA PROBLEM

VALIDATION WORKSHEET
LIST OF TOP PROBLEMS TODAY’S SOLUTION PROPOSED SOLUTION

AND GOALS
African travel packages are If they can afford them, Build your own experience by
expensive and offer very families choose a luxury safari choosing from a wide variety
little variety. package as their only option to of options, including beautiful
travel to East Africa. landscapes, rural villages,
Otherwise, they go national treasures, city
somewhere else. markets, etc.
Many families would like a Pick their local travel agent Receive 3 suggested
more personal, authentic and hope that they have good itineraries based on your
East African experience but connections throughout East selections from our list of
don’t have the knowledge or Africa. Try to find a local guide customised options on our
connections to plan a good for each of the places they website. You may select an
itinerary. wish to visit. itinerary as is or customise it
further.
Although there are many Read reviews and do We do the research for you,
tour operators in East extensive research ahead of choosing only the very best of
Africa, it’s hard to know who time, before they book. Hope local providers. We
is good beyond the major for the best. coordinate your trip among
luxury safari providers. our partners.
Many American families are Book with multiple tour We manage the entire
interested in Africa, but operators and try to coordinate experience, beginning with a
don’t feel comfortable the trips themselves. set of planning guides to
travelling on their own. prepare you for your holiday.
Upon arrival, you will be met
by personal, English-
speaking guides familiar with
your needs who will remain
with you for the entire trip.
94
COMPLETE THE PROBLEM VALIDATION WORKSHEET – 20

MINS
Now complete the Problem Validation Worksheet for your own
business. You have 20 minutes. I will walk around and answer any
questions you might have.
You can hand out the worked example of the Problem Validation
Worksheet to give Participants a reference tool to help them as they
do their own work.
PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW – 70

MINS
Now that you know the details of what you will be talking about, it’s
time to create an interview plan.
Write the following 5 parts of an interview on a flip chart.
As you can see, there are 5 parts to the interview. As I describe each
part, take notes in your Business Journal so you know what is in each
part as you will be creating your own interview plan next.
1. Introduction
2. Presentation and validation of problems and goals
3. Presentation and validation of current solutions
4. Presentation of your proposed solution
5. Closing
PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
The customer interview should start with a brief introduction that
covers the following:
Who you are

Who referred you to them and why
What you want from them: Make
sure that they know that you are
NOT selling anything and make
sure that you don’t.
What they will get in return: Is there
some information that they might
find valuable that you can share
with them?
95
PART 2 – PRESENTATION AND VALIDATION OF PROBLEMS

AND GOALS
Once you have made the introductions, you need to present your
assumptions about the problems and goals you think they have.
Then, ask if there are other problems or goals that you haven’t
considered that are important to them.
Lastly, ask them to rank the problems and goals in the order of
importance to them.
PART 3 – PRESENTATION AND VALIDATION OF CURRENT

SOLUTIONS
Now it is time to test your assumptions about how they currently solve
their problems or achieve their goals.
If you want to show the customer a list of problems and current

solutions during your interview, you can add the content from your
Problem Validation Worksheet to the Problem Validation Form. If you
only plan to describe them, you may use your original Problem
Validation Worksheet to guide you in the interview.
PART 4 – PRESENTATION OF YOUR PROPOSED SOLUTION

You will then present your proposed solution. You will use the work
you did in Column 3 of the Problem Validation Worksheet to create a
complete description of your solution.
PART 5 – CLOSING
Lastly, you will close the interview:
• What should I have asked you that I didn’t?

• Who else should I talk to?
• Thank them for their time. You might point out what you
learned from them that was especially helpful.
CUSTOMER INTERVIEW ROLE PLAY – 20 MINS

Let’s see what a customer interview might look like by doing a role
play for the Family Africa example.
When you conduct the customer interview to validate the customer

problem you should be having a conversation with the customer; you
are not presenting your business idea. You are using the interview to
assess, correct, and enhance your understanding of the problem you
intend to solve through your business idea.
96
FAMILY AFRICA PROBLEM

VALIDATION INTERVIEW
Ask for a volunteer to come up and role play the interview with you.
Ask them to play the role of a member of the Family Argent and to
stay in character based on what they know about the persona.
Go through the interview pausing for questions at each stage. You will
be stepping in and out of the role play to explain the actions taken at
each stage of the interview. The content of the role play is indented.
Practise this example ahead of time to make sure that you are clear
on which parts are role play, which are explanation, and which are
questions to the Participants.
PART 1 –INTRODUCTION
To begin, I will introduce myself and explain why I’m here.
Thank you so much for your time. I am [name] from Family Africa, a
tour company specialising in custom vacations for American
families. My purpose today is to get your feedback on some ideas
that Family Africa is working on. It will take the form of a
conversation rather than a presentation because I am really
interested in your input and ideas. The conversation will take
approximately 30 minutes.
What will they get in return? Give them an idea of something that you
can give them in return. It can be something like, if they help you with
this, you will offer them a coupon or something in return once your
business is started. Or you may offer them a list of little-known but
important tour destinations. Be creative.
Before we begin, would you introduce yourself and tell me a little

bit about the role you would play in deciding on and planning an
East African holiday?
? Why did I ask that question?
It lets me know whether this customer is the buyer or influences the

buyer.
Prompt your role play partner to answer.
? What questions do you have about the Introduction?
Answer any questions and proceed.
97
PART 2 – PRESENTATION AND VALIDATION OF PROBLEMS

AND GOALS
You want to make sure that you present the current problems as you
see them and identify the severity and frequency of the problems. You
also want to gather any additional top problems that you may not have
thought about.
These are some of the main problems or goals that we think you
face when you and your family think of having a holiday in Africa.
Present the problem and goals using the Family Africa Problem
Validation Form that you show to the customer. Make sure to ask if
there are other problems or goals that aren’t on your sheet.
Are these problems the main challenges that you face when trying
to plan a holiday to Africa?
Pause between each question to allow your role play partner to

answer.
Are there others?
How would you rank them in terms of how they affect your
decisions?
Make sure that your Participants know that ranking means listing in
order of importance, not rating each problem individually.
Who else has this problem? What other types of people?
? Why did I ask that last question?
I could learn about other potential customers to interview or even to

sell to once the business was developed. I could even learn about a
customer segment I hadn’t thought of.
Ask the customer to rank the problems and goals in order of

importance to them.
? What questions do you have about the problems and goals

section?
PART 3 – PRESENTATION AND VALIDATION OF CURRENT

SOLUTIONS
Next, you want to gather information about how the customer currently
solves the problem. What issues do they have with the way they have
to solve the problem or achieve the goal today? What about their
current solution doesn’t work well for them?
98
We think these are the ways that people address these problems or
achieve these goals.
Present the current solutions using the Family Africa Problem

Validation Form that you show to the customer. Make sure to ask if
there are others that aren’t on your sheet.
Next, look at the second column that lists the ways the problem is
solved today.
Pause between each question to allow your role play partner to

answer.
Look at the first solution in the column. How would you rate this
solution? How satisfied are you with this current solution?
Look at the second solution in the column. How would you rate this
Look at the third solution in the column. How would you rate this
Look at the fourth solution in the column. How would you rate this
Of all the current solutions available, which one is better? Why?
How do other people who have this problem solve it?
? What if they don’t bother to solve the problem today, if they

have decided just to live with it?
It’s not a problem worth solving in your customer’s eyes and they may
not be willing to pay for a solution to solve it.
PART 4 – PRESENTATION OF YOUR PROPOSED SOLUTION

Finally, you will present the big idea behind your new solution.
Remember, this is not a feature list or what you plan to offer. Don’t get
into the details. You will do that at another time. For now, just present
the basic idea of your solution. This is a big idea behind your solution.
I’m going to present my solution to the problem(s) by reading the

entire column as a single solution story.
When you do this, you will pause after you present your idea and
watch how your customers react. What do they say? How do they act?
At Family Africa, we help you build your own experience by

choosing from a wide variety of options, including beautiful
landscapes, rural villages, national treasures, city markets, etc.
99
You will receive 3 suggested itineraries based on your selections

from our list of customised options on our website. You may select
an itinerary as is or customise it further.
We do the research for you, choosing only the very best of local
providers. We coordinate your trip among our partners.
We manage the entire experience, beginning with a set of planning

guides to prepare you for your holiday. Upon arrival, you will be met
by personal, English-speaking guides familiar with your needs who
will remain with you for the entire trip.
PART 5 – CLOSING
End the interview with two questions:
What should I have asked you that I didn’t?
Who else should I talk to who might also know about this problem?
? Why did I ask those questions?
Thank you so much for your time. Your input has been extremely
valuable and will ensure that Family Africa is the best possible
option for customers like you who wish to take their family on the
holiday of a lifetime.
End role play.
100
FAMILY AFRICA PROBLEM VALIDATION FORM

LIST OF TOP PROBLEMS AND CURRENT SOLUTIONS IN THE
GOALS MARKET
African travel packages are expensive If they can afford them, families choose
and offer very little variety. a luxury safari package as their only
option to travel to East Africa.
Otherwise, they go somewhere else.
Many families would like a more Pick their local travel agent and hope
personal, authentic East African that they have good connections
experience but don’t have the throughout East Africa. Try to find a
knowledge or connections to plan a local guide for each of the places they
good itinerary. wish to visit.
Although there are many tour operators Read reviews and do extensive
in East Africa, it’s hard to know who is research ahead of time, before they
good beyond the major luxury safari book. Hope for the best.
providers.
Many American families are interested Book with multiple tour operators and
in Africa, but don’t feel comfortable try to coordinate the trips themselves.
travelling on their own.
101
PLAN FOR YOUR INTERVIEW – 20 MINS

Now, you’ll have 20 minutes to plan and outline the interview you will
be conducting with your customers. In your Business Journal, compile
all your thoughts and the flow of the interview so you are prepared
when you come to do the interview. Once you have finished, you’ll
have a chance to practise your interview with a partner.
I will walk around and answer questions you might have.
? What questions do you have about the interview before you

begin?
PRACTISE WITH A PARTNER – 20 MINS

Practise your customer interview with a partner. Begin by choosing
who will go first. Interviewer, explain to your customer partner who
they are going to represent using the information from your customer
personas. Partner, ask any questions during the interview about
anything that is unclear.
You’ll have 10 minutes for each role play. After 10 minutes you’ll
switch roles and repeat the process.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and have Participants switch roles.
CREATE YOUR CUSTOMER

INTERVIEW LIST – 30 MINS
INDIVIDUAL BRAINSTORM – 20 MINS
You will decide how many customers to test your business idea with
according to the size of your required initial business investment. For
example, if your business idea requires that you set up a
manufacturing facility, buy extensive raw materials, hire outside help,
and/or anything else that will represent a large out-of-pocket expense,
you would test your idea with more customers.
If your business idea requires that you contribute only labour hours
and these labour hours don’t cost you anything (e.g., you don’t have to
take time away from a paying job), you might decide to test your idea
with 5 potential customers. If you have a bigger business idea that will
require more money or time, you might want to talk to many more
customers to ensure that you are creating the right business. After you
have talked to 50 customers, you should have a really strong idea of
what you are developing.
Right now, make a list of all of the people you know who might face a
problem like the one you have identified. Don’t worry too much if they
are not exactly the right customers who will eventually buy your
102
product. Even though you may only end up talking to a small number
of people, try to make your list as long as possible at this stage.
Start your list.
Allow participants to work on their list for about 15 minutes. Make sure
you circulate around the room to coach them to think about other
sources.
WHO DO YOU KNOW? – 10 MINS

Find a partner in this room who might know other people you can talk
to. Get together and see where you can add to each other’s lists. If
you plan to talk to 5 customers, you might need to have 20 on your
list. Not all people will be available to talk to you when needed.
Where else might you find customers? What other places do they go
where you might be able to talk to them?
Add those places to your list, along with how many customers you
plan to talk to and where you would find them. For example, do your
customers go to a market or a school or an event where you might be
able to have 5-10 minutes of their time?
Are they on Facebook? Or LinkedIn or another social media site?
Where are the people who would buy your product or service? Do
they already buy a similar product or service? Can you go to where
they buy it?
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What questions do you have about conducting your
interviews?
? What if you find out during your interview that customers don’t
know or agree with the problems that you have identified?
If you need to spend all of your time convincing your customers that
they have an important problem, chances are really good that they
aren’t going to buy your solution. Once you find out that your idea of
their problems doesn’t match their idea of their problems, turn the
interview toward learning what problems they face.
? What might those questions sound like?
Encourage the group to help answer each other’s questions in the

debrief. Remind Participants that the first interview will be the hardest
and after that they will each get easier so they might want to do the
first one with someone they know fairly well.
103
APPLICATION TO OWN BUSINESS –

180 MINS
For this module, you will continue to make a long list of customers to
speak to. You will need about 20 contacts to obtain 5 interviews; you
will need about 200 contacts to obtain 50 interviews.
During this time, you will schedule and conduct interviews with at least
5 customers in each of your customer segments.
Business Model Canvas with your new information. Remember, the
Make sure you conduct at least 2 interviews before the group

coaching session. You may want to begin with potential customers
you know fairly well.
A note about scheduling interviews

You may find it easier to schedule interviews with people who know
you. However, with people you don’t know, scheduling might be more
of a challenge. You may hear, “No, I don’t have time”. Don’t let that
bother you. Ask instead, “If you are too busy, who else might I talk to?”
Learning from the customer interview

When you conduct your interviews, if possible, take someone with you
who can take notes about the conversation. As you are going to be
talking to multiple customers, you shouldn’t rely on your memory.
Make sure you learn at least three new things from each interview.
Make note of things of interest including things that they tell you
beyond the answers to the standard questions. Make note of any
observations that seem important, like how they behave. Are they
excited? Do they seem bored? Are they overwhelmed?
Keep customer “scorecards” of who you talk to and how they

answered your questions. You can use these later when it comes time
to present your solution, as well as when you actually come to sell
your product or service.
104
As you learn, look back at all of the sections of your Business Model
Canvas that you have completed. Are they still accurate? Has your
business vision changed? What more do you know about actual
customer problems that you need to add to your customer sheet?
coaching session.
105
PROBLEM VALIDATION WORKSHEET
LIST OF TOP PROBLEMS CURRENT SOLUTIONS IN MY SOLUTION

AND GOALS THE MARKET
106
PROBLEM VALIDATION FORM

LIST OF TOP PROBLEMS AND GOALS CURRENT SOLUTIONS IN THE MARKET
107

PREPARATION
" Arrange for three laser coaching volunteers who are willing to
be coached in front of the group
MATERIALS
" Paper
" Agenda flip chart
TIMING
SIMILARITY SHUFFLE ICEBREAKER 30 MINS
CHECK-IN 15 MINS
LASER COACHING THROUGH OBSTACLES 50 MINS
SIMILARITY SHUFFLE ICEBREAKER –

30 MINS
You will need one piece of paper for each Participant. Place each
piece of paper in a circle on the floor with just enough room around it
for someone to stand comfortably. Tell everyone to stand on a piece
of paper. You stand in the middle of the circle. Then give the
instructions.
You can see that there aren’t enough pieces of paper in the circle for
me so I don’t have a place in the circle. But here’s how I’m going to
get one. I’m going to call out something that I might have in common
with other people in the circle. If you have that thing in common with
me, you MUST move to a new piece of paper. While you are moving, I
will be trying to find my own piece of paper. The person that doesn’t
find an empty piece of paper then comes to the middle of the circle
108
and takes my place. Then they have to find a new place by calling out
something they may have in common with other people in the circle
and causing everyone to move.
Let’s do a trial first. Everybody who [use something that many people
might have in common with you, such as has seen a movie in the last
6 months], MOVE!
Correct any errors and begin the game. Play long enough to allow
most people to come to the centre of the circle.
? What did you learn about others through this the game?
Allow people to talk for a few minutes about common experiences that
surprised them.

coaching session.
Today, you have an opportunity to help each other prepare and

improve your customer validation interviews.

2. Then we’ll learn three different coaching techniques that
help overcome obstacles in our thinking.
3. You’ll see these three techniques in action during three laser
coaching sessions with [name volunteer 1, name volunteer 2,
name volunteer 3]. The rest of you will observe. You can use
this observation time to reflect on the questions I am asking
and the topic we are discussing to see if you can remove any
of the obstacles you have encountered applying this last
concept to your business.
the session.
feel comfortable.
109
started.
As before, we’re going to start with a brief check-in regarding how you
are applying the most recent concepts we have discussed to your own
business. It’s important that we hear all voices in the group; however,
if you don’t feel comfortable talking when we come to you, you may
choose to pass. The check-in allows us to put away the stray thoughts
from the rest of our day and our life and to focus our attention on the
session before us.
everyone.
? What were your key learnings when creating your customer

validation interviews?
LASER COACHING THROUGH

OBSTACLES – 50 MINS
Today we’re going to learn another set of peer coaching tools, which
will be demonstrated through laser coaching. One of the biggest
benefits to having a peer coach is having a thinking partner who can
help us when we are stuck. We’re going to practise three different
techniques for getting beyond an obstacle right now.
They are:
1. World without obstacles

2. 5 ways
3. Living backwards
110
We’re going to try them one at a time.
Take a minute to think about an obstacle you’d like to move beyond.
Allow the group to think for a minute.
? Does everyone have something in mind?
Ask your first volunteer to come up and work through the first process
with you.
WORLD WITHOUT OBSTACLES – 10 MINS

We’re going to start with a World without obstacles.
Thank you, [name].
What is the obstacle that you’re facing?
What is it keeping you from achieving?
Describe what it would look like if [obstacle] didn’t exist.
What would you be able to do without [obstacle] in your way?
What options for overcoming this obstacle might exist based on the
future you imagined?
Thank your volunteer and have them return to their seat.
Ask the rest of the group:
? What did you learn about overcoming your own obstacle as

you listened?
? How has your thinking about that obstacle changed?
5 WAYS – 10 MINS
This tool is called 5 ways.
Ask your second volunteer to come up and work through the second
process with you.
Thank you, [name].
What is one way that you could overcome that obstacle?
What’s another?
What’s another?
What’s another?
111
Don’t stop asking questions until your volunteer has come up with 5
different options to overcome that obstacle.
What has changed in your thinking about [obstacle]?
What option(s) are you going to try now?

you listened?
LIVING BACKWARDS – 10 MINS

This tool is called Living backwards.
Ask your third volunteer to come up and work through the third
process with you.
Thank you, [name].
Imagine that you have completely overcome that obstacle. What does
the world look like now?
Coach your volunteer to reveal enough details about their future vision
that it seems that they can picture it.
What steps did you take to get here from where you were?
What has changed in how you thought about that obstacle?

you listened?
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
? What did you learn about the three tools as you watched the
coaching sessions?
? What will you try out?
112
? How might you be able to use these tools on your own, without
a peer coach?
? How else in your life might you use these tools? With your
family? With your friends?
Let’s go right into peer coaching now.

Find someone you trust to do a 15-minute laser coaching session on
an obstacle that is keeping them from achieving an important goal. Try
one or two of the techniques you just learned. You will each have 15
minutes to be the coach and 15 minutes to be the coachee. Once you
have found your partner, you may begin. Follow the process on the flip
chart. Make sure you conclude each session by agreeing on the goal
that you will work towards before the next peer coaching session.
Make sure it is a SMART goal. Write your goal in your Business
Journal.


FINAL DEBRIEF –10 MINS

? Which of the tools did you use in your peer coaching to think
beyond obstacles?
113
? What worked well?
? What didn’t work as well? Why?
114
MODULE 5, DESIGN YOUR VALUE

PROPOSITION
170 minutes
TIMING
! Prepare the Universal Values flip chart
OUTCOMES • Design a product or service that meets specific needs in the
market
• Communicate the features of that product or service
• Determine key benefits for each feature based on customer
desires
In this module, Participants revise their product or service using all of their
PURPOSE customer knowledge to date. They then apply the redesign and customer
knowledge to determine key benefits and features that should be used in
marketing and selling the product or service.
Product Market Fit Worksheet
MATERIALS Universal Value flip chart
Feature Benefit Worksheet
Flip chart paper
Product market fit 85
MODULE Selling features and benefits 30
SECTIONS Create your features and benefits 30
list
Debrief 15
MODULE NOTES:
115
PRODUCT MARKET FIT – 85 MINS

As you learned in an earlier module, customers value what they want
(not necessarily what they need) and buy what they value. So far, you
have created a basic vision for your business. Then, you created
customer personas to represent your primary customers. Finally, you
learned from your customers what their biggest problems and key
goals are.
Now it’s time to take all of that customer knowledge and design a
product or service that appeals to your customer. Specifically, what
will your product help them do? What will it include? What is a nice to
have? What is a must have?
When you have a product or service that your customers want to buy,
we call it Product Market Fit.
PRODUCT MARKET FIT WORKSHEET – 15 MINS

You’ll use the first part of the Product Market Fit Worksheet to record
the information you learned from your customer interviews. You will
create one Product Market Fit Worksheet for each customer segment.
Use the next 15 minutes to record the problems and goals that your
customers told you were important to them. Then, rank them in the
order of importance. Complete only the first two columns.
work in the first two columns of the worksheet.
Hand out the Product Market Fit Worksheet. Make sure that the
Participants know that ranking means listing in order of importance,
not rating each problem individually.
116
PRODUCT MARKET FIT WORKSHEET

Problems/Goals Rank Feature
117
FAMILY AFRICA PRODUCT MARKET FIT

WORKSHEET
Problems/Goals Rank Feature
Don’t have enough knowledge 6 Coordinate the entire trip based on
to plan their own trip to Africa family desires
Want a vacation that’s 2 Delivers a trip designed for the budget
affordable for the whole family available
Don’t speak the local language 5 Provide an English speaking guide who
stays with the family for the entire trip
Wants to see the “real” East 7 Include both tourist destinations and
Africa more informal experiences
Wants to ensure that there are 3 Use only trusted providers; send
no bad surprises preparation countdown calendars and
packing checklists.
Wants the family to feel safe 1 All locations are carefully selected to be
and comfortable safe and secure. Air lift insurance
available for an extra charge.
Wants a unique vacation for 4 Suggestions are provided based on
their family, as if they planned it individual survey responses. Each
themselves. Doesn’t want a family member completes the survey on
“packaged excursion” their own.
118
FEATURE BRAINSTORM – 45 MINS

Now that you have recorded the problems and goals, you will
brainstorm in a group to come up with any features that you might
need to include to fit your customers’ needs and desires.
Get together in groups of four. One person will begin by sharing their
product or service vision. Then they will share the list of customer
problems and goals that are recorded on their Product Market Fit
Worksheet.
Then, the group will spend 10 minutes brainstorming product or

service features that will appeal to those customers. You’ll only
brainstorm for one customer segment per round.
At the end of 10 minutes, you will rotate to the next group member.
Choose who will go first and begin.
Call time at the end of each 10 minute segment and have Participants
switch roles.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE FEATURES – 20 MINS

Now you’ll have 20 minutes to complete the third column of the
Product Market Fit Worksheet.
Begin with the most important goal or problem for your customer. List
the feature that addresses that goal or problem. Design each feature
to help a customer complete an important task, eliminate a problem,
or achieve a goal. Work down the list of problems and goals in order
of importance adding a feature for each.
complete the worksheet.
SELLING FEATURES AND BENEFITS –

30 MINS
You’ve completed your Product Market Fit Worksheet, which connects
the features that are important to your customers to their problems
and goals. However, that’s not enough to create a compelling
statement about value proposition.
Customers buy what they value. You have to communicate those

values in a way that is important and meaningful to your customers.
We place more value on how a product or service makes us feel

rather than on the facts about a product or service.
119
Features of your product or service are the facts about your product or
service; benefits are the emotional response your customer will
receive from the feature. You want to make sure you sell the benefits
of your product or service rather than the features.
Let’s say I sell a red produce cart with stabilising legs.
? What are the features?
• Red
• Stabilising legs
? What might be a benefit of red?
You can see it easily.
? So what?
You don’t have to worry about where it is.
? So what?
It’s one less thing to worry about.
? So what?
It reduces your stress.
? What process did we just go through?
Picked a feature of the product or service and kept asking “So What?”
until we got to the ultimate benefit.
? What might be a benefit of stabilising legs?
It won’t fall over.
? So what?
Your produce won’t be damaged.
? So what?
You’ll have more produce to sell.
? So what?
You’ll have more money.
UNIVERSAL VALUES – 20 MINS

This seems like a long process just to get to benefits. Why did we go
through this process to determine benefits?
It’s important to emphasise the key benefit, rather than stopping at

one that has less value to your customer. In the example we just
120
worked through, we could have stopped after “The cart won’t fall
over”, because that is a benefit. But a much more powerful benefit is
that you won’t lose money from damaged produce. If we had stopped
with the first benefit, we would have made the customer figure out why
the cart not falling over was valuable to them.
The way we can ensure that we are getting to the biggest benefit is to
go through the So What? process until we arrive at a universal value
and then take one step back. Let’s begin with universal values.
People value what helps them achieve what they want out of life. Most
people want the same things. They want more of some things and
less of others.
? What do you want more of?
Draw a table on the flip chart with 4 columns and 8 rows on it. Title the
second column “More” and the fourth column “Less”.
Use the list below to add a title to each row in light pencil so that you
can use the titles to categorise the responses.
• Money
• Love
• Respect
• Time
• Freedom
• Happiness
• Security
The flip chart table will look like this:
(In pencil) More Less

Money
Love
Respect
Time
Freedom
Happiness
Security
As people offer responses, record their answers in the appropriate row

in the More column (which only you will know at this point). Once you
have at least two responses categorized for each column, use a
marker to make your column titles visible to all.
There are also things we want less of. You can use those things to
create value in your product or service as well. Think about what you
want less of in your life.
121
? What do you want less of?
Repeat the process above, adding to the flip chart.
(In pencil) More (In pencil) Less

Money Stress
Love Uncertainty
Respect Risk
Time Conflict
Freedom Cost
Happiness Difficulties
Security
These are the Universal Values.
CREATE YOUR FEATURES AND

BENEFITS LIST – 30 MINS
When you developed your Product Market Fit, you listed the key
features that would address your customers’ top goals or problems.
You’re now going to create a benefit for each of those features, using
the Feature Benefit Worksheet.
Hand out the Feature Benefit Worksheet.
Let’s walk through the worksheet using our produce cart example.
? What’s the feature?
Stablising legs
? So what?
Cart won’t tip
That goes in the first So What? column.
? So what?
Produce is protected
That goes in the second So What? column.
? So what?
You’ll have more produce to sell.
That goes in the Ultimate Benefit column.
? So what?
You’ll make more money.
122
That goes in the Universal Value column.
Complete the Features and Benefits List worksheet for your product or
service. Begin by adding the features that your customers have told
you are important to them in the order of importance. Then for each
feature, follow the 5 step process to get to the Universal Value. Use
the trick of asking “So What?” to create powerful customer benefits.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
? Think about a product you buy. What features does it offer?
What are the benefits?
? Where might you use the information you created today?
? How can you test whether you have the information that will
influence your customers?
? What surprised you about anything you learned today?

MINS
You will have th hour of class time to apply what you have learned to
For this module, continue to refine your feature benefit list. Think
about how you might test it informally to make sure that it will appeal
to a customer.
? How would you present your list of key features and benefits to
a customer and gather valuable feedback?
Gather at least three ideas from Participants.
Between now and our next class, perform at least two customer tests.
Try to find which feature is MOST important to them and which ones
they don’t seem to care about. See if they can describe the benefit to
you in their own words.
knowledge of your business. You must continue to update it as your
conversations with customers tell you more about what kind of
business they would actually support.
123
coaching session.
124
FEATURES AND BENEFITS WORKSHEET

FEATURE SO WHAT? SO WHAT? ULTIMATE BENEFIT UNIVERSAL
VALUE
125
FAMILY AFRICA FEATURES AND BENEFIT

WORKSHEET
FEATURE SO WHAT? SO WHAT? ULTIMATE UNIVERSAL
BENEFIT VALUE
We deliver You are You know you’ve You will know Less stress
planning and completely completed the that your entire
packing prepared right visa forms, family is fully
guides based before you received the right prepared for a
on the trips leave home vaccinations and trip across the
you choose packed the right world
items and won’t
have any
surprises along
the way
Deep local You’ll see You will have a Your family will Happiness
knowledge more and more authentic have better
and learn more East African memories and
experience about the experience better stories
used to plan “real” East
and deliver Africa
the holiday
Tailored to It will seem You’ll have the Your holiday Respect
your desires as if the holiday you want, will be a
and needs family not the one that’s unique family
planned available adventure
their own
trip and
knew
exactly what
they were
doing
We design The cost of You won’t have You don’t have Money
trips based the trip to spend a to wait to save
on your often keeps fortune on your a huge amount
budget people from trip; you’ll only of money
going to spend what you
Africa can afford
126

PREPARATION
" Rehearse the role plays
MATERIALS
" Agenda flip chart
" Coaching videos
TIMING
ICEBREAKER 25 MINS
CHECK-IN 40 MINS
EXPERIENCE VS. ADVICE 50 MINS
ICEBREAKER – 25 MINS
Divide the group into two teams and have the teams line up in a line
facing you. You need two lines of 8 or more. If you have fewer
participants, you can have them form one line which won’t allow for
competition.
You stand between the two lines. Tell them they are going to compete
to complete some assignments.
Choose from this list in any order:
Line up in order based on:
• tallest to shortest in height

• birthdays, from January to December
• alphabetical order of your mother’s first name
127
• foot size from smallest to largest

• hair length from shortest to longest
• funniest to most serious
• earliest arrival today to latest
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What did you learn about your group members?
? How did you find out how to arrange yourselves?

coaching session.
Today, you have an opportunity to help each other improve your

competitive position. This is also a great opportunity to build
complementary products or services where each of you build on the
other’s weakness in the face of the existing competition.
1. You are about halfway through the course so we want to do a

mid-point check-in. This will give us an opportunity to
address any obstacles that are holding you back and help
ensure that by the end of the course, you have a strong,
sustainable, market-tested business that is ready to go.
2. We’ll follow the check-in with a short learning component on
the difference between sharing advice and sharing
experience and what makes sense for our coaching group.
3. Then we’ll go right into peer coaching. I will remain available
during this long peer coaching session to help out and act as a
sounding board. Just call me over if you get stuck.
This session you will not do laser coaching. Instead, you will walk
around and assist peer coaches. This will help reduce the Participants’
dependency on you as a coach and allow them to begin to work on
their own. Make sure that as you walk around, you don’t take over the
peer coaching sessions. Instead, help guide them by asking additional
questions that they might not have considered.
feel comfortable.
128
started.
We’ll take longer with this mid-point check-in than we do normally.

You’ll need to listen closely to the questions that I am going to ask you
as they will be slightly different from the ones that you’re used to.
As with the regular check-ins, this is an opportunity to find out where

you are with your business idea and applying the concepts you have
learned to your own business. It’s important that we hear all voices in
the group; however, if you don’t feel comfortable talking when we
come to you, you may choose to pass. The check-in allows us to put
away the stray thoughts from the rest of our day and our life and to
focus our attention on the session before us.
the room until everyone has had a chance to speak. I will give you a
bit longer to answer these questions. You will have 5-7 minutes or so.
And remember that we want to hear from everyone.
? What areas that we have covered do you still have questions

about or are unsure of?
? What seems to be the most important business aspect for you

to work on now?
? What are your big takeaways from all of the work that you’ve
been doing?
? How has your thinking changed?
begin the check-in.
EXPERIENCE VS. ADVICE – 50 MINS

Let’s spend a bit of time developing our coaching skills further. We’re
going to see two different scenarios— one with an expert coach
(scenario 1) and one with a novice coach (scenario 2).
Watch carefully to see the differences in the way each coach handles
the scenario. Even in the novice scenario, the coach is doing some
things right. Try to capture these too in your notes.
Either show the video or role play the coaching dialogue using the
script. If you role play, watch the video and rehearse ahead of time to
129
make the demonstration as dramatic and engaging as possible. Pay

careful attention to your body language as this also plays an important
role in coaching.
SCENARIO 1 – 10 MINS
Coach A: Good morning, Grace. How are you today?
Grace: I’m okay [sigh]. But I have a problem that I can’t seem to fix. I
need your help.
Coach A: Is that what you would like to accomplish in today’s

coaching session?
Grace: Yes.
Coach A: Tell me about your problem.
Grace: [sigh; sound frustrated] My new business partner doesn’t seem

to be interested in our business.
Coach A: How do you know that?
Grace: I just get that sense.
Coach A: [lean forward] Tell me what she does that gives you that
sense.
Grace: She doesn’t come in on some days. She’s not at work at least
2 days a week. I’ve been working really hard to make up for her
absence.
Coach A: What are the conditions of your partnership? For example, is

she a part owner? Does she share in the profits and expenses? How
is she your partner?
Grace: She is a 25% partner. We share expenses and profits 75/25.

Starting the business was my idea so I have more invested. But when
she’s not there, I have to do 100% of the work.
Coach A: Are there other effects on your business in addition to you

having to work extra time?
Grace: We sell less on the days when she doesn’t come in.
Customers like to come in and talk to her.
Coach A: Anything else?
Grace: [pause; thinking] Not that I can think of.
Coach A: Are there any positive aspects to your partner not coming in
some days?
Grace: [laughs] It’s much calmer when she’s not there.
130
Coach A: [smile] Anything else?
Grace: I bring lunch in for both of us. When she doesn’t come in, I can
sell her lunch to a man who works in the business next door. I make a
small profit on the sale of her lunch. [pause] What should I do?
Coach A: What do you want from the partnership? How do you want
your partnership to work?
Grace: I want a partner who is committed to the business in the same

way that I am. I want someone who is willing to share the load.
Coach A: Anything else?
Grace: [pause] Maybe. [pause] Maybe I should make a list of the

things I want in a partner.
Coach A: What kinds of things would be on your list?
Grace: Well, I said I want someone who has the same commitment to
the business that I do.
Coach A: [pause to allow Coachee time to think] What else?

[encouraging]
Grace: [pause] I have to think about it.
Coach A: Do you think your partner wants the same things?
Grace: [pause] I don’t know. Maybe I should ask her? [getting excited]
Coach A: So, what are you planning to do?
Grace: What if I make a list of what I want in a partnership?
Coach A: That sounds great. Anything else?
Grace: [pause] Then I’ll ask my partner to make a list too. Then we’ll
get together to compare our lists.
Coach A: I think you’re on your way. What do you want to talk about
next time?
Grace: Let me do this and then we can talk about what happened and
you can help me think about what I might need to do next.
Coach A: Great, see you next week!
NEXT WEEK’S SESSION

Coach A: Good morning, Grace. How are you today?
Grace: Well, I’ve had better days. My partner and I met and it turns out
that she thinks since she’s only getting 25% of the business that she
should only work 25% of the time.
131
Coach A: What would you like to accomplish in our session today?
Grace: I need to figure out how to find a new partner, someone who is
a better match.
Coach A: How will you know that they are a better match?
Grace: I already identified what I want in a partner for the conversation

that I just had with my current partner. I’ll just use that list again.
Coach A: Great work! Sounds like you’re on the right path.
MAKE YOUR LIST – 10 MINS

Now, list the things that Coach A, the expert coach, did in order to
coach Grace.
You may need to show the scenario again to allow Participants to

identify the specific skills.
Coach B: Good morning, Grace. How are you today?
Grace: I’m okay. But I have a problem that I can’t seem to fix? I need
your help.
Coach B: Let’s start by you telling me about your problem.
Grace: My new business partner doesn’t seem to be interested in our

business.
Coach B: In what ways?
Grace: She doesn’t come in on some days. She’s not at work at least
2 days a week. I’ve been working really hard to make up for her
absence.
Coach B: It sounds like you have a problem all right.
Grace: What should I do?
Coach B: You need to tell her that she needs to focus more on the
business. You come in every day, right? You both need to spend
equal time on the business to be equal partners.
Grace: How should I do that?
Coach B: [counting on fingers] Arrange a meeting at your business

place. Try to make sure that you don’t have customers who might
overhear your conversation. Then have a truthful conversation with
her about her missing time. Tell her about the impact of her actions on
you and on the business. Then tell her what you want her to do: to
come every day to work. It’s only fair.
132
Grace: Okay. I’ll do that.
Coach B: Good for you, come back and tell me what happens.

Coach B: Good morning, Grace. How are you today?
Grace: Not too good. Your solution didn’t work. Now I’ve lost my
business partner. I need to find a new one and in a hurry. Rather than
helping me fix my problem, you have now caused me more trouble.
What can you do about it?
MAKE YOUR LIST – 10 MIN

Now, list the things that the novice coach did when coaching Grace. If
there are actions that the novice coach took that didn’t seem right,
record them but put an X next to each one that seemed wrong.
You may need to show the scenario again to allow Participants to

identify the specific skills.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
? What was the biggest difference between these two
scenarios?
The novice coach provided advice. When her advice didn’t work, the
coachee blamed her for giving bad information. The coachee was no
longer responsible for the outcome of her actions.
You saw in the two different coaching approaches how giving advice
can backfire. However, in this room there is a wealth of experience
which each of you should be able to draw from. We learned about
some of that experience on the first day of our coaching session,
when we created the web of strengths.
Think for a minute about the role play:
Grace has a partner who doesn’t show up or show up on time.
? Has that happened to anyone here? Raise your hand if you

have had to deal with someone who was always late.
You may use a different problem that is more applicable to your group.
Just make sure that it’s simple enough to talk about quickly.
? Those who have your hands up, keep your hand up if you were
able to change that behaviour or solve that problem. What did
you do?
Focus responses so that they only reflect direct experience and are
not telling someone what they should do, even in an indirect way. For
example, if someone says, “You have to. . . you should, etc.” that’s
133
advice. You want to hear the actual experience and in enough detail
that everyone can picture how it worked. After each contribution ask:
? What other issues arose that you didn’t consider when you . . .
Gather at least three answers.
You can see that each person solved the problem in a different way.
You might take a piece from each of the experiences that were shared
to create your own plan. The difference is that we are all the experts of
our own lives; we are not experts in the lives of others.


Business Journal.

? What did you learn from today’s mid-point check-in?
134
? What surprised you about advice vs. experience?
? What will you need to focus on to help your peer coach partner
without giving advice?
135
MODULE 6, THE VALUE PROPOSITION

SHEET
140 minutes
TIMING
OUTCOMES • Record key points from their detailed product descriptions on the
Value Proposition Sheet of the Business Model Canvas
• Record key points from their detailed feature/benefit descriptions
on the Value Proposition Sheet of the Business Model Canvas
• Calculate the competitive value of their features
• Estimate the cost of the problem to the customer, either in
financial or other costs
In this module, Participants begin to record their detailed product or
PURPOSE service learnings on the Value Proposition Sheet of the Business Model
Canvas. Even though earlier work represents a deeper level of thinking
that will be recorded there, the Business Model Canvas will act as a big
picture record of what the business does, how it works and what is
needed to deliver.
Value Proposition Sheet
MATERIALS Competitive Position Worksheet
Flip chart paper
Introduction 5
MODULE The “Description” block 10
SECTIONS The “Key benefits” block 10
Improving your competitive position 70
The “What the competition doesn’t 10
provide” block
Problem cost 15
Debrief 10
MODULE NOTES:
136
You went through a deep process to arrive at the information that
you’ll now add to the first two columns of the Value Proposition Sheet.
You began by assuming what kind of product or service might appeal
to customers. Then you chose specific customer segments and
named them. Then you tested your feature list with those specific
customer segments to discover what was most important to them.
Your thinking has come a long way. In this module, you’ll begin by
adding the information that you developed in the last module and then
extend that thinking to beat your competition.
You will use the Value Proposition Sheet to record the key ideas about
the value proposition that you are delivering for your product or
service.
Hand out the Value Proposition Sheet.
THE “DESCRIPTION”
BLOCK – 10 MINS
In the description block, write a brief
description of the product or service you are
selling for each customer segment based on
the feature list you created in the last module.
Using the Family Africa example, I would write the following across
from the customer segment “Middle-class American families”:
Tailored holidays (including packing and planning guides) that

meet customers’ desires and budget; planned using deep local
knowledge.
I would write the following across from the customer segment “Tour
Operators”:
Access to customers looking for authentic, local travel

experiences.
Complete the description blocks for your products and/or services now
for each of your customer segments.
I will walk around and answer any questions that you might have as
you work.
THE “KEY BENEFITS” BLOCK – 10

MINS
Based on the work you did in the last module on benefits, pick one or
two key benefits that you believe are MOST important to each
137
customer segment. Write them in each benefit block. You may find
that several features have similar benefits. What you are looking for
here are the ones that are most important to customers. You’ll use
the in-depth work that you did on Features and Benefits when you
create any marketing materials for your product or service but for now,
you just need to capture the MOST important ones on your Business
Model Canvas.
Think back to our Family Africa role play.
? What benefits seemed to be more important to our customer

than others?
Safety, Money
I will walk around and answer any questions that you might have as
you work.
IMPROVING YOUR COMPETITIVE

POSITION – 70 MINS
Knowing what your competition is doing will help you design a product
or service that competes strongly against their offer. It’s important that
you capture your business competition in some way on your Business
Model Canvas.
We’re going to collect that information first on a Competitive Position

Worksheet.
In the first column, I list the features of my product or service.
Create the table below on a flip chart as you explain each part.
In the second column, I list the directly related features my

competitors offer.
Next, I compare my features to those of the competition and indicate

whether my feature is stronger or weaker than what my competition
offers.
Lastly, I indicate whether that feature is important to the target

customer.
FAMILY AFRICA WALK THROUGH – 10 MINS

Let’s do one together based on Family Africa. The current competitors
to Family Africa are the safari tour operators.
138
MY COMPETITION STRONGER IMPORTANT

FEATURE FEATURE OR WEAKER TO TARGET
THAN CUSTOMER?
COMPETITION
Planning and Standardised list Stronger Yes
packing of what to do and
guides what to bring
Guaranteed Positive, objective Same Yes
quality reviews
Local Local knowledge Same Yes
knowledge and experience
and
experience
Tailored to Pre-designed Stronger Yes
your desires package
Budget Luxury lodging Weaker No
lodging
Can include Usually a single Stronger Yes
multiple country
countries
COMPLETE YOUR COMPETITIVE POSITION WORKSHEET – 20

MINS
Hand out the Competitive Position Worksheet.
You’ll have 20 minutes to complete the Competitive Position

Worksheet for your value proposition.
I will walk around and answer any questions as you work.
IMPROVE YOU POSITION – 30 MINS

Look at your Competitive Position Worksheet, think about where there
are significant gaps in your competitors’ offers.
? What do you need to add to your product or service in order to

fill the gaps that your competition faces?
You’re going to work with a partner of your choice to help each other
develop a product or service that stands up against everything the
competition offers that is important to your customer. You don’t need
to worry about the rest of the competition’s features now that you
know what your customers want.
You’ll each have 15 minutes to improve your Competitive Position.
Begin by sharing your Competitive Position Worksheet, pointing out

the features of your product or service that are weaker than the
139
competition. Then together you’ll brainstorm on how you can

strengthen those features.
Find a partner of your choosing and pick who will go first.
THE “WHAT THE COMPETITION

DOESN’T PROVIDE” BLOCK – 10 MINS
Take out your Value Proposition Sheet. In the column “Competition
doesn’t provide”, list the 2-3 key features of your product that make
your business the most competitive for each customer segment based
on the work you did on your Competitive Position Worksheet.
THE “CURRENT COST” BLOCK – 15

MINS
In the final column of your Value Proposition Sheet, list the current
cost of the problem to the customer. For the Family Africa example,
the current cost is time spent researching the holiday and higher
holiday costs as a result of going with safari tours. Don’t just think
about the costs in terms of money or lost time. For example, there
might be an emotional cost of not being able to go at all because the
customer can’t afford it.
When you look at your Value Proposition Sheet, you should see all of
the information about your product or service that is important to
customers.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What did you learn about your business that you hadn’t
thought about before?
? What do you still need to know about your competition?
? How can you find out what you need to know?
? What do you still need to know about any of the other portions
of the Business Model Canvas that you have completed to
date?
? How can you find out that information?
140

MINS
In the next module, you’re going to develop a second test of your
assumptions about your product or service by talking to customers
again.
You’ll need the information that you have developed about your
product or service to be as clear and correct as you can make it at this
point before talking to customers.
Make sure you review and update all of the information on your
Business Model Canvas before our next group coaching session.
Remember, the Business Model Canvas should always reflect your

most recent knowledge of your business.
coaching session.
141
COMPETITIVE POSITION WORKSHEET

MY FEATURE COMPETITION STRONGER OR IMPORTANT TO
FEATURE WEAKER THAN TARGET
COMPETITION CUSTOMER?
142

Your objective in the group coaching sessions for modules 6-8 is to
keep handing over the control of the group coaching session to the
group. This way, by the end of the course, the group will be self-reliant
and can continue on without you.
There is some flexibility in the schedule proposed below; 30 minutes

or more are not scheduled. This is to allow the group to make
decisions on where to spend the additional time.
ICEBREAKER 20-30 MINS
CHECK-IN 15-20 MINS
Q&A SESSION 30 MINS
DEBRIEF 30 MINS
TOTAL 135-150 MINS
ICEBREAKERS – 20-30 MINS

At this point, the group should be well-established. However, you may
find that there are group needs that require more attention. You can
draw attention and pull out learnings by carefully choosing icebreakers
that emphasise certain areas. Choose your icebreakers with purpose.
They can be fun, but they should also contribute to learning and/or
group development. For example, if you need to improve listening
skills, use an icebreaker that sparks learning about listening skills.
CHECK-IN – 15-20 MINS

Always include a 15-minute check-in to bring Participant attention to
the coaching session and allow participants to share experiences,
learnings, and outstanding questions or thoughts. Don’t extend this
session longer than 15-20 minutes. Keeping responses within the 15-
20 minutes forces Participants to focus on the two or three most
important points.
Q&A SESSION – 30 MINS

Follow the check-in with a 30-minute question and answer session
where Participants help each other. This is not an optional time to
bring in outside experts or speakers. The danger in bringing in
speakers from the outside is twofold:
143
• Outsiders will not be familiar with the version of the Business

Model Canvas that we are using and could confuse
Participants
• Outside experts will provide expert advice, which has no place
in coaching
Outside experts and expert panels will be more useful later in the
Enterprise Track, once the StartUp! Foundation Course has been
completed and Participants begin to deal with more traditional
business concepts.
During the Q&A session, resist the urge to step in and answer
questions until you have determined that the group cannot move on.
Only then, should you step in. When you intervene, do it with
questions, not answers. The group should begin to see the expertise
in their own experience.
There are a number of different ways you can run the Q&A sessions:
QUESTION GROUPS
Divide Participants into small groups. Ask each group to develop a list
of questions. Give each list to a new group for answers.
EXPERIENCE PANEL
You can create a Participant panel that the remaining Participants
interview. The panel can address questions about their experiences.
Make sure that the questions and the answers focus on experience
and not advice.
Some example questions include:
? What was the most important mistake you ever made and what
did you learn from it?
? What do you know now that you wished you had known when
you first started working on your business?
Consider picking a guest moderator from the Participants for the Q&A
sessions.

Follow the same process as for the earlier group coaching sessions.
This can be done as one longer session (Participants have 20 minutes
each as coach and coachee) or two shorter sessions (Participants
have 10 minutes each as coach and coachee and then find a new
partner for a second session). Let the Participants decide which
approach they want to take.
DEBRIEF – 30 MINS
It’s important to debrief when you aren’t facilitating. Plan enough time
for the group to share key learnings. It’s one of the biggest benefits of
144
getting a group of learners together and a practice that you want the
group to continue after you are no longer involved.
145
MODULE 7, TEST YOUR MINIMUM VIABLE

PRODUCT
180 minutes
TIMING
! Prepare the Application to Own Business Questions flip chart

OUTCOMES • Design a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
• Design a customer test to get feedback on their MVP
In this module, Participants design an MVP based on everything they
PURPOSE know about their customers’ needs and wants. They will use that MVP to
get feedback on the attractiveness of the business offering and to revise
their product or service to be more attractive to customers.
Customer Test Worksheet
MATERIALS Application to Own Business Questions flip chart
Introduction 20
MODULE Design your MVP 60
SECTIONS Design the customer test 80
Debrief 10
MODULE NOTES:
146
WHAT IS A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP)? – 10 MINS
This module is all about testing your solution to the customer problem.
That is, you will be testing the product or service you are planning to
sell. It is not about trying to sell your product or service to the
customer. It is about finding out whether your solution fits a serious
problem or need and therefore whether your business will be
successful.
In order to test your solution, you need to have a model or sample of

your product or service. We call that sample, the Minimum Viable
Product. What that means is that the sample doesn’t include every
feature that you might include in your final product. It only includes the
most important product or service features, those that your customers
have told you that they must have. This sample is NOT a presentation.
You want to use this sample to test your product or service with your
customers so the sample should look and feel and behave like a real
product as much as possible.
To find out if you have created a product or service that customers will
buy, you’ll test that product or service with a small group of target
customers.
Let’s look at one example of an MVP.
Jengo has two friends, Mosi and Ochieng who run moto delivery
services between their village and a larger city. One day when they
are all three together, Mosi says his feet really hurt because
yesterday, he ran out of gas and had to walk most of the way between
the village and the city. Ochieng says that has happened to him too, at
least 2 times in the last 2 months. As Jengo listens, he wonders if
there is an opportunity to provide a mid-point gasoline station that
would help rural motos.
? How can Jengo test his idea using an MVP, without building a
full service station?
Here is one possible answer: He can find a location on the road where
he can set up a sign that offers gas for sale. He can have 2-3 gallons
of gas in a gas can.
That’s an MVP. It includes only those features that his customers

absolutely need. In this case, they need gas that is closer than the
city.
? How can he test his MVP?
(Think this part through on your own before you deliver this module:
This is a tricky example. Jengo could and probably will sell gas to
147
people who are desperate, however he needs to make sure that

people understand that this location is only a test. He needs to avoid
making business, service or price commitments until he has worked
through the entire business model. Then, he can officially enter the
market with a well-thought out business, without having to make a lot
of changes so that his customers don’t know what to expect. Setting
consistent expectations with customers is a key issue in keeping
customers. )
He can sit at one location and see how many times people come by
needing gas. He can move the location further from the village or
closer. He can talk to people who get gas from him and ask them what
they might want and where. He might find that they would like a
gasoline delivery service instead of a location. He can find out how
much they will pay by testing several prices. He is NOT, however,
setting up a permanent location at this point and he should not be
selling gas as if this is a real business.
? How is the location on the side of the road different from

Jengo's final product idea?
Here are some possible answers:
• no permanent location
• no building
• nothing but gasoline
Let’s see how another startup business tested an MVP.
Daguerra knows from talking to city dwellers that they have or would
like very small gardens to produce fresh vegetables. Through
customer interviews she learned that the biggest challenges are in the
space available, the time spent maintaining the garden, the low yield
or produce, and access to water for irrigation. She believes that if she
can solve these three problems for her customers she will have a
sustainable business.
Daguerra researched small space gardens on the Internet and learned

about keyhole gardens. She wonders if this might be a business idea
that people would pay for.
In order to test her solution, she creates a keyhole garden in the small
garden space behind her house. She plants it with a variety of fast
growing plants because she wants to be able to show off the results
as quickly as possible.
She invites a member from each of five neighbourhoods in the area to

tour her garden when it is at its most prolific. As they look, she
describes how it works and tells them how much time it takes her.
148
One person says, “I want one of these keyhole gardens!” Another

echoes the thought, “How much will it cost me to have one of these?”.
“Can I build one of these myself?” Daguerra discovers that she might
have a good Minimum Viable Product.
Now, let’s look at a Family Africa MVP example.
THE FAMILY AFRICA MVP – 10 MINS

? You remember the business idea behind The Family Africa as
well as the role play of the customer interview. Based on what
the customer said, what might I want to include in a Family
Africa MVP?
• Some version of the planning process.

• Some version of the preparation calendar and packing list.
• Something that shows the end result.
Here what I might include in my MVP:
The Family Africa prototype will have three parts:
• a slideshow of how people currently have to plan and pay for a

holiday in East Africa based on what’s currently available to
tourists from America
The slideshow will include how the family has to plan based on
current offerings, what they get as part of the package now,
and a summary of the major things that can go wrong.
• a web demo of the new Family Africa planning and booking

process
The demo will be limited to a simple holiday planner with no

more than 3 choices for each category. When the categories
are chosen, the website will appear to create a customised
itinerary based on the choices, a set of planning and packing
guides, and a preparation calendar that shows the schedule of
tasks the family needs to complete before boarding the plane
to East Africa.
• a slideshow of a resulting Family Africa holiday experience
The Family Africa holiday experience slideshow will use

photographs along with an accompanying story of how the
family spent their holiday. I will narrate the slideshow.
149
DESIGN YOUR MVP – 60 MINS

CREATE YOUR MVP DESCRIPTION– 30 MINS
What might your Minimum Viable Product look like? Create a
prototype that demonstrates no more than the top 3-5 features that
directly address the most important problems or goals of your
customer segments. It should be something that customers can
experience. Try to create your MVP that is built from assets that are
already available to you or can be gained at minimal cost. The
purpose of your MVP is to test your idea without spending a lot of
money first.
If you are offering a service, you might consider picking one potential
customer to serve in return for allowing 4-5 other customers to
observe the demonstration. If you are creating a physical product,
assemble a simple prototype that your customers can interact with,
that they can hold in their hands.
Record the parts of your MVP that you want to include and then
describe how you will create something that the customer can
experience. You can write it out, or map it in a drawing or chart,
whatever works for you.
TEST YOUR MVP – 20 MINS

An important point to make about the MVP and your customer test:
You will NOT be selling your MVP. The MVP is only a sample and is
the minimum product that a customer might buy. After you complete
several successful MVP tests, you will use everything you have
learned to set your selling price and to add any features that you need
to make you the MOST competitive in the market you can be at this
point in time. What you’re doing here is learning how to get your
product or service right for the marketplace. However, pay close
attention to customers who want to buy it as soon as they see it. You
will be able to go back to them as soon as your real product is ready.
For this next step, you will work with a partner to test whether or not
your MVP will demonstrate your product or service adequately. You
will describe or demonstrate your MVP as simply as possible.
Find a partner and choose who will go first. Presenter, you will have
10 minutes to describe your MVP and get feedback. Observer, you will
play the part of a customer. Pay attention to the parts that seem most
exciting as well as areas that aren’t entirely clear to you.
REVISE YOUR MVP DESCRIPTION – 10 MINS

Based on the feedback that you have just received, adjust your MVP
description.
150
This description is only the beginning. You will create an actual MVP
during the application to own business.
DESIGN THE CUSTOMER TEST – 80

MINS
Now that you know what you are going to create, you need to plan
how you will test the features that are included. You are now going to
plan the customer test of your prototype. You will want to test your
MVP with as many customers as you can, until you start to hear the
same things from the majority of your customers.
You will begin your customer test by first presenting the customer
problem you are solving. Then, you will present your solution as
demonstrated by your MVP. As you present your solution, you will
look for customer reactions.
The format for the test in provided in the Customer Test Worksheet.
Let’s walk through the worksheet now.
Hand out the Customer Test Worksheet.
? What would you present in Part 1?
Who are you and why are you here. Remember, you are still not
selling anything.
PART 2 – PRESENT THE PROBLEM
? What would you present in Part 2?
Your understanding of the key problems they face.
You will start the customer test by briefly describing the problem. Go
back to your Problem Validation Worksheet for the top 3 problems you
identified. Write them into your Customer Test Worksheet.
Take time in the customer test to confirm that the problem is an

important one for the customer.
PART 3 – PRESENT THE SOLUTION
? What would you do in Part 3?
Show your MVP to the customer and observe the customer

responses.
151
As you present your solution, you must watch for customer reactions.
Make note of any and all reactions. Are they excited? Are they paying
attention? Do they ask you where they can get one of these?
This will give you important insight into whether you have a product or
service that customers will value.
PART 4 – WHAT WILL THEY PAY?
? What will you do for Part 4?
In the customer test, you will also need to find out what your
customers are willing to pay to solve the problem. This question is a
hard one and should be kept very informal. You aren’t presenting a
pricing strategy here. You are trying to find out what value they place
on solving the problem.
? What kinds of questions might you ask to help you understand

how much to charge?
Some questions you might want to ask include:
How much does this problem currently cost you?
What important goal does this problem keep you from achieving? How
valuable is that goal to you?
What do you currently spend to solve this problem, including

manpower, equipment, delays, etc.?
PART 5 – THE CLOSING
? What would you do in Part 5
Thank your customer for their time and tell them how their time has
helped you. Mention any insights that they provided that were
particularly helpful.
COMPLETE YOUR CUSTOMER TEST WORKSHEET – 30 MINS

Now you’ll have 30 minutes to complete the Customer Test Worksheet
for your business. I’ll walk around and answer any questions you
might have as you work.
152
CUSTOMER TEST WORKSHEET

Who are you and why are you here. Remember, you are still not selling anything.
PART 2 – PRESENT THE PROBLEM

The top 3 problems you identified.
PART 3 – PRESENT THE SOLUTION

Show your MVP to the customer and observe the customer responses.
PART 4 – WHAT WILL THEY PAY?

Some questions to ask:
PART 5 – THE CLOSING

Thank your customer for their time and tell them how their time has helped you. Mention any
insights that they provided that were particularly helpful.
153
TEST YOUR PRESENTATION WITH A PARTNER – 40 MINS

Find a partner and decide who will go first. Presenter, you have 15
minutes to go through your Customer Test Presentation.
Observer/customer, you have 5 minutes for feedback. Did you
understand what the presenter was trying to accomplish? Were there
questions that he or she should have asked but didn’t? Were there
questions that might be clearer?
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? How did you use your knowledge of your target customer to
design your MVP?
? What questions do you have about creating your MVP?
? What did you learn as you decided what your MVP would
include and not include?
? What surprised you about your partner’s feedback?
? What did you change, add or eliminate based on that

feedback?
? What might you do if your customer doesn’t like your MVP?
This is what this stage is all about. Will your customers buy what you
plan to produce?
Find out what it is that doesn’t work for them. Where is the problem?
• Does it not include their important features? Does it need to

include something more or different? What would make them
want to buy it?
• Does it not work the way they would like it to work? Find out
how they would picture it working in a perfect world.
• Are you solving a problem that is important to them? If not, you
go back to the customer problem validation.
Learn the details about what doesn’t work for them. Then you go back
and rebuild your MVP based on their feedback.

180 MINS
154
your assumptions. Each module will require its own test. For this
module, Create your MVP.
CREATE YOUR MVP

You have a strong description of what your MVP should include and
how it should behave. Your application to own business is to develop
an actual prototype that customers can interact with.
We will be pre-testing prototypes during the coaching session so you

should have created it before that session.
TEST YOUR MVP

Pick 5-7 potential customers to test your MVP with. Bring someone
with you who can take notes during the conversations. Make sure you
talk to at least 5 customers before the next module.
Show the application to own business questions on a flip chart.
Make sure that you can answer the following questions from your test:
1. How did your potential customers react to your product or

service when they first saw it?
2. Does your solution solve their problems? Which features are

the MOST important? In what order?
3. How badly did they seem to want your product or solution?

Would they be willing to pay for it? Did anyone ask, “Where
can I buy this?”
4. What did you learn that surprised you?
5. What needs to change in the way you have been thinking

about your product or service?
coaching session.
155

SESSION – 60 MINS
IN this group coaching session and group coaching session 8, Interns
will not do the greyed out sections. This is done in order to preserve
more time for them to perform the Application to Business activities
during class time. However, when you hold group coaching sessions 7
and 8, explain that this is does not reflect what they will do in the field.
Group Coaching Session 8 will be the final group coaching session.
Your objective in the group coaching sessions for modules 6-8 is to

keep handing over the control of the group coaching session to the
group. This way, by the end of the course, the group will be self-reliant
and can continue on without you.
There is some flexibility in the schedule proposed below; 30 minutes

or more are not scheduled. This is to allow the group to make
decisions on where to spend the additional time.
CHECK-IN 15-20 MINS
Q&A SESSION 20 MINS
DEBRIEF 30 MINS
TOTAL 135-150 MINS

Icebreakers – 20-30 mins

For example, if you need to improve listening skills, use an icebreaker
that sparks learning about listening skills.
Check-in – 15-20 mins
Always include a 15-minute check-in to bring Participant attention to

the coaching session and allow participants to share experiences,
learnings, and outstanding questions or thoughts. Don’t extend this
session longer than 15-20 minutes. Keeping responses within the 15-
20 minutes forces Participants to focus on the two or three most
important points.
156


Participants
in coaching
business concepts.
QUESTION GROUPS
EXPERIENCE PANEL
and not advice.
sessions.

157

Debrief – 30 mins
158
MODULE 8, REVENUE AND PRICING

STRATEGY
180 minutes
TIMING

OUTCOMES • Decide on revenue models that are appropriate for each customer
segment
• Determine the out-of-pocket expenses necessary for creating a
product or service
• Establish a price for their product or service for each customer
segment
• Use that price to estimate annual revenue
In this module, Participants can explore a variety of ways from making
PURPOSE money from a variety of customers, using the same product but different
revenue models. The use of different revenue models will determine
different pricing and could help Participants appeal to more customers
than they have originally planned to serve. They will also establish a
baseline price for their product or service, below which they cannot go
and still make money.
Flip chart paper
MATERIALS Revenue Sheet
Pricing Strategy Sheet
Customer Values Worksheet
Revenue Models 35
MODULE Using value to set prices 45
SECTIONS Learning what the competition 5
charges
Hard costs 35
Setting your price 40
Calculating annual revenue 10
Debrief 5
MODULE NOTES:
159
REVENUE MODELS – 35 MINS

When we talk about the Revenue Sheet of the Business Model
Canvas Poster, we are not only talking about how much money you
will make. We are also talking about how you will make money.
Let’s look at a simple business story that includes many revenue

models.
Gisela is a fine tailor. Her cousin, Beta has asked Gisela to make a
formal dress for her for a big function that she is attending. Together
they pick out the fabric for the dress and Gisela figures out how much
time she will spend making the dress. Beta attends several fittings to
get the dress just right. Gisela delivers the dress and Beta pays her for
the time she spent and the cost of the material. Beta wears it to the
function where it is greatly admired.
Beta is invited to another event and doesn’t want to wear the same
dress. Gisela contacts another customer for whom she has made a
dress that she believes Beta will like. Gisela asks if she can borrow
the dress for a friend. Her customer says yes, knowing that Gisela will
take care of the dress. Gisela alters the dress to fit Beta and charges
her a fee for tailoring plus a fee to rent the dress.
Beta’s dress again is a success. When Beta comes to return the

dress, she asks if Gisela might have customers who need accessories
to go with their dresses. Beta is known for her stylish accessorising.
Gisela thinks about it and the next time a customer rents a dress, she
asks if the customer needs shoes or jewellery to go with it. The
customer is interested and Gisela sends the customer to Beta, who
rents her accessories. Gisela charges a small fee for connecting Beta
to the customer.
Gisela sends out flyers to local women’s groups offering her formal
dress services. The flyer also has a coupon for 10% off of any fabric
that the customer purchases through Gisela’s favourite fabric store.
Gisela receives 2% of every purchase directly from the fabric store for
every one of her customers who buys using the coupon.
Gisela’s happy customers tell their friends about Gisela’s business.

Her business grows and she builds a network of customers and
dresses.
Gisela has one group of customers who seem to attend a lot of

events. She decides to offer a monthly subscription service that would
give them access to a wide range of dresses. The subscription fee
would include the charges for alteration and cleaning.
160
Title a flip chart Revenue Models and write the name of each revenue
model (underlined) as Participants answer the questions below.
? What are all the ways that Gisela made money?
She sold a dress
An outright sale where ownership is transferred is called an asset

sale.
She rented a dress
Temporary access to an asset is a rental model.
She put two customers together so that they could do business
This is a broker model, where you make money by connecting people.
? Where else might we have talked about a broker revenue

model?
Tour operators would pay a commission to Family Africa for

connecting them to customers.
? How else did Gisela make money?
She made money from the fabric store in return for sending them
customers through her coupon.
This is advertising revenue, where Gisela receives money for

advertising a product or service for another business.
She allowed customers to subscribe to a dress service.
This is a subscription model, where the customer pays one price to

have constant access to products or services.
Gisela had five different ways to make money.
There are two others that are worth noting; they might not have
worked well for Gisela but we see them all around us.
The first is a usage fee. The more you use it, the more you pay.
? What would be an example of this kind of revenue model?
Mobile phones, electricity.
The second is a license fee. This is a fee that is charged for use of a
piece of intellectual property.
? What would be an example of this kind of revenue model?
Software or mobile phone applications.
161
ADDING INFORMATION TO THE REVENUE SHEET – 15 MINS

Hand out the Revenue Sheet.
Look at each of your customer segments. What revenue models make

the most sense for your customer segments for your products or
services? It might be that you, like Gisela, have more than one
revenue model per customer segment.
On the Revenue Sheet, write the name of your customer in the

“Who?” column. Then,
write the type of revenue
model(s) that you will offer
that customer. Next,
record the number of
customers that you plan
to serve each year. You
calculated this number in
an earlier module when you figured out your business market share.
You’ll come back to complete this sheet after you’ve determined your
price.
USING VALUE TO SET PRICES – 45

MINS
Hand out the Pricing Strategy
Sheet.
Now that you have decided

HOW you will make money,
let’s look at what kind of
prices you might charge for
the customer in each revenue
stream.
Let’s look at the Pricing

Strategy Sheet now.
Setting prices is one of the

hardest things that businesses have to do. It’s an art and not a
science. The idea is to charge the highest reasonable price for your
product in order to maximise the money you make on it. One key
mistake that many new business owners make is to price their product
too low because they believe that makes a difference to their
customers. It might, to some. Then again, it might not. It depends on
the customer and what the customer values.
162
You will complete each column of the Pricing Strategy Sheet to come
up with a reasonable price for each revenue stream.
You’ll take several factors into account to set an initial price. Then
you’ll test that price with some of your target customers.
The first factor to consider is what the customer values.
Imagine that there are six customers who are choosing which laundry
soap to buy.
1. The first customer looks at the price on each box of soap and
picks the brand that is cheapest.
2. The second customer reads the label on each box of soap and
picks the one that is environmentally safe.
3. The third customer picks the one that says it gets whites whiter
than the other leading brands.
4. The fourth customer doesn’t go to the store but has laundry
soap delivered.
5. The fifth customer buys the soap that comes in a waterproof
box that she can use afterwards to store other things.
6. The sixth customer buys the brand that offers a money back
guarantee.
? What do each of these customers value?
1. Low cost
2. Low impact on the environment
3. Performance of the product
4. Convenience
5. Added benefit
6. Lowered risk of a wrong decision
It’s easy to assume that price is the ONE thing that determines
whether or not customers will buy your product or service. But, as you
can see from the laundry soap example, that’s not always the case.
You need to figure out what your customer values and then determine
a price for delivering on all those values.
Customers often value more than one type of value proposition.
FAMILY AFRICA EXAMPLE WALKTHROUGH – 10 MINS

Hand out the Family Africa Customer Values
Worksheet.
Let’s look at the Family Africa Customer Values Worksheet. In the first
column of the worksheet are a number of different Value Propositions.
Then, for the Value Propositions offered by Family Africa, in the
second column the reasons why customers value this is listed. Lastly,
163
in the third column, how Family Africa plan to deliver this value is
described.
164
FAMILY AFRICA CUSTOMER VALUES WORKSHEET

VALUE WHAT YOUR CUSTOMER VALUES HOW FAMILY AFRICA
PROPOSITION DELIVERS THE VALUE
PROPOSITION
Newness
Performance A quality experience Guaranteed quality
Customisation Holiday experiences that are unique to their Customisable from website
interests, budgets, and needs
Getting the job A simple process of coordinating all of the Concierge service that
done components of a complicated family holiday manages the total holiday
experience
Design
Brand/Status
Price
Cost reduction An affordable holiday to East Africa We offer the most value for the
money of any tour operator in
East Africa
Risk reduction A safe holiday in East Africa A full set of planning guides
plus a personal tour guide is
provided to ensure your holiday
goes smoothly
Accessibility Ability to take a trip to East Africa Based on your budget
Convenience A convenient way to consolidate and One stop shop to plan a holiday
coordinate disjointed tours to make one with lots of variety
entire trip
165
COMPLETE THE CUSTOMER VALUES WORKSHEET – 20 MINS

Hand out the Customer Values Worksheet.
You’ll complete a Customer Values Worksheet for each product or

service you plan to offer.
Think about everything you know about your customer now. What do
your customers value? You can use the list in the worksheet as a
starting point. However, your customer may have additional values.
Look at their behaviours, problems, and goals to help you understand
what they value. Look back at your Product Market Fit Worksheet.
What do your customers value in problem solver and goal achiever
features?
Complete the worksheet by filling in as many specific examples of

customer values you can. You will not be able to fill in all of the rows
as your customers will not value each of these Value Propositions
equally.
The first column lists the type of Value Proposition. Decide which of
these types are relevant for your customer. They won’t all be.
Use the second column to fill out specific details on how your
customer sees that value proposition. Is it important? Why or why not?
In the third column, describe how your product or service meets that
Value Proposition.
I will walk around while you work to answer any questions you might
have.
There are additional examples for each Value Proposition at the end
of this section if you need to enhance Participant understanding. You
should also create examples of your own that are applicable to your
Participants.
166
CUSTOMER VALUES WORKSHEET

Value proposition What your customer How your product or
values service delivers the Value
Proposition
Newness – totally unique
offering
Performance – improved
functions in a product or
service
Customisation – a product or
service tailored to each
customer’s needs
Getting the job done – full
service offering; everything is
taken care of
Design – stands out because
of the way it looks or because
of its high quality
Brand/Status – customers buy
because of the name and
social reputation
Price – low cost or increased
value for same price
Cost reduction – helps the
customer reduce their
business costs or cost of living
Risk reduction – provides a
guarantee against the
unknown
Accessibility – new customers
who couldn’t get the product or
service before
Convenience – Making things
easier
167
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF EACH TYPE OF VALUE

PROPOSITION
Value Proposition Product example Service example
Newness Post-it notes you can stick, Ability to take care of all your
unstick, rearrange, and re-stick banking needs from your mobile
phone
Performance Gets your clothes cleaner and In addition to doing your laundry,
whiter than ever before we will pick up and deliver your
clothes
Customisation Customised cloth doll: Upload a Select which options you want for
photo of your child’s face and your spa package
we will print it on a cloth doll
Getting the job done A carpet company who used to We will escort your child to school,
sell carpet to businesses now pick him/her up after, tutor until you
rents the carpet. They take care come home, and deliver your child
of the installation, any cleaning, home
and the final removal once the
rug is worn out.
Design An ultrathin, ultralight tablet with We will create an elegant business
a shiny red cover identity for you
Brand/Status Mercedes Benz A well-known luxury hair salon
Price Get 20% more shampoo than Choose three housecleaning
the leading brand for the same services and get a fourth for free
cost
Cost reduction Do you eat out to avoid Outsourced customer support
cooking? Pick up one of our
“heat and eat” meals for two and
pay less than for a single
restaurant meal
Risk reduction A free one year warranty for Don’t hire additional help only to lay
product replacement them off. We’ll help you manage
your customer support during peak
cycles.
Accessibility Don’t have a printing company Motorcycle taxi allows customers to
nearby? Design and print a 4 pay less and still be moved from
colour business card online place to place on their own
schedule
Convenience Digital camera or camera phone We allow you to download millions
that bypasses photo production of songs right from your home
by allowing photos to be computer and play them on any
emailed directly device
168
Now, transfer what you have learned about your customer values by
adding a few bullet points to the Customer Values column of the
Pricing Strategy Sheet for each of your customer segments.
DEBRIEF
? What is a value proposition?
It’s the reason customers buy from you. It’s why your product is more
appealing to them than that of your competitors.
LEARNING WHAT THE COMPETITION

CHARGES – 5 MINS
A second factor to consider when pricing a product or service is what
competitors charge for similar products or services.
? How might you find out what competitors charge?
• Search the Internet

• Ask customers what they currently pay
• Become a customer yourself
• Ask competitors who are outside of your market area what
they charge and why
You’ll complete the Competition Charges column as application to

own business. List the cost for each revenue stream for your
customers.
HARD COSTS – 35 MINS

The third factor to consider when pricing a product or service is hard
costs. You want to make sure, especially when starting out, that you
can cover the hard costs of delivering a product or service. By hard
costs we mean the money you have to spend in order to create and
sell your product or service—your out-of-pocket expenses. We’ll
create a complete list of business costs when you fill in the Costs
Sheet of your Business Model Canvas Poster. Right now, you’re only
going to estimate the hard costs of operating your business.
HARD COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH OPERATING THE BUSINESS –

10 MINS
Let’s brainstorm what the out-of-pocket costs might be that are
associated with operating a business. What are the things you have to
pay for when you think about your business? For now, don’t include
your own time or labour or any assets that you can provide that you do
not have to pay for. We will take these into account when you create
your Costs Sheet later.
169
Record the list on a flip chart.
Here are some ideas in case you need to get the discussion started:
• Salary of other employees/workers

• Equipment
• Raw materials
• Delivery vehicle
• Shop/other location
• Marketing materials
DETERMINE HARD COSTS PER ITEM – 20 MINS
In your Business Journal, list all your hard costs. Make sure you
include hard costs for each customer segment.
Now, add up all of these costs and divide them by the number of
products you expect to sell. Enter that number in the Hard Costs
block. These are the minimum hard costs that you will have to pay out
in order to sell your product or service.
SETTING YOUR PRICE – 40 MINS

You can see how much you need to take into account to set the right
price for your product or service: what the customer values, what the
competition charges, and what your hard costs are. Now it’s time to
put all of this together and determine how much you will charge for
your product or service.
How do you decide how much to charge for your product or service?
There are a few different ways to determine pricing.
As you explain each type of pricing, write it on the flip chart.

Encourage Participants to take notes in their Business Journals so
they have a record of the different types of pricing strategies.
COST PLUS PRICING
The simplest is to figure out how much it will cost you to deliver your
product or service and then add a profit percentage on top of that. You
would figure out your cost and determine your desired profit
percentage. This type of pricing is known as “cost plus pricing”.
You just calculated your hard costs. Let’s start with that number. Take
your hard cost per product and add 20%.
? How can you calculate this percentage?
Multiply your hard costs by 0.2 to find the percentage or by 1.2 to find
the cost plus pricing price.
170
Your hard costs plus 20% should represent your absolute minimum
price, below which you cannot go. It’s very likely that when you gather
additional costs, this number may need to change. Often, when
businesses price this way, they leave money on the table as
customers may be willing to pay more for the value provided.
VALUES-BASED PRICING
You know enough about your customers now to know that there is
something that you offer that they cannot get from other providers in
the market. Therefore, they value what you offer because you are
saving them some pain or giving them something that they really want.
It’s good to know the hard costs as a starting point because you want
to be sure you can make money. But it’s even better to know what it is
you are delivering that customers really value and price accordingly.
For example, Giraud buys copy paper from a supplier in a nearby

town for a cost of 24 per box of paper. It takes him 2 hours to get the
paper and return home with it. You can afford to sell him paper for 24
a box, however, it might be worth it to him to pay a little more and not
have to spend the time and the gasoline to go and get it. So you
charge 29 a box.
Make sure you consider how much the product or service is worth to
the customer when determining your pricing.
Look to see what your customer values. Are they price sensitive? If
you have chosen to produce a product or service for a price sensitive
customer, you might have decided that you will be the low cost
provider. This is a hard place to start a new business unless you have
discovered a new method for producing products or services much
more efficiently than others in the marketplace.
COMPETITIVE PRICING
Think about how much customers currently pay for products or
services like yours. What additional value, beyond what the
competition offers, are you providing?
Look at your competitor’s price. What are they charging? Look back at
your comparison of competitive features. Where do you stand out?
Are you offering more or less value? Does your customer value the
value you offer? How can you price accordingly?
ADD-ON PRICING
Maybe your product is so much like your competitors, that if you
charge more, you will lose significant sales. If you offer a product that
closely matches your competitors’ products or services, can you also
sell “add on” services or value once a customer has purchased your
product?
171
For example, you sell a drink in a cup for a similar price to your
competitor but you offer one free refill if your customer brings their cup
back to your store.
CHOOSE A PRICE – 20 MINS

You’re now going to work with a partner to choose a price for your
product or service for each customer segment. Use everything you
know about your customer and what they value, as well as your
revenue model.
Each partner will have 2-3 minutes to describe their revenue models
and what their customers value. Then, you’ll work together for 7-8
minutes to decide on a good price for your product or service. You will
need to set a price for each revenue stream. At the end of 10 minutes,
you will switch roles. Decide who will go first and then begin.
I will walk around while you work and answer any questions you might
have.
Once you have chosen a price for your product or service, write it into
the My Price column on the Pricing Sheet and the Revenue Sheet.
CALCULATING ANNUAL REVENUE –

10 MINS
Now that you have determined
your price, we can complete the
Revenue Sheet. It’s now time to
look at your annual revenue and
how much money will come from each customer segment. For each
customer segment, multiply your price (the fourth column of the
Revenue Sheet) by the number of customers you believe will buy your
product or service (the third column of the Revenue Sheet) to
calculate your annual revenue.
In the Annual Revenue column, record the annual revenue for each to
the revenue model for each customer segment and revenue model.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What surprised you about any of the concepts that we covered
today?
? How has your thinking changed based on what you have

learned?
? What will you do differently now?
172

180 MINS
You will have 3 hours of class time to apply what you have learned to
your assumptions. Each module will require its own test. For this
module, you will research your competition pricing and test your own
pricing in the marketplace.
COMPLETE THE “COMPETITION CHARGES” COLUMN ON THE

PRICING SHEET
Your application to own business is to bring back a range of
competitor pricing for your product or service. List the cost for each
revenue stream for each customer segment on your Pricing Sheet.
TEST THE PRICE IN THE MARKET

Between now and the next session, talk to 5-7 customers to see what
price they would accept based on your value proposition. You want to
make sure that you have set an acceptable price based on the value
you are providing.
Remember, that unless your customer is a low price customer, low

price is not the best pricing model.
coaching session.
173

SESSION – 60 MINS
Interns will spend only an hour on Group Coaching Session 8 to allow
them to spend more time on their Application to Business.
This is the final session of group coaching. After this session, the
group will decide whether to meet on its own and you will transition
your coaching to individual coaching. Create a signup sheet for
individual coaching time slots based on the time you have available.
Plan 1 hour for the first session with each person. This will shorten to
30-45 minute sessions after the first session, depending on what you
and your coachee agree to.
In this session, you will complete handing over the control of the group
coaching session to the group. This way, by the end of the course, the
group will be self-reliant and can continue on without you.
The final 30 minutes of this group session are devoted to allowing the
group to figure out their next steps.
CHECK-IN 15-20 MINS
Q&A SESSION 20 MINS
DEBRIEF 30 MINS
GOING FORWARD 30 MINS
TOTAL 165-180 MINS

Icebreakers – 20-30 mins

For example, if you need to improve listening skills, use an icebreaker
that sparks learning about listening skills.
Check-in – 15-20 mins
Let the group know that this is the last group coaching session that
you will attend.
You might have noticed by now that as we have continued these

group coaching sessions, more and more of what happens in them
has been your decision. That’s been to prepare you to work on your
174
own as a group, once we have completed our final group coaching

session. By now, you know the format of the sessions and the kinds of
information and issues that we share in this session.
Although we still have two more classes, this is the final session of our
group to meet formally. If you have found this valuable, you may
choose to meet together on the same schedule or on a different
schedule. You may find it especially helpful to meet together at
minimum in small groups to help you prepare to deliver your
presentation.
You now all know and trust each other. That’s a great audience from
which to gather feedback on your business presentations before you
present them to key stakeholders. It’s also a great way to rehearse
your presentations in front of a friendly audience.
This, however, isn’t the end of coaching. From this point forward, I will
be available to coach each of you privately for the next 8 weeks, as
you develop your business further. That will allow us to have much
more detailed conversations that are specific to your business
interests and needs.
During the last part of our session today, I am going to pass out a form
with dates and times in which I am available to coach. If you are
interested in receiving individual coaching from me, sign up for one of
the time slots on the sheet.
We will have 30 minutes at the end of this session for you to talk as a
group about whether you would like to continue to meet and how you
would like to handle it.
Let’s do our check in right now.


Participants
in coaching
business concepts.
175
QUESTION GROUPS
EXPERIENCE PANEL
and not advice.
sessions.

Debrief – 30 mins
Going forward – 30 mins
I am going to pass around the individual coaching signup sheet right

now. As people choose coaching slots, the rest of us can talk about
taking the group forward. . . or not.
How many of you have found these group coaching sessions to be

valuable?
What has been most valuable to you?
How many of you would like to continue to meet regularly?
176
How often would you like to meet? On what day(s)?
We’ve met for three hours each time, which is a long time. Do you
want to continue that time or try a different amount of time?
For how long would you like to meet?
Where would you like to meet?
Okay, so you have said you would like to:
Restate what the group has agreed.
There’s one more piece of information that’s really important for

ongoing groups.
Is there someone who is willing to be a sponsor for this group, at least

to start?
The role of the sponsor is to call the meeting together and guide the
agenda of the meeting. The sponsor would let the rest of the group
know if there are changes in any meeting time or location.
Get the name of a volunteer. If no one is willing to volunteer, chances

are good that the group isn’t interested in moving forward together.
That’s fine too.
Now that you have your group arrangements, let me suggest that you
use the next couple of group meetings to share your BMCs and
presentations so that they are as complete and as polished as they
can possibly be, before you actually present to outside members.
Recognize the group for all of the good work that they did together
and remind them that there are two more class sessions before the
final presentation event.
177
MODULE 9, REACHING CUSTOMERS, KEY

ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES
180 minutes
TIMING
! Create flip chart of Five Phases
OUTCOMES • Determine how they will reach their customers
• List key activities that make the business successful
• List key resources that make the business successful
• Estimate the cost of doing business
• Calculate the difference between cost and revenue to estimate
profit
In this module, Participants make decisions about what assets and
PURPOSE activities the business must have in order to deliver the product or service
that customers will value. They then determine whether or not the
business can make money based on the business model that they have
chosen.
Flip chart paper
MATERIALS Five Phase flip chart
Reaching Customers Sheet
Key Activities and Resources Sheet
Cost Sheet
Profit or Loss Worksheet
Channel strategy 60
MODULE Determining what MUST be done 30
SECTIONS Make your business model work 30
Calculating costs 30
Costs versus revenue 20
Application to own business and 10
debrief
178
MODULE NOTES:
179
REACHING YOUR CUSTOMERS – 60

MINS
Take a minute to identify a favourite product of yours, something you
own right now. It doesn’t have to be your most favourite. It doesn’t
have to be a big product; it can simply be your favourite breakfast
food. It just needs to be a favourite.
Show the following flip chart with the five phases listed:
Awareness – how did you find out about the product?
Evaluation – how did you decide to buy the product?
Purchase – how did you pay for the product?
Delivery – how did you get the product?
After sales – what actions did the seller take after you purchased the
product?
Find a partner to work with for this discussion. In pairs, share the
product that you are planning to discuss. Then, discuss the following
questions:
? How did you find out about this product? Did you hear or see
an advertisement about it? Did your friends tell you about it?
Did you see it in a store? Did you find out some other way?
? What made you decide to buy it? How did you decide that you
would actually purchase this product?
? Where did you go to buy it? Did you go to a store? Did you
order it online? Did you do something else?
? How was it delivered to you? Did you get it off the shelf? Did a
delivery person deliver it? Did you download it?
? How have you interacted with the business who supplied the
product since you bought it?
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
You may need several flip chart pages for the debrief. Participants will
use this information to complete their Reaching Customers Sheet so
you want to capture a variety of responses for each question.
On a flip chart write: 1. Awareness. Debrief the first question. You

should get a variety of answers. Record enough of the variety so that
it’s obvious that there are many ways to become aware of a product.
180
This is only a sample of the many ways that customers become aware
of products and services; there are others.
Write: 2. Evaluation on the flip chart. Debrief the second question.

Again, show the variety of responses.
This sample of responses indicates ways that customers evaluate the

product or service’s Value Proposition.
Write: 3. Purchase. Debrief the third question. Show variety.
This sample of responses indicates the variety of places that our

customers can buy a product or service from us.
Write: 4. Delivery. Debrief the fourth question. Show variety.
There are many ways that we can deliver a product or service to a

customer.
Write: 5. After Sales. Debrief the fifth question. Show variety.
? Why is this part important?
Keeps the customer happy. Keeps the business in touch with a buying
customer. Will make a customer more likely to come back to you to
buy a product or service in the future.
DESIGN YOUR CHANNEL STRATEGY –

20 MINS
Hand out the Reaching Customers Sheet.
In each column of the Reaching Customers

Sheet, describe how you will serve the customer for each channel
phase. Be creative. For example, as you are developing customer
awareness, are you talking directly to your customers about their
needs and then explaining how you will meet their needs or are you
distributing that kind of information on a posted flyer?
For the Evaluation phase, are you demonstrating how well your
product performs in a live demonstration or are you sending out free
samples that a potential customer can experience for him or herself?
For the sales phase, does the customer come to a store and pick out
the product for themselves off a shelf or do you deliver the product to
them? And how do you keep in touch with them after the sale? Do
they contact you through a website? Does a sales person call on
them?
TEST YOUR CUSTOMER STRATEGY – 20 MINS

You will now test your customer strategy with a partner. You will
describe how you intend to deliver on each of your customer phases.
You will have 7 minutes to describe your strategy and then your
181
partner will have 3 minutes to provide feedback. Then you will switch
roles and repeat the process.
Pick a partner to work with and decide who will go first.
Call time at 10 minutes and have partners switch roles.
Business Model Canvas with your new information.
DETERMINING WHAT MUST BE DONE

– 30 MINS
Based on everything you know
about your business, it’s time to
work on what your business
needs in order to meet the needs
of your customers
Hand out the Key Activities and

Resources Sheet.
You will work with a partner

again for this activity as two
heads will definitely be better
than one. Pick someone you
trust, whose business will not
compete with yours.
You are going to help each other come up with a list of key activities.
Key activities are the things your business must do to meet your
customers’ most important needs.
For Family Africa, some of the things that we must do are to design
and build a holiday planning website. We must also find a list of
potential customers to contact. We must research the best tour
operators, etc.
For the battery charging service, we must purchase or build battery

chargers, locate customers, etc.
Pick who will go first. Partner A will use the sheets of their Business
Model Canvas Poster to describe their business to Partner B.
Then, the two of you will brainstorm all of the tasks that Partner A’s
business must do. To help you brainstorm, ask each other questions
like:
• Do you have to design a product? What will that require?

• Do you have to make/manufacture a product? What will that
require?
182
• Does the product or service have to be delivered or will the

customer pick it up? What will that require?
• Do you require a physical location? What will that require?
Also, look at your Reaching Customers Sheet to see what kinds of

work you have to do on behalf of your customer.
You will have 15 minutes to do this for Partner A. Then, you will switch
and repeat the process.
Call time at the end of 15 minutes and remind Partners to switch roles.
MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL WORK

– 30 MINS
The Key Resources block represents all of the assets that you must
have to do everything that you have identified in your Key Activities.
Look at your Key Activities. What resources will each of these Key
Activities require?
Based on everything you know about your business, what resources

do you need to make it all work?
For example, Benow decided to cook her party snacks for a caterer
rather than sell them directly to customers so she needs a catering
partner. She also needs raw materials, the ingredients for her
[snacks]. She needs a kitchen with appliances in order to make her
snacks and she might need bags or boxes to deliver her [snacks] in.
Do you need physical assets, like land, a warehouse, or equipment?

Do you need intellectual assets, like a look and feel that you offer than
no one else has? Do you need human assets, like an administrator or
sales people, a chemist, a machinist, or other expertise? Will they be
employees or partners? Do you need to partner with a distributor or do
you need a supplier? Are you working with a strategic partner? And,
finally, are there financial assets that your business has to have in
order to get started?
What kind of each type of resource do you need to deliver your

product or service to your customers?
You’ll work with your partner on this next activity in the same way as
you did in the Key Activities activity. You will spend 10 minutes
brainstorming for the Resources that Partner A needs and then you
will switch roles. Make sure you consider every Key Activity so you
can be sure you identify all the resources required.
Don’t forget to list the TYPE of resource and not the value of it.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and remind Partners to switch roles.
183
Business Model Canvas with your new information.
CALCULATING COSTS – 30 MINS

And now the final block of your Business Model Canvas Poster, Costs.
How much will it cost you to create, sell, deliver, and support your
product or service? Look at everything you have outlined in the sheets
of your Business Model Canvas Poster to find the costs of running
your business. Make sure that you include hourly rates for the work
that you or family members have to perform, even if you don’t plan to
pay yourself at first.
Hand out the Costs Sheet.
Write the name of the cost

and an estimate of how
much you will pay for each
item.
? How can you

minimise your costs
in every way possible?
For example, Benow needs to buy 5 measures of flour, 2 of peas, 1 of

cooking oil, 0.5 of spice, and 1 sugar in order to cook her snacks. She
needs 2 charcoal and a helper for 5. If she had two caterers to serve
at the same time or an order that is twice as large, she can still pay
the same for the help and the charcoal.
COSTS VERSUS REVENUE – 20 MINS

So, how does your business measure up? Is it sustainable? Can you
make a profit? Are certain customer segments more profitable than
others?
To find out, you’re going to complete the Profit or Loss Worksheet.

First, let’s look at an example for Family Africa.
1. The product or service is listed in the first column.

2. The customer segment is listed in the second column.
3. The estimated Annual Revenue for that customer (taken from
the Revenue Sheet) is listed in the third column.
4. The sum of all the costs for creating the product or delivering
the service (taken from the Costs Sheet) goes in the fourth
column.
5. Lastly, the amount of profit or loss is calculated by subtracting
the cost from the annual revenue. That number goes in the fifth
column.
184
? What do you notice about the numbers in the fifth column?
Family Africa loses money on the middle-class American family

customer segment but makes a lot of money from the tour operator
customer segment.
? Why doesn’t Family Africa focus their business on the

customer segment that makes them money?
They can’t make money on the tour operator customer segment

without the American family customer segment.
FAMILY AFRICA PROFIT OR LOSS

WORKSHEET
PRODUCT/SERVIC CUSTOME ANNUAL COSTS PROFIT
E R REVENU OR
SEGMENT E LOSS
Safe, family friendly, American 20,000 30,000 -10,000
affordable African family (e.g.,
vacations Argent
Family)
Tour broker services Tour 250,000 20,000 230,000
operators
(e.g.,
Rwanda
Gorilla Trek)
TOTALS 270,00 50,00 220,00

0 0 0
Hand out the Profit or Loss Worksheet.
Complete the Profit or Loss Worksheet on your own. I will walk around
as you work to answer any questions you might have.
185
PROFIT OR LOSS WORKSHEET

PRODUCT/SERVICE CUSTOMER ANNUAL COSTS PROFIT OR
SEGMENT REVENUE LOSS
TOTALS
186
APPLICATION TO OWN BUSINESS

AND DEBRIEF – 240 MINS
We covered a lot today. Make sure that you have completed all the
worksheets, as well as all the sections of the Business Model Canvas,
prior to the group coaching session.
Review the Business Model Canvas Sheets where you documented

your revenue, key activities, key resources, and costs.
? Where can you optimise items that cost you?
? Will your business make money?
? What revenue model makes you the most money?
You will have 3 hours of class time to apply what you have learned to
For this moduleAs you learn from your research, update the
appropriate parts of your Business Model Canvas with your new
information. Remember, the Business Model Canvas should always
reflect your most recent knowledge of your business. You will update it
as you learn more about your business.
You may choose to continue your peer coaching group even if you
have also chosen to sign up for individual coaching.
During individual coaching, we will work 1 on 1 to ensure that your

Business Model Canvas and your Business Presentation are as solid
as they can be. If you haven’t signed up for a coaching time yet and
you would like to, please let me know.
Ask the group sponsor, if the group has decided to continue coaching
to remind others when and where the session will be held.
For peer coaching, would the group sponsor remind the group where
and when you are planning to meet?
187
Module 10, Prepare your business story

180 minutes
TIMING

OUTCOMES • Design a presentation around their Business Model Canvas
• Practise the presentation in front of peers and receive peer
feedback
In this module, Participants assimilate all of their business thinking into a
PURPOSE concise presentation of their business model. They practise the
presentation to prepare to deliver a formal presentation to potential
stakeholders.
MATERIALS
Design your business story 120
MODULE Peer practise presentation 60
SECTIONS
MODULE NOTES:
188
DESIGN YOUR BUSINESS STORY –

120 MINS
You now have completed your Business Model Canvas Poster. It’s
finally time to present your business idea. Make sure that your
Business Model Canvas reflects your current understanding of your
business.
Today you will prepare your presentation and practise it with a peer. In
the future, you can use this presentation to share your business story
with interested stakeholders, which might include investors and
business service providers.
Use everything you learned from the ReachUp! Powerful

Presentations module to develop your presentation.
You will use your Business Model Canvas to present the big picture of
your business.
Your presentation should be no more than 10 minutes long and should

include the following 10 elements:
1. Your business vision

2. The customer problem that you are solving
3. Your target customer—who they are and what they want
4. What the customer’s life is like before and after purchasing
your product or service (remember Powerful Powerpoint?)
5. Your strategy for reaching the customer through the different
channel phases
6. Your revenue model(s)
7. Your pricing strategies
8. Your key activities and resources
9. Your costs for key activities and resources, as well as what
you plan to contribute
10. How your business model is sustainable; how it will make
money. When do you expect to break even? What will it take?
When do you expect to make a profit? What will that depend
upon?
? Are there any questions before you start developing your

presentation?
I will walk around as you work to answer any questions you might
have.
Plan the points you will include for each component on paper before
you begin to create your presentation. If any business issues arise
that you have not considered as you work out the points in your
presentation, make sure you have a potential solution for them. Your
presentation should be confident and positive.
189
PEER PRACTISE PRESENTATION – 60

MINS
Now that you have your presentation designed, you will get into
groups of 3 to present to your peers. Each presenter will have 10
minutes to present the story shown on their Business Model Canvas.
At the end of 10 minute presentation, the observers will have 10
minutes to ask questions and provide feedback.
As you are observing, pay attention to points that were really powerful
as well as those that aren’t clear. At the end of the 10 minute feedback
session, the next presenter will begin.
Call time at the end of each set of 10 minutes.
Presentation 1 – 10 minutes
Feedback session 1 – 10 minutes
190
FEEDBACK FORM
Feedback on: Clear? Reasonable? Tested? Competitive?
1. The business vision
2. The customer problem
being solved
3. The target customer
(who they are and what
they want)
4. What the customer’s
life is like before and
after purchasing the
product or service
5. The strategy for
reaching the customer
through the different
channel phases
6. The revenue model(s)
7. The pricing strategies
8. The key activities and
resources
9. The costs for key
activities and resources
and what the business
owner plans to
contribute
10. How the business
model is sustainable;
how it will make
money. The break even
date. What it will take.
When a profit will be
made. What this is
dependent on.
191
BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
Arrange a forum for Participants to present their business ideas to
relevant stakeholders. It is up to DOT Country Teams to decide how to
do this, but one suggestion follows.
Assemble a panel of judges for the presentations. Include a variety of

experiences on the panel, from funders to successful entrepreneurs,
to potential customers, even peers from the StartUp! Foundation
Course.
You may wish to have several presentations going at once, depending

upon the number of presenters. You will need to plan accordingly.
Allow 15 minutes for each presenter: 10 for the presentation, and 5 for
questions and feedback.
Judging criteria
1. The strength of the business model: Has the Participant

developed what appears to be a sustainable business model?
2. Assumptions: Are the Participant’s underlying assumptions

about the customer and business reasonable and verifiable?
3. Customer acquisition: Is the Participant clear about how they

will acquire customers and where those customers will come
from? How strong is their customer acquisition plan?
4. Ability to deliver: How much help is needed to launch the

business? Is the Participant likely to be able to gather the rest
of the resources?
5. 1st year profit: How achievable is the business model in the first
year? Is the business “right-sized” so that it can generate a
profit in the first year?
6. Clarity of vision: Is the Participant clear about how the market

and the business may need to change to stay current with the
market and ahead of the competition?
7. Strength of the customer validation: Has the Participant done

the work necessary to validate that this product or service will
sell to the customer segments he/she has selected?
INTRODUCTIONS – 30-45 MINS

Make sure that each Participant is introduced to each panel member.
This is a great opportunity for Participants to form connections and
impressions with key influencers of the business community.
192
PRESENTATIONS
Hold the presentations.
CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT – 30
MINS
Follow up with a formal recognition of achievement. Let Participants
know that they know enough now to begin. Make sure that they know
that coaches will continue to be available to help with the next steps
along the way.
193
STARTUP! FOUNDATION PHILOSOPHY

90 minutes
TIMING
! Read and ensure you understand this module before
PREPARATION beginning to facilitate Skills Development. Interns will rely on
your behaviour to draw up the lists that they will use to
understand Star Facilitation
gain an understanding of what happens
! Work through the exercises as if you are an Intern to develop
examples or samples for explanations

LEARNING •
OBJECTIVES
METHODS
This module follows the OLE idea; gives Interns the core concepts
PURPOSE behind STUF. Why is the program designed this way?
WIIFM
MATERIALS
Why StartUp! Foundation is designed the way it is 30 mins
MODULE How StartUp! is structured – 30 mins 45 mins
SECTIONS Debrief 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
194
WHY STARTUP! FOUNDATION IS

DESIGNED THE WAY IT IS – 30 MINS
? Based on what you know about business, what are some

reasons that new businesses don’t succeed?
Look for versions of the following answers. When you have them,
write the list on a flip chart.
1. Poor planning or a lack of planning

2. An ineffective business model
3. Incorrect assumptions about market size or penetration
4. Products that don’t appeal to customers
5. Incorrect pricing of the product or service
6. Spending too much before generating income
Quickly divide into small discussion groups, one small group for each
flip chart point.
You have just experienced StartUp! Foundation. Think back on the

process you went through to understand your business.
? What specific actions did you take during StartUp! Foundation

to overcome the potential failure point that you are exploring?
You have 10 minutes to recall specific actions or strategies that you

followed in order to mitigate the potential point of failure. This is
brainstorming. Think of everything you did. Create a BIG list.
Now in your groups vote on the top 1 or 2 strategies or actions that

you believe made the biggest difference in overcoming the point of
failure that you are working on. You have 5 minutes to come to an
agreement.
Let’s hear from the groups. Let’s hear from the group that explored
Poor Planning of Lack of Planning. What was the most important
action or strategy that you did that helped you avoid the failure risk of
Poor planning?
As the Intern groups report out, check to make sure that they
recognized the kinds of activities that are underlined in the
explanations below.
Go around the room until each group has reported out.
195
Explain the following points behind DOT’s StartUp! Foundation

Course:
StartUp! Foundation is intended to minimise the risk and scale of

failure by ensuring businesses are founded on strong business
models that are thoroughly tested in the marketplace.
POOR PLANNING AND INEFFECTIVE BUSINESS MODELS

Participants to develop concrete knowledge about their business and
come up with an effective and sustainable business plan using a
Business Model Canvas. The Business Model Canvas acts as a one
page planning document.
INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS AND INCORRECT PRODUCTS

Incorrect market assumptions and the development of the wrong
product or service are prevented through mandatory market testing
with real customers that Participants conduct on their own between
every classroom session.
INCORRECT PRICING
A common pricing error for new business owners is to enter the
market with a low price product. Other pricing models may be more
effective. Participants explore a variety of pricing options and test their
pricing assumptions in the marketplace before setting a final product
price.
SPENDING TOO MUCH

Participants think through and test their business model before
spending any money on infrastructure or equipment. By the end of the
course, they will have a viable, market-tested business model, which
will then allow them to successfully build, promote, and sell a product,
thereby generating income from the moment they open their doors.
You cannot make the next point too strongly. Some Interns focus only
on teaching the tools and allow Participants to use examples to learn
rather than creating real work products that further their own goals.
Participant work from this course must relate to their own

business; all of the activities must result in real products for two
reasons.
1. Fictitious examples often result in a simplified experience

that is not repeatable in real life. If Participants use a
fictitious example, they may not be able to do the same
work in a more meaningful context later.
2. You should think of this program as a Business
Development Workshop. If the Participant experience is
limited to learning the process, then Participants will not
196
have taken any significant steps toward their goals on this

journey.
HOW STARTUP! IS STRUCTURED – 45

MINS
Let’s see if you can re-create the StartUp! Foundation structure that
you followed?
? What was the first thing you did in StartUp!

Foundation?
Allow Interns to tell you the name of the first

module.
Write classroom session on the top of the flip

chart. You are going to create the flip chart based
upon the Intern responses.
? What happened if you didn’t understand

how to apply the concept to your business
idea?
They asked for help and you informally tutored

them. Or you walked around and tutored them
individually as you noticed their struggles.
Add the decision diamond and the tutoring in the

next box
? What happened after that?
Application to Business
? Then next
Group Coaching sessions.
Draw each point on the flow chart as Interns

describe the experience.
You followed the same process that Participants

will follow.
Participants learn about the key business concepts through a

simplified experience and then apply their learnings in classroom
exercises to ensure concepts are understood.
The in-class experience is then followed by a deeper application of the

concept to their own business.
197
Participants will be supported in their learning (understanding of

concepts) and business application by Intern and peer coaching,
tutoring, and group problem-solving.
StartUp! Foundation contains 11 modules. Modules 1-8 include all of

the following components:
1. Classroom session
2. Application to own business
3. Tutoring session
4. Group coaching session
? What was different about the group coaching sessions? How

did they change as you got further into peer coaching?
Group coaching was very prescribed in the first 5 sessions. Starting

with Session 6, the format shifted away from additional communication
skills to Q&A sessions.
Because a primary purpose of the coaching sessions is to teach

Participants how to help each other, in the second half of the course
the emphasis is placed on the group leading the sessions. This should
prepare Participants to work together on their own after the formal
DOT engagement is completed.
Starting with Module 9, Participants are invited to start individual

coaching sessions, which will allow them to work direction on their
own business models, practices and problems. This increases the
Participant’s ability to be successful after the formal class is complete
in two ways:
1. It allows you to develop an individual coaching relationship

while the Participant is still focussed on formal learning
2. It also allows you to concentrate coaching on individual final
BMC’s and business presentations
It also allows you to begin each individual coaching relationship with a

focussed agenda that both of you understand. As you develop your
coaching skills further, you will be more prepared to venture into
different areas of the Participant coachee’s interest.
After the final classroom module (Module 10), Participants present to

a panel, describing their business model, how they plan to make their
business sustainable, how it will make money, and when it will break
even and make a profit. This ends the formal StartUp! Foundation
learning experience, however it doesn’t end your relationship with your
Participants. You will continue your individual coaching for 6 additional
weeks.
198
CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS AND PIVOTS

135 minutes
TIMING

LEARNING • Recall the challenges that they faced during StartUp! Foundation
OBJECTIVES • Create and share strategies for overcoming Participant
challenges
• Create and tell their own business parable for bringing
awareness of the challenges
Small group discussion, large group report out, story crafting and story
METHODS telling
This module presents the common challenges that will keep Participants
PURPOSE from a successful experience.
Interns will share strategies for ensuring that they are able to address
WIIFM common Participant challenges when conceiving, starting and
presenting new business.
MATERIALS
The Startup mindset challenge 45 mins
MODULE Creating awareness with business parables 75 mins
SECTIONS MVP Fair announcement 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
199
STARTUP MINDSET CHALLENGE – 45

MINS
GROUP REFLECTION – 25 MINS
Time to do a little more travelling back in time. We’re going to do this
reflection in mixed business teams so take a minute to find people you
haven’t worked with before. We need 5 discussion groups, so form 5
groups now. Try to make your group numbers even. Once you’ve
formed your groups, I’ll give you your instructions.
Wait for Interns to form groups before giving them the next set of
instructions.
You’re going to reflect on your recent business start up experience

and answer the questions on the slip of paper I give your group. You’ll
have 20 minutes to hold your conversation and then I’ll give you the
next set of instructions.
Each group will have a different set of questions to guide your

reflection.
Hand each group a slip of paper with their question set printed on it.
Group 1: What information did you receive from your customers that
made you shift your business idea? How did it shift? What change did
you make? How did you feel about making the change? When did you
choose NOT to make a change?
Group 2: Think back to your customer conversations. What made

them hard to have? How did you feel when you needed to talk to
customers? What worked well to give you the information you
needed? What didn’t work so well?
Group 3: Think back to your Business Model Canvas. What did you do
to ensure that it was complete and up to date? When did you run into
problems keeping it current? What worked well? What strategy or
process did you use that ensured that your Business Model Canvas
always showed your most current understanding of your business and
the market?
Group 4: Think back to how you performed your financial analysis of

your business. What did you do to make sure that your financial
assessment was as realistic as possible? When did it seem to be
more optimistic than realistic? What did you do to bring your estimates
back into line so that you were considering the most realistic scenario
for your business startup?
Group 5: Startups must begin with a high degree of hope and

optimism. However, that hope must be tempered with many reality
200
checks or the business owner will find him or herself without a plan for
recovery. At what points did hope seem to override reality? What did
you do to temper your hope, to step back and check on the reality of
conditions in the marketplace?
? Are there any questions before you begin your discussion?
GROUP REPORT OUT – 20 MINS

? Group 1, what was the subject of your discussion?
? What were the key points that you talked about?
? What strategies did you use to overcome the challenges in

your processes?
Repeat the questions with all 5 groups.
SUPPORTING PARTICIPANTS THROUGH THE PROCESS – 15

MINS
You might be wondering now, why did we have that discussion? Sit
back and listen as I tell you about some standard behaviours that you
WILL see as you facilitate StartUp! Foundation. As I describe them to
you, be thinking about what you heard from the groups and how they
might have worked through these challenges. What strategies did you
hear about?
Talk through the following points. These behaviours will occur during
There are many actions that are not helpful to the business model
process. You will see the following behaviours as Participants go
through StartUp! Foundation. Knowing about them ahead of time will
help you work through the issues.
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
New business owners often fall in love with their business idea, which
leads them to hold on to their original thinking despite any customer
feedback they have received. You must encourage Participants that
market-driven change is a good thing.
TALKING TO CUSTOMERS
Throughout this course, the key to a business succeeding is talking to
customers. Market research over the internet or from a distance can
provide a starting point, but until Participants get out of the classroom
and into the marketplace, every piece of their business idea is
suspect. It may be harder for some Participants than others to conduct
these conversations needed to gather direct market information.
Support them in any way you can.
201
• Hold small group rehearsals

• Have them begin with (only begin, not rely upon) people they
trust.
• See if there are other classmates who can introduce them to
potential customers.
• Coach them on their discovery process.
• Have them interview in pairs, bringing a friend from class if
they don’t have a partner in their business.
• If you have the time, go to the first interview with them. You will
both learn a lot.
KEEPING BUSINESS DOCUMENTS UP TO DATE

The Business Model Canvas is a living, breathing document. It is a
continual record of the owner’s current knowledge of the business.
The worksheets that Participants complete will also change with their
increasing knowledge about their business. You must encourage
owners to erase or start over each time they learn something new
from the marketplace. It is a practice to develop immediately from the
Vision block on. For example, what they learn from their customer
interviews when they first show their product or service will very likely
change or refine their vision. They must go back and update all
portions of the BMC as they gain greater and greater knowledge about
how their business will perform in the marketplace.
FINANCIAL A NALYSES
This program focuses a lot of attention on the customer. However,
investors and potential partners will also want a somewhat rigorous
analysis of the business’s potential financial performance. It is
important to allow enough time for Participants to really think about the
finances of the business.
Financial estimates are performed in at least three places, the initial

annual sales estimation worksheet in Module 3 and later in Modules 8
and 9, when Participants estimate revenue and costs and use those
numbers to estimate a simple Profit and Loss estimate. These are
easy to brush aside. Don’t let that happen.
PAINTING A PERFECT PICTURE VS. CREATING REALITY

Each module of this course begins with assumptions, which are then
tested in the market place. Participants will be very tempted to design
those assumptions based upon their original business idea. For
example, you may find that the customer problem in the customer
persona is a restatement of the original business vision. We want to
support hope and possibility within a state of realistic evaluation. Find
ways to challenge assumptions that appear too perfect. The places
that you will see these come up most often will be in the persona, the
annual sales estimate, and the final presentation.
202
TWO ADDITIONAL BEHAVIOURS

There are two more behaviours that you will see that you will need
strategies for managing.
Indication that an idea has a high potential for failure

? What do you do when a business owner tests an idea in the
marketplace and finds that it isn’t viable?
You can take them back to their feasibility grid exercise that they
performed either during ReachUp! or Jumpstart, where they might
look at another high potential business on their list. Or you can take
them further back, to review their passions and available assets.
A realistic final presentation

This is THE opportunity to share with key influencers the business
acumen that Participants have developed throughout the course.
Put on your investor hat now. You know that between 75-90% of
startup business fail.
? What comes to mind when you hear a presentation which

delivers a perfect business picture?
Business leaders and investors prefer a bit of pessimism in a new

owner. Encourage Participants to share key learnings about potential
mistakes or pitfalls as well as their ideas for addressing them or
learning more about them. This will demonstrate to stakeholders that
they know what they are talking about and they are prepared to
protect their business in a risky market.
CREATING AWARENSS WITH

BUSINESS PARABLES – 75 MINS
AN EXAMPLE PARABLE – 15 MINS
You were able to recognize potential pitfalls in the discussion we just
completed because you had gone through the experience.
? How might you be able to make these potential mindset

challenges clear to your participants before they get all the way
through StartUp! Foundation?
You can share your own experience or experiences of others as a

story. You might even create your own amusing story based on a
parable that you have heard as a child.
? Why tell parables? What not just tell Participants that they are
wrong?
203
In new business, often business owners are really, really attached to

their business idea. This is often called the Ugly Baby Syndrome,
which means that a business owner might be unwilling to hear that
their “baby,” the business isn’t as beautiful or as brilliant an idea as
they think it is.
Parables allow people to hear differently. You are going to now have
the opportunity to create your own parable, based on the mindset
challenge that you just discussed.
? Can anyone give me a brief description of a parable?
Wikipedia’s definition is: “A parable is a succinct, didactic story,

in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive lessons
or principles.”
Let me tell you a story right now. You may recognize parts of it.
Once upon a time there was a monkey who wanted to find a way to
help others. He knew that the best way to decide on what to do was to
look around him and see what problems there were that needed
solving. He spent some time walking around his village which was
bordered by a small stream. He looked and looked but couldn’t find
any problems that he could help solve.
Finally, the monsoons came and the little stream swelled into a mighty
river. Monkey walked out to the edge of the river and noticed that
there were many fish struggling in the current. He ran back to his
house and found a basket. He took the basket back to the now raging
river and one by one in the pouring rain, he rescued the fish from the
flood, laying each on carefully on the bank so that they were safe.
He noticed that the fish struggled for a little while, obviously not
noticing that they had been rescued. But then after a short while, they
realized that they were safe and relaxed and became very calm and
still.
Monkey was very pleased because he knew he had found a way to

help all of these fish overcome a serious problem.
? What StartUp! Foundation business lesson(s) can you find in

this parable?
CREATE YOUR OWN PARABLE – 30 MINS

You are now going to work in your groups to create your own parable
based upon some of the challenges OR strategies that you came up
with during your discussion. A parable doesn’t have to be a story
about something that was done wrong; it can also illustrate what
happens when the right things are done.
204
You may create a parable totally from scratch or adjust one that you
have heard. Make sure that the learning points that you want to make
in your parable are clear, without having to tell them.
Begin by agreeing on the learning points that your story will convey
based upon the questions you discussed.
You will 30 minutes to come up with your parable. At the end of 30

minutes you will share your parable with the group. Each parable can
be no more than 5 minutes long.
TELL YOUR PARABLE – 30 MINS

Let’s hear from Group 5. Tell your parable but don’t share your
learning points. Let’s see if we can figure them out.
Allow each group to tell their parable. After each parable, stop and ask
the rest of the class:
? What StartUp! Foundation business lesson(s) can you find in

this parable?
205
CUSTOMER CONVERSATION HANDOUT
Group 1: Was there a time when you had received information from
your customers that made you shift your business idea? How did it
shift? What change did you make? How did you feel about making
the change?
Group 2: Think back to your customer conversations. What made

them hard to have? How did you feel when you needed to talk to
customers? What worked well to give you the information you
needed? What didn’t work so well?
Group 3: Think back to your Business Model Canvas. What did you
do to ensure that it was complete and up to date? When did you run
into problems keeping it current? What worked well? What strategy
or process did you use that ensured that your Business Model
Canvas always showed your most current understanding of your
business and the market?
Group 4: Think back to how you performed your financial analysis of

your business. What did you do to make sure that your financial
assessment was as realistic as possible? When did it seem to be
more optimistic than realistic? What did you do to bring your
estimates back into line so that you were considering the most
realistic scenario for your business startup?
Group 5: Startups must begin with a high degree of hope and

optimism. However, that hope must be tempered with many reality
checks or the business owner will find him or herself without a plan
for recovery. At what points did hope seem to override reality? What
did you do to temper your hope, to step back and check on the
reality of conditions in the marketplace?
206
StartUp! Foundation Skills Development.docx
REVIEW YOUR FACILITATION EXPERIENCE

60 minutes
TIMING

LEARNING • Recall and record key observations from the entire facilitation
OBJECTIVES experience
Small group brainstorming and discussion, gallery tour
METHODS
The list of facilitation behaviours and conditions that are presented at the
CONNECTIONS end of this module need to be observable throughout the day. As you
facilitate, ensure you provide evidence of each of the items on the
TO OTHER
master lists. The lists that Interns create will be used in the module
MODULES Traditional vs. learner-centred learning, which follows the Day 7
icebreaker.
Interns recall what they have observed throughout the facilitation of
PURPOSE StartUp! Foundation. This will set the standard for learner-centred
facilitation behaviours they will be using in the facilitation of StartUp!
Foundation. It is likely that learner-centred learning is unfamiliar at this
point. Interns have most likely experienced traditional lecture-based
learning where the Lecturer is seen as the expert or “sage on the stage”.
This module develops the ability to self-assess and improve facilitation
competencies by comparing individual performance against expert
performance.
Interns recall learner-centred facilitation behaviours and conditions in
WIIFM order to better assess and improve their own facilitation skills.
Flip chart paper

MATERIALS Markers
White paper for note taking
Noting observations 30 min
MODULE
SECTIONS
207
Tour and additions 15 min

Debrief 15 min
MODULE NOTES:
NOTING OBSERVATIONS – 30 MINS

Take off one of your Participant hat now. You are going back to being
a new Intern facilitator. Let’s explore what you observed throughout
the learning experience.
Think back on the work that we did together during StartUp!

Foundation.
We’re going to divide into four groups. Each group will focus on one of
four areas. You’ll create a flip chart with a list of observations for your
area. Your group will list what you noticed about what I did as a
facilitator, as well as about how the learning was structured.
You’ll then tour the flip charts and add any other ideas that you might
have observed.
This will build four big lists of ideas and observations that we will use
for tomorrow’s work on facilitation.
Here are the four areas:
1. Introductions, which include introductions to modules and to

activities
2. Activities, which include the times when you were working on
your own, in small groups, or as part of a large group
discussion
3. Debriefs, which include all the points at the end of a module or
activity where there were questions
4. The learning environment, which includes all things that were
done throughout the day to keep things moving and keep you
engaged
208
You have 30 minutes in your groups to come up with your flip chart
list.
Brainstorm first and record your brainstorm on regular paper. Decide

on your final list and then transfer your final list to the flip chart paper.
Divide Interns into four groups.
Group 1 will focus on introductions.
Group 2 will focus on activities.
Group 3 will focus on debriefs.
Group 4 will focus on the learning environment.
? Any questions before you get started?
TOUR AND ADDITIONS – 15 MINS

Tour in your groups. Take 5 minutes per flip chart and try to add at
least one item that isn’t already listed.
You won’t add to your own flip chart.
Call time after each 5 minute period and have groups change flip
charts.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
Review the flip charts and ask questions to bring out any of the points
below that aren’t already covered on the flip charts.
Introductions
• The Facilitator explained how this would help the learner in the
future
• The Facilitator introduced the value of each task (WIIFM)
• The Facilitator offered personal stories and experiences to
make the learning real and relevant
• The Facilitator drew out personal stories from learners
• The Facilitator set expectations for what was going to happen
and how long it would take
209
Activities
• Learner supplied personally relevant content by using his or

her own experiences to complete the assignment
• Thinking techniques were introduced that can be used later
(e.g., pride stories; strengths, skills, and passions; self-
assessment)
• Learning from each other (group work), as well as individual
learning
• Different methods used to appeal to many different learning
strengths and skills: drawing, storytelling, activity sheets,
discussion
• The Facilitator walked around to check for understanding and
coach on process/activity
• Facilitation encouraged learners to use their own experience in
the learning process
Debriefs
• Lots of debriefs were used to encourage reflection

• Debrief questions were all open-ended
• The Facilitator encouraged learners to connect information:
How is this relevant to you? How is this like what you already
know? What can you do with this in other places?
• The Facilitator encouraged ideas rather than “Right” answers
• The Facilitator checked for understanding during activities as
well as in debriefs/discussions
• The Facilitator didn’t provide answers to the questions, but
encouraged the learners to answer the questions
• The Facilitator asked questions, listened, and summarized to
ensure understanding
• The Facilitator helped learners generate their own answers
Learning Environment
• Very little telling and listening; most time spent doing

• The Facilitator managed the time so that all tasks were able to
be completed
• The Facilitator encouraged all learners to participate in
activities and discussions
• Relationships were built between all parties – facilitator to
learner, learner to learner, facilitator to other, etc.
• The Facilitator encouraged diversity in learner responses and
viewpoints
• The Facilitator was well-prepared for the learning sessions
• The Facilitator minimized the impact of personal values and
biases on learning environment
• The Facilitator responded well to unexpected events
• The Facilitator demonstrated that they are also a lifelong
learner
• The Facilitator demonstrated a belief in learners’ ability to learn
210
• The Facilitator was aware of and managed disruptive

behaviour
• The Facilitator kept an eye on energy level and responded to
improve it
We’ll use the information that you created here throughout the day
tomorrow.
? What questions do you have about any of the work we have

done here today?
211
TRADITIONAL VS. LEARNER-CENTRED

LEARNING
45 minutes
TIMING
! Work through the exercises as if you are an Intern to

OUTCOMES • Contrast the difference between traditional, instructor-led learning
and yesterday’s learner-centred experiences
• Discuss how learner-centred learning is more responsive to
change and opportunity
Group discussion
METHODS
This module uses the information gathered from the list building
CONNECTIONS activity in the module, Review Today’s Experience, in Day 6 and
contrasts those experiences against more traditional instructor-led
TO OTHER
learning models. It also sets up the conversation for the next module
MODULES on the Experiential Learning Cycle.
Interns create their own understanding of learner-centred facilitation
PURPOSE compared to expert-led instruction
It’s easier to understand what is meant by learner-centred facilitation
WIIFM when you know what it isn’t
Facilitation lists created in the previous module

MATERIALS
Introduction 5 mins
MODULE Back in time to traditional learning 25 mins
SECTIONS Why it matters 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
212
In the last module you created lists of what you observed about
facilitation practices. We’re going to use those lists today to contrast
what you observed yesterday with what you have experienced in a
more traditional learning environment.
When we know the difference between one method and another, it’s
easier to recognize and correct behaviours for either method.
You will continue to work in the same groups as you were in during
the last module.
BACK IN TIME TO TRADITIONAL

LEARNING –25 MINS
In your groups, review all of the lists on the wall. As you review the
lists, think about more traditional education or training experiences
that you’ve had.
In 15 minutes, list 15 things from a traditional learning experience that

differ from yesterday’s experience. For example, in traditional learning
there is always a right answer.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINUTES
Go around the room and ask each group to share 1 item on their list.
Ask each group, one at a time, “Do you have something different to
add?” until groups have shared all the items on their list.
WHY IT MATTERS – 15 MINS

? At DOT, why do you think we take a different approach to
learning than what most people are used to?
Take a few answers and then move on.
I’m going to tell you a story that illustrates a more traditional learning
method and then we’ll explore how that learning method might impact
future opportunities.
Imagine your father is a farmer, as his father was. He works the same
plot of land that his father did. We’ll call the farm Tomato Heaven. He
knows Tomato Heaven like the back of his hand, every low spot, every
hill, every rock.
He also knows what kind of tomato grows well on this land, how much
water each plant needs and exactly when it needs it, how to get rid of
pests, and how to grow the biggest crop of tomatoes based on what
he has.
213
He uses the same tools that his father used. He knows how to replace
each particular tool handle and exactly how to sharpen each one. He
knows that the bend in the hoe causes it to slew slightly to the left if he
swings it hard.
Once a week, someone comes to the farm and picks up his tomato
crop to sell at the market. He knows exactly what income he can
expect each year.
Your father has told you exactly how he grows this crop on this land,
starting with “Turn the land by April 17th; plant tomatoes on May 12th”.
Now, imagine a friend of yours admires your father’s farm and knows
that you know a lot about it. He has a large plot of land in another
region. He offers you 50% of the profit from selling the beans he wants
to grow if you will tell him how to successfully grow beans.
? What can you help him with?
Make the point that unless your friend is growing tomatoes on a spot
very like your father’s farm, you are less able to help him.
? Imagine that you wanted to learn how to be a successful

farmer rather than how to grow tomatoes on your father’s farm.
What might you have wanted to learn?
• How to tell when plants need water or might have pests

• How to find land that will grow good crops
• How to make the most of the land you have
• Where to find supplements for soil
• What seeds grow best under different conditions
When your father taught you how to grow tomatoes on his land, the
learning method your father has used is expert-led. Your father was
the expert in growing tomatoes. He decided what you needed to know
and told you exactly what that was. You were the receiver of
information.
Traditional expert-led learning tells the learner exactly what to do in a

fixed set of circumstances, the same set that the expert has
experienced. Expert-led learning delivers a targeted list of skills to be
used when you know exactly what the future holds.
Conversely, in learner-centred learning, the learning facilitator helps

the learner navigate the learning domain until the learner begins to
find his or her own learning paths.
The learning
facilitator focuses
on the process of
learning, as well
214
as encouraging the learner to develop and use thinking tools so that

he or she can respond to new situations. The role of the facilitator is to
help the learners define their own learning goals, as well as helping
them develop their own path to expertise.
Let’s look at a couple of diagrams that show the difference.
Draw this diagram and

say as you draw it:
In expert-led learning, the

expert tries to transfer
knowledge to the learner.
It is like the learner is a
pot that needs to be filled
with knowledge. The
knowledge is transferred
from expert to learner.
The expert decides what
is relevant for the learner
to learn.
In learner-centred
learning, the facilitator
and the learner engage in
the first learning
experiences together
(represented by the curly
lines that start with the
facilitator and the learner).
The learning facilitator helps the learner navigate their first knowledge
domain. Because the learner learns the process of learning, they are
soon able to navigate other levels and other domains (shown by the
arrows that originate from the learner only).
Learner-centred learning results in learning to learn—a much better

result for taking advantage of a changing environment.
? What could a learning facilitator have done to help you learn

better from your father?
Take a few responses and acknowledge them. Connect responses to

some version of “Helped you decided what you needed to know and
then asked questions to uncover the whys behind what your father
was doing so that you could apply his expertise to new situations”.
215
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
The model DOT uses is called Experiential Learning and is based on
the work by David Kolb. It puts the learner in the centre of learning
and allows them to learn from their experiences.
You’ve been experiencing it from the very first day of your Intern
Learning Experience. The Participants will experience it throughout
? What are some of the things that you did during StartUp!
Foundation that put you at the centre of the learning
experience?
There should be a long list of experiences here.
? How did learning from your own experiences enrich your

learning experience?
Possible answers include:
• It resulted in real, usable work that moved a business forward

• All of the processes are repeatable because you now know
how to learn
• You don’t need to make the same mistakes because you have
learned what you needed to know from them
• All of your learning was based upon your own personal
learning goals
? How might the experience be different if we had designed

StartUp! Foundation to reflect our own expertise?
MVP FAIR ANNOUNCEMENT – 10 MINS

Tomorrow we are holding an MVP Fair. You will display your MVP for
other business teams who will play the role of interested customers.
You will want to make your display as attractive as possible, so bring
anything that will dress up your display. You will only have 1 meter of
table space so everything will have to fit in that space.
? Are there any questions before you leave for the day?
Remind Interns that tomorrow is the Minimum Viable Product Fair and
that they should bring their MVP to share with the group.
216
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT FAIR

180 minutes
TIMING
! Create number tent signs for each business team
! Set up tables on two sides of the room for business teams to
display their MVP

LEARNING • Display their MVP to their colleagues
OBJECTIVES • Gather feedback from colleagues as customers
• Redesign or refine their own MVP
Small group tours and discussions
METHODS
Minimum Viable Products are a new concept and creating a strong MVP
PURPOSE is critical to the StartUp! Foundation process. This module is about
creating a realistic MVP. Interns will tour each other’s products and
improve them based upon the customer experience.
Interns will collect strategies for creating a strong, realistic MVP that they
WIIFM can then share with Participants
Fair tables
MATERIALS Numbered tent signs, one for each business group
Fair set up 30 mins
MODULE
SECTIONS
217
Fair instructions 10 mins

Hold MVP Fair, part 1 60 mins
Hold MVP Fair, part 2 60 mins
MVP improvement 20 mins
Debrief 30 mins
MODULE NOTES:
218
The instructions for the rotation are based upon an assumption of 10

business teams. You may need to adjust the pairings based upon the
number of teams that you have. The only thing you need to ensure is
that there are three rounds of customer feedback for each business
team.
Before beginning the fair, place number tent signs on the MVP tables.
Make sure that there is enough space for each business team to
display their MVP.
FAIR SET UP – 30 MINS

Welcome to the Minimum Viable Product Fair. Before you find your
assigned location at the Fair, let me give you some instructions.
During this fair, each business team will display their MVP. They will
share the MVP experience with two other business teams who will
play the role of their target customers. I will tell you the rotation pattern
once you are set up.
First, I’m going to assign each business team a number. Once you
have your number, find your location on the tables. This is where you
will set up your MVP.
Number the business teams.
Now it’s time to set up your MVP displays. Find the number tent on the
table that matches your business team number.
You will have 30 minutes to set up your table space, making it as

attractive as possible.
Check at the end of 30 minutes and see if teams need more time.
FAIR INSTRUCTIONS – 10 MINS

Let me tell you how these tours will work.
Teams numbered 1-5 will start as business teams. Each team will
have 5 minutes to present their MVP.
Teams 6-10, you will be Customer teams for this round. Listen
carefully to the MVP experience.
At the end of 5 minutes, you will have 5 minutes to ask questions

about the product that you think a customer would want to know.
Then you will have 10 minutes to talk as a larger group about what the
business team might do to make their MVP more realistic and more
attractive.
219
Customer team, your job is to help the Presenting team improve their
MVP so that it feels as close to a real product experience as possible.
As you first experience their MVP, think about what they could do to
make the experience more real for you.
For example, there was a new business that sold nail buffing supplies.
In order for customers to experience their product, they offered to buff
one nail using their supplies. That delivered a very clear idea of the
product experience
? Any questions before we get started?
Let me tell you the first pairings. Team 1 and Team 6, Team 2 and
Team 7, Team 3 and Team 8, Team 4 and Team 9, Team 5 and
Team 10.
HOLD MVP FAIR, PART 1 – 60 MINS

MVP FAIR ROUND 1 – 20 MINS
Business teams and customer teams pair up and begin.
Call time at the end of 5 minutes and have Customer teams ask
questions.
Call time at the end of another 5 minutes and allow the entire group to
talk about improving the MVP.
Call time at the end of another 10 minutes and stop the team
exchange.

Now you are going to rotate, still in your business or customer
designation.
Let me tell you the second pairings. Team 1 and Team 7, Team 2 and
Team 6.
Repeat the process.

You are going to rotate one more time, still in your business or
customer designation.
Let me tell you the third pairings. Team 1 and Team 8, Team 2 and
Team 7.
Repeat the process.
220
HOLD MVP FAIR, PART 1 – 60 MINS

Now you’re going to switch roles. Those of you who were on the
customer teams, it’s time to show your MVP. Those of you who were
on business teams for the first three rounds, it’s time to be customers.
Teams numbered 56-10 will become business teams. Each team will
have 5 minutes to present their MVP.
Teams 1-5, you will be Customer teams for this round. Listen carefully
to the MVP experience.
At the end of 5 minutes, you will have 5 minutes to ask questions

about the product that you think a customer would want to know.
Then you will have 10 minutes to talk as a larger group about what the
business team might do to make their MVP more realistic and more
attractive.
Any questions before we get started?
Let me tell you the fourth pairings. Team 1 and Team 9, Team 2 and
Team 8.
Repeat the process.

Now you are going to rotate, still in your business or customer
designation.
Let me tell you the fifth pairings. Team 1 and Team 10, Team 2 and
Team 9.
Repeat the process.

You are going to rotate one more time, still in your business or
customer designation.
Let me tell you the sixth pairings. Team 1 and Team 6, Team 2 and
Team 10.
Repeat the process
221
MVP IMPROVEMENT – 20 MINS

Based on everything you’ve learned either as a customer or a
business team, you will now have a chance in your business team will
have a chance to discuss how you might redesign or refine your MVP.
You will have 20 minutes for the discussion.
DEBRIEF – 30 MINS
? What did you learn about creating a strong MVP from your
work at the fair?
? What did you decide to change with your MVP? Why did you
choose to make that change?
? What would you have done differently with your MVP during
your StartUp! Foundation experience based on what you know
now?
? How can you use what you learned to help Participants create
a strong MVP?
222
COACHING PITFALLS
120 minutes
TIMING
! Practise role plays or set up videos
LEARNING • Compare the impacts from different coaching behaviours on
OBJECTIVES the coachee
• Gather a list of coaching behaviours from coaching scenarios
Role play, group discussion

METHODS
This is the first module on coaching. Interns will deepen their
CONNECTIONS understanding of coaching in the module Advanced Coaching Skills
and Coaching with Powerful Questions. They will use those skills when
TO OTHER
they coach each other on facilitation goals after the Learning
MODULES Facilitation Exercise.
This module introduced Interns to guidelines for effective coaching
PURPOSE through the use of coaching role plays.
Interns will be coaching Participants on their Action Plans and their
WIIFM business startup. This module provides four coaching demonstrations.
Role play scripts OR

MATERIALS Coaching videos
Introduction 5
MODULE Coaches guide, not advise 35
SECTIONS Coaches are neutral 15
Coaches give and receive trust 20
Roles and boundaries 45
MODULE NOTES:
223
Divide Interns into groups with no more than five Interns per
group. Try to have them work with Interns that they haven’t
worked with before.
For the rest of the day, we’ll be working on coaching. You’re

going to be collecting a list of coaching do’s and don’ts in a
variety of activities. You’ll use this list in the final module of the
day—the more complete your list, the better your results in the
last module of the day.
Because coaching involves one-to-one human interaction, it’s

easier to recognise behaviours while watching them occur. In
this module, you will watch some coaching scenarios.
In some of the scenarios, you’ll see the coach fall into some
common pitfalls often experienced in coaching. In others, you
will see a Star Coach in action. While you are watching the
scenarios, make a list of the behaviours you see in each one.
What kinds of things does a Star Coach do? What don’t they
do? Your list will start with this next activity.
COACHES GUIDE, NOT ADVISE –

35 MINS
For the first part, we’re going to see two different scenarios,
one with a Star Coach and one with a novice coach.
Watch carefully to see the differences in the way each coach

handles the scenario. Even in the novice scenario, the coach,
Abassi, is doing some things right. Try to capture these too in
your notes.
Either show the video or role play the coaching dialogue using
the script. If you role play, watch the video and rehearse ahead
of time to make the demonstration as dramatic and engaging
as possible.
Nafula: Good morning, Zuri. How are you today?
Zuri: I’m okay. But I have a problem that I can’t seem to fix? I
need your help.
Nafula: Is that what you would like to accomplish in today’s

coaching session?
Zuri: Yes.
Nafula: Tell me about your problem.
224
Zuri: My new business partner doesn’t seem to be interested in

our business.
Nafula: How do you know that?
Zuri: I just get that sense.
Nafula: Tell me what she does that gives you that sense.
Zuri: She doesn’t come in on some days. She’s not at work at

least 2 days a week. I’ve been working really hard to make up
for her absence.
Nafula: What are the conditions of your partnership? For

example, is she a part owner? Does she share in the profits
and expenses? How is she your partner?
Zuri: She is a 25% partner. We share expenses and profits

75/25. Starting the business was my idea so I have more
invested. But when she’s not there, I have to do 100% of the
work.
Nafula: Are there other business impacts in addition to you

having to work extra time?
Zuri: We sell less on the days when she doesn’t come in.
Customers like to come in and talk to her.
Nafula: Anything else?
Zuri: Not that I can think of.
Nafula: Are there any positive aspects to your partner not

coming in some days?
Zuri: [laughs] It’s much calmer when she’s not there.
Zuri: I bring lunch in for both of us. When she doesn’t come in,
I can sell her lunch to a man who works in the business next
door. I make a small profit on the sale of her lunch. What
should I do?
Nafula: What do you want from the partnership? How do you

want your partnership to work?
Zuri: I want a partner who is committed to the business in the

same way that I am. I want someone who is willing to share
the load.
225
Zuri: Maybe. Maybe I should make a list of the things I want in

a partner.
Nafula: What kinds of things would be on your list?
Zuri: Well, I said I want someone who has the same

commitment to the business that I do.
Nafula: What else?
Zuri: I have to think about it.
Nafula: Do you think your partner wants the same things?
Zuri: I don’t know. Maybe I should ask her.
Nafula: So what are you planning to do?
Zuri: I’ll make a list of what I want in a partnership.
Nafula: That sounds great. Anything else?
Zuri: Then I’ll ask my partner to make a list too. Then we’ll get
together to compare our lists and see how we might each fulfil
our list.
Nafula: I think you’re on your way. What do you want to talk

about next time?
Zuri: Let me do this and then we can talk about what happened
and what we might need to do next.

Nafula: Good morning, Zuri. How are you today?
Zuri: Well, I’ve had better days. My partner and I met and it
turns out that she thinks since she’s only getting 25% of the
business that she should only work 25% of the time.
Nafula: What would you like to accomplish in our session

today?
Zuri: I need to figure out how to find a new partner who is

interested in the same partnership points that I am.
Nafula: Do you know what those are?
Zuri: Yes! I wrote them down for the conversation that we just
had. I can use them for finding a partner.
Nafula: Great work! You’re already ahead of the game now.

How can you use those ideas to find a new partner?
226
MAKE YOUR LIST – 10 MINS

Now, list the things that Nafula did in order to coach Zuri.
Abassi: Good morning, Masani. How are you today?
Masani: I’m okay. But I have a problem that I can’t seem to fix?
I need your help.
Abassi: Let’s start by you telling me about your problem.
Masani: My new business partner doesn’t seem to be

interested in our business.
Abassi: In what ways?
Masani: She doesn’t come in on some days. She’s not at work

at least 2 days a week. I’ve been working really hard to make
up for her absence.
Abassi: It sounds like you have a problem all right.
Masani: What should I do?
Abassi: You need to tell her that she needs to focus more on
the business. You come in every day, right? You both need to
spend equal time on the business to be equal partners.
Masani: How should I do that?
Abassi: Arrange a meeting at your business place. Try to make

sure that you don’t have customers who might overhear your
conversation. Then have a truthful conversation with her about
her missing time. Tell her about the impact of her actions on
you and on the business. Then tell her what you want her to
do: to come every day to work. It’s only fair.
Masani: Okay. I’ll do that.
Abassi: Come back and tell me what happens.

Masani: Not too good. Your solution didn’t work. Now I’ve lost
my business partner. I need to find a new one. Rather than
helping me fix my problem, you have now caused me more
trouble. What can you do about it?
? What was the biggest difference between these two

scenarios?
227
Abassi provided advice. When his advice didn’t work, Masani

blamed him for bad information. Masani was no longer
responsible for the outcome of her actions.
MAKE YOUR LIST – 10 MIN

Now, list the things that Abassi did when coaching Masani. If
there are actions that Abassi took that didn’t seem right, record
them but put an X next to each one that seemed wrong.
COACHES ARE OBJECTIVE – 15

MINS
The power of having a coach is in gaining a thinking partner
whom you know has no stake in the outcome. The coach is
neutral to the coachee’s goals, meaning the coachee sets
goals that are meaningful to them. When the coachee
achieves one goal, the coach can then guide them to select
another goal that is meaningful to the coachee.
When the coach has a stake in the outcome, the coach has an
opinion.
? How could having a stake impact your ability to coach?
Let’s watch this next scenario and see what happens.
as possible.
Abassi is facilitating StartUp! Foundation! for the third time.
Masani is a ReachUp! Participant in this session. Abassi is
impressed with Masani’s business ability. She is a Star
Participant. Abassi has an Internet store and would like Masani
to sell her products through his online store. He thinks it would
be good for both of them.
Masani: I’m well.
Abassi: I’m glad to hear it. I too am well. It’s a fine day. What is
your goal for this coaching session?
Masani: I want to talk about how to make my business more

profitable.
Abassi: Do you have an idea about how much more profit you
want or need to make?
228
Masani: Maybe you can help me work through that.
Abassi: Certainly. Do you know that small retail businesses like

yours usually don’t make a lot of profit?
Masani: I didn’t know that.
Abassi: Maybe a different business model might be more

profitable.
Masani: I would like to work on the current business.
Abassi: Certainly. As you know from our StartUp! Foundation!

sessions, profit is the difference between money coming in
and money going out. I can say that another way: income
minus expenses equals profit.
Masani: Right.
Abassi: So how can you improve your profits?
Massani: By increasing my selling price.
Abassi: And how will that impact profit?
Masani: If I charge more for my products, I will make more

money because my expenses will be the same but my income
will be larger.
Abassi: How could increasing your price negatively impact

your profit?
Masani: Price sensitive customers might not buy from me

anymore.
Abassi: Right. So raising prices is one way. How else can you
increase your profit?
Masani: Sell more products to my current customers. Find

more customers. Reduce my expenses.
Abassi: Right. What if there was a way to do all three of those

things at one time? Would you be interested?
Masani: Of course. What would that be?
Abassi: As you know, I have an Internet store. . .
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What has happened in this coaching conversation?
• Abassi was trying to set up a case to influence Masani

to sell product through his online store. He wasn’t
229
impartial and he used his power as a coach to influence

her unduly.
• He limited the options that Masani was able to explore.
? What, in particular, did Abassi say that indicated that he

had an interest in the outcome?
Do you know that small retail businesses like yours usually

don’t make a lot of profit? Maybe a different business model
might be more profitable.
What if there was a way to do all three of those things at one

time? Would you be interested?
? What might Masani think about future coaching

sessions?
She might not trust Abassi to help her for her sake. She might
assume that he always has a hidden agenda.
? What have you noticed about the coach’s part of the

conversation in all of the scenarios?
They are mostly asking questions.
ADD TO YOUR LIST – 5 MINS

Reflect back on this most recent scenario. Take 5 minutes and
add to your lists of what coaches do.
BUILDING TRUST – 20 MINS

Trust is a key component in a coaching relationship. Much of
coaching depends upon honesty and honesty only exists in an
environment of trust. If trust is missing, coaching cannot
happen.
Let’s look at a coaching conversation that either breaks or fails
to establish trust. We’re going to walk through it slowly,
pausing after each exchange to talk about how you might feel
if you were Massani, the coachee.
as possible.
Stop the role play or the video at the end of each section and
ask the group,
? What might Masani be thinking right now?
Possible answers are written in the second column.
230
Abassi and Masani What might Masani be thinking?

A Abassi: Oh! I know that we were going to get together at Abassi said he would be here
1:00 but I forgot a few things and had to go back home. and now he’s late. He doesn’t put
We’ll have to work fast so that we can end on time. the same value on my time that
Massani: That’s okay. I hope we have enough time to get he does on his time.
through our session.
B Abassi: I’m sure we will. I have to leave on time, however, to I hope there’s enough time to
make sure that I get out before rush hour. Otherwise, I’ll get address what I want to talk about.
home too late to do the rest of the work I have to do.
Let’s get started. Maybe we can work quickly.

Massani: Okay. Today I’d like to figure out how to find
financing for my business idea.
C Abassi: Okay (he says hesitantly), that’s going to be a hard Abassi doesn’t believe that I can
task without having more business experience than you do this
have. I don’t want you to be disappointed if we don’t find it.
Massani: Okay. Do you think I have a chance at all?
D Abassi is flipping through his planner, checking to see what He’s not paying attention to
else he needs to do today. He pauses: I’m sorry. What did anything I say. It’s like I’m
you say? wasting his time.
Massani: I asked if you thought I had any chance of finding
financing?
E Abassi: Maybe you’ll be lucky like Abula. She really This is gossip. I can’t believe he’s
struggled to understand business principles. She didn’t even talking about someone like this. I
have a very good business plan but her cousin worked in a hope he doesn’t talk about me to
local bank and introduced her to the loan officer. I think she other people.
got the loan on her good looks alone. But that’s enough
about Abula. We’re here to talk about you.
F Massani: First, I was going to finish my business plan. Once Okay. I should just give up. I can’t
it’s finished, I was going to make appointments with a few do this.
financing groups to go talk to them about it.
Abassi: Well, that’s one approach. Is your business plan
complete enough? You don’t get a second chance to make
a first impression. If I were a finance person, I don’t know
that I would give you money based on your current plan.
MAKE ABASSI A BETTER COACH – 10 MINS

Now, let’s walk back through the scenario and see how we can
improve it. I’ll read Abassi’s part. If you hear something wrong
with it, slap the table in front of you and make a noise like a
warning buzzer.
Demonstrate slapping and buzzing.
The first person to buzz in will describe what Abassi did wrong
and how he could be a better coach.
Let’s do the first one together.
Read Abassi’s part:
231
Oh! I know that we were going to get together at 1:00

but I forgot a few things and had to go back home.
We’ll have to work fast so that we can end on time.
Demonstrate slapping and buzzing. Provide the correct answer

yourself.
? What is the point here?
He didn’t keep his schedule commitment. He has broken a

promise to Masani that he would meet her at 1.00. He needs to
apologise and assure Masani that she can trust him in the
future. For example:
I’m so sorry I’m late. It won’t happen again!
? Any questions?
Answer any questions and then start the activity. The table on
the next page shows what should have happened in the
situation provided, as well as some possible example answers.
You may allow any variations to the answers as long as they
reflect what needs to be corrected.
232
BUILDING TRUST ANSWER KEY
CONVERSATION WHAT SHOULD HAVE EXAMPLE

HAPPENED IN THIS
SITUATION?
Abassi: Oh! I know that we were going to get Build trust in small things. Keep all Abassi: I’m so sorry I’m
together at 1:00 but I forgot a few things and commitments. Apologise when happen again!
had to go back home. you are at fault.
Masani: That’s okay. I hope we have enough
time to get through our session.
Abassi: We’ll have to work fast so that we Focus on meeting the coachee’s Abassi: I’m willing to sta
can end on time. I have to leave on time, needs as often as possible. make up the time if that
however, to make sure that I get out before Or we can schedule a s
rush hour. Otherwise, I’ll get home too late to this week and I promise
do the rest of the work I have to do. What would you prefer?
Let’s get started. Maybe we can work

quickly.
Masani: Okay. Today I’d like to figure out
how to find financing for my business idea.
Abassi: Okay (he says hesitantly), that’s Suspend limiting beliefs; Believe Abassi: Great! Togethe
going to be a hard task without having more in the coachee’s success and list of tasks that you can
business experience than you have. I don’t demonstrate that belief. order to present the bes
want you to be disappointed if we don’t find financing.
it.
Masani: Okay. Do you think I have a chance
at all?
Abassi is flipping through his planner, Focus on the coachee and be fully Abassi: I think you have
checking to see what else he needs to do present. if you’re willing to work
today. He pauses: I’m sorry. What did you ask that question?
say?
Masani: I asked if you thought I had any
chance of finding financing?
Abassi: Maybe you’ll get lucky like Abula. Hold ALL coaching conversations Abassi: Yes. I have sev
She didn’t have any business sense. She in confidence. Do not talk about have found financing. Y
didn’t even have a very good business plan other people by name. Do not able. There’s no reason
but her cousin worked in a local bank and share what you talk about outside shouldn’t be successful
could help her. I think she got the loan on the session with others. think you need to do to
her good looks alone. But that’s enough
about Abula. We’re here to talk about you.
Masani: First, I was going to finish my
business plan. Once it’s finished, I was going
to make appointments with a few financing
groups to go talk to them about it.
Abassi: Well, that’s one approach. Is your Find and demonstrate mutual Abassi: You work hard
business plan complete enough? You don’t respect. want. I respect that.
get a second chance to make a first
impression. If I were a finance person, I don’t Let’s look at your busine
know that I would give you money. What parts make the st
financing? Where do yo
need to do more work?
these points you’ll have
for strengthening your p
233
BUILDING TRUST ANSWER KEY
CONVERSATION WHAT SHOULD HAVE EXAMPLE

HAPPENED IN THIS
SITUATION?
you’re in front of a finan
234
ROLES AND BOUNDARIES – 30

MINS
WHY MANAGE BOUNDARIES? – 10 MINUTES
You’ve now experienced four different coaching scenarios.
? What do coaches do?
Coaches help us see beyond our own limiting ideas and help
us explore options. Coaches focus on goals for the future.
Once you have established a relationship based on trust,

coachees may tell or ask you anything, even ask you for help
with highly personal matters. As your relationship develops,
you will want to help in any way you can. That’s another pitfall.
In order to be the most effective coach, you will need to
manage the boundaries of your relationship with the coachee.
The four areas that you may be most tempted to move into
are:
1. Expert Adviser (e.g., business adviser)

2. Friend
3. Counsellor
4. Partner (e.g., business, relationship)
If you step into any one of these roles, you become less
effective as a coach. You can even harm your coachee. That’s
why it’s important to maintain coaching boundaries.
There are three primary reasons for maintaining the

boundaries around your coaching role:
1. limited knowledge and skill in another area (e.g.,

relationship counselling, providing business advice)
2. a need to preserve objectivity so your coachee is doing
what they want and not what you want them to do
3. allowing the coachee to remain accountable for their
actions
HOW TO MANAGE BOUNDARIES – 15 MINS

Divide Interns into three groups.
Each group will examine one boundary that coaches may be

tempted to cross and answer three questions. Here are the
three questions:
1. What does [Expert Adviser/Friend/Counsellor/Partner]

do with the coachee? How would a [Expert
Adviser/Friend/Counsellor/Partner] act?
235
2. Why is it important to preserve the role of a coach

rather than crossing a boundary to the role of [Expert
Adviser/Friend/Counsellor/ Partner]? What are the
implications of crossing that boundary?
3. How you can respond as a coach when the coachee
asks you to cross that boundary and act as [Expert
Adviser/ Friend/Counsellor/ Partner]?
Write the questions on the flip chart so that Interns can refer to
them while they work in their groups.
Let’s do the first one together—maintaining the boundary

between coach and Expert Adviser.
? What does an Expert Adviser do with the coachee?
Tells them what to do or how to do something better.
? Why is it important to preserve the boundary between

adviser and coach?
Limited knowledge and skill – Coaches, even expert coaches,

are not subject matter experts (e.g., business experts). Their
expertise lies in helping the coachee find their own way
forward.
Objectivity – The coachee is responsible for setting the

coaching direction. A coach can’t know whether the direction
they set for a coachee is meaningful to the coachee.
Accountability – When a coach offers advice they relieve the

coachee of the responsibility of making the decision, as well as
accountability for the outcome.
? How can you respond as a coach when the coachee

asks you to cross that boundary and act as an Expert
Adviser?
In the same way you planned your research questions, you

can help the coachee develop questions that they need
answers to, as well as an action a plan to find these answers
from an Expert Adviser.
In addition to Expert Adviser, there are three other roles that

coaches should not play. You are each going to work on one
of these roles. Coaches are not:
1. Friends
2. Counsellors
3. Partners of any kind (e.g.,business, relationship)
You have 10 minutes to answer the three questions in your

group.
236
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
Have each group do a brief report out for their group.
As each group shares their answers, see if you hear other

things that you can add to your answers.
237
COACHING POSTER SESSION

60 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Create posters that list coaching guidelines
OBJECTIVES
Interns will create their own guidelines for effective coaching that they
PURPOSE can refer to when coaching each other on facilitation goals.
The information displayed on the coaching posters will help Interns
WIIFM conduct an effective first coaching experience.
Coloured markers
MATERIALS Coloured paper
Flip chart paper
Create posters 60 mins
MODULE
SECTIONS
MODULE NOTES:
238
CREATE COACHING POSTERS –

60 MINS
It’s time to put everything that you’ve learned about coaching
into one place. Coaching is one of the challenging roles you
will have as an Intern. So, rather than try to remember
everything that a coach is supposed to do, each group is going
to create a poster as a guide.
You’ll be coaching each other towards your goals of improving

your facilitation skills on Day 9. You will use these posters to
remind you what coaches do and don’t do as you coach each
other.
You have 60 minutes to gather the important points from your

list and create an attractive poster that will serve as a reminder
of effective coaching.
After Interns have finished their posters, have them put them
on the wall in a place where they can be easily seen tomorrow.
Remind Interns that Learning Facilitation Exercises begin

tomorrow. They will have one hour to put the final touches on
their facilitation. They might want to get together this evening
to review what still needs to be done
239
PRACTICE FACILITATION TEAMS AND

ASSIGNMENTS
60 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Prepare to co-facilitate at StartUp! Foundation module
OBJECTIVES
Interns will follow a standard facilitation preparation process.
PURPOSE
This facilitation process has been tested and found to be extremely
WIIFM effective in preparing to facilitate curriculum that is new to a facilitator.
Once the curriculum is clear and prepared, Interns can respond more
effectively to what is happening in the classroom
Coloured markers
MATERIALS Coloured paper
Flip chart paper
Introducing practice facilitation 15 mins
MODULE Facilitation preparation process 20 mins
SECTIONS Set up coaching triads 20 mins
MODULE NOTES:
240
INTRODUCING PRACTICE
FACILITATION – 15 MINS
You have experienced each module and you have learned the
structure and purpose behind the program. You have also learned key
facilitation behaviours. It’s time to put all of that learning into action.
You will divide into facilitation teams now. Each team will have a day
to prepare to facilitate their module. Each team will share the
facilitation of a full module.
Here are the modules that you will facilitate:
Module 2, Know your customer
Module 3, Estimating your annual sales income
Module 4, Validating the customer problem assumptions
Module 5, Design your value proposition
Module 6, The Value Proposition Sheet
When you are not facilitating, you will have on three different hats:
1. that of a participant, using the business idea that you worked on

the first time through
2. that of an Intern learning the module content and facilitation
techniques
3. that of a facilitation coach
Here’s how the practice facilitation will work.
We will form facilitation teams.
Each team will be assigned a module.
You will have the rest of the day to prepare for facilitation, using a
carefully designed and tested process, which we will talk about next.
While you are wearing your Intern hat, you will focus on facilitation tips
and techniques that seem really effective to you.
After each Practice Facilitation module, the facilitation team will have
20 minutes to complete a facilitation self assessment. The rest of you
will have 20 minutes to complete your Facilitation Tip Sheets and
make a few coaching notes.
241
Then we will move to the next module. We will complete two modules
a day as well the associated self-assessment and Facilitation Tip
Sheet.
Form groups so that you have at least three Interns per module. If you
do not have at least 3 per module, consider eliminating Module 6.
FACILITATION PREPARATION –
20 MINS
Hand out a copy of the Preparation Process table to each Intern.
Preparing to facilitate is a lengthy and careful process. You will use

the same process that we used to prepare to facilitate Skills
Development.
A good rule of thumb for preparing to facilitate new content is to spend

approximately 3 hours preparation for each hour of delivery.
This preparation is followed by practice facilitation to your group,

which adds another 4 hours. If you follow this process, you will walk
into the room fully prepared and present for your learners.
You will have all day tomorrow to work in your facilitation teams and
prepare to facilitate your module. As you divide the sections of the
module up, make sure that everyone has a chance to facilitate.
Let’s walk through the preparation process sheet and talk about what
each step might look like.
Walk through each step and ask,
? Why would you do this? What can you learn from this?
? Where could you keep records on this work that would help
you in the classroom?
242
FACILITATION PREPARATION PROCESS

STEP TASK APPROX. TIME IN
HOURS
Individual work
Step 1 Read through noticing flow, timing and transitions. Gain a 1

general sense of the module objectives and intentions.
What is this module try to accomplish? How does it link to
the next module?
Step 2 Make note of detailed objectives and linkages between 1

sections within the day, and the prior day.
Co-facilitation pairs
Step 3 Complete all the activities, including all worksheets or 2

journal entries. Compare your results with your partners.
Deliverable: Completed worksheets and activity documents.
Step 4 Reword all of the concepts in your own words. 2
Deliverable: Typed notes on the concepts.
Entire facilitation team
Step 5 Rehearse your practice facilitation 2
Deliverable: Prepared Flip charts.
Step 6 Debrief and create Facilitation Tip Sheets for all sessions 1
created by all.
Deliverable: Facilitation Tip Sheets for all sessions.
243
SET UP COACHING TRIADS – 20

MINS
Each of you will have two coaches to help them identify and
achieve your facilitation improvement goals.
You are going to form coaching triads, made up from different

facilitation groups. If you are facilitating Module 5, find two
more people for your triad, one from each of two of the other
modules.
In your triad, you will each perform three roles, coach, coachee
and coach observer.
In order to prepare for your coaching session as the coachee,

you will use the Facilitation self-assessment form to make
notes after your Learning Facilitation Exercise. To prepare for
coaching session as the coach, make notes about your
coachee’s facilitation so that you will know what your coachee
is talking about.
Facilitation coaching sessions will be held on Day 20.
These coaching sessions will allow Interns to practice

coaching, and receive feedback on their coaching. It will also
require them to complete a self-assessment to develop
facilitation improvement goals.
244
LEARNING FACILITATION
PRACTICE DAY
You have all day to work as a group as you finalise and
practise your module. We will begin facilitation tomorrow
morning with Module 2, Know your customers.
245
PREPARE FOR LEARNING

FACILITATION– 5 MINS
Module 2, facilitation team, come up and get ready.
Explain the following while the first team sets up.
While you are watching other groups facilitate their StartUp!

modules, you will again be wearing the three hats –
• that of a new facilitator who will be facilitating these

modules soon
• the hat of Participant
• the hat of a coach
As a coach, remember to take notes to prepare for your

coaching session with your coachees.
As a new facilitator, you will complete a Facilitation Tip sheet.

ON this sheet, you will capture key concepts presented in each
module section as well as any facilitation techniques that you
see and want to keep for your own facilitation. Keep in mind
the issues that you will encounter with Participants and make
notes of how to handle those as they occur.
When your group is facilitating, you will have a self-

assessment form to take notes of your impressions about your
own facilitation. Make note of what you did well as well as
where you want to improve. This will help you prepare for your
peer coaching sessions.
When the first team is ready, begin the practice facilitation

session.
246
Begin the Learning Facilitation Exercises with Module 2, Know

your customer. Interns will facilitate two modules and complete
two reflections in the rest of the day.
Pause at the end of each Practice Facilitation and allow Interns

to complete their Facilitation Tip sheets, self-assessments and
coaching notes.
Practice Facilitation Day 1
ACTIVITY TIME
Module 2, Know your customer 180 mins
Complete self assessment, facilitation tip 20 mins
sheet and coaching notes
Module 3, Estimating annual sales income 180 mins
At the end of the day, remind Interns to bring their Self-

Assessment, Facilitation Tip Sheet and Coaching notes with
them tomorrow.
ACTIVITY TIME
Module 4, Validating the customer problem 180 mins
assumptions
Module 5, Design your value proposition 180 mins
ACTIVITY TIME
Module 6, The Value Proposition Sheet 180 mins
Facilitation Q&A 60 mins
Facilitation Coaching 60 mins
247
FACILITATION TIP SHEET
MODULE 2, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
What key concepts are presented in each section? What facilitation practices did you see that you want to
adopt?
KEY SECTIONS KEY CONCEPTS FACILITATION TIPS
OVERALL
MODULE
INTRODUCTION
CREATE EXAMPLE
PERSONAS
CREATE
SUPERMARKET
PERSONAS
CREATE YOUR OWN

PERSONAS
APPLICATION TO
BUSINESS
Questions:
248
MODULE 3, ESTIMATING ANNUAL SALES INCOME
adopt?
OVERALL
INTRODUCTION
ADDING CUSTOMER
INFORMATION
ESTIMATING
ANNUAL SALES
INCOME
COMPLETE THE
WORKSHEET
CUSTOMER
PROBLEMS AND
GOALS
Questions:
249
MODULE 4, VALIDATING THE CUSTOMER PROBLEM ASSUMPTIONS
adopt?
INTRODUCTION
NEED VS. WANT
RECORD
ASSUMPTIONS
PREPARE FOR
INTERVIEW
CREATE CUSTOMER
LIST
Questions:
250
MODULE 5, DESIGN YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION
adopt?
PRODUCT MARKET
FIT
SELLING FEATURES
AND BENEFITS
UNIVERSAL VALUES
CREATE YOUR
FEATURE BENEFIT
LIST
Questions:
251
MODULE 6, THE VALUE PROPOSITION SHEET
adopt?
DESCRIPTION
BLOCK
KEY BENEFITS
BLOCK
IMPROVING YOUR
COMPETITIVE
POSITION
WHAT THE
COMPETITION
DOESN’T PROVIDE
PROBLEM COST
Questions:
252
FACILITATION SELF-ASSESSMENT
Use this self-assessment form to self-assess your facilitation performance in each performance
dimension.
Read each of the performance dimensions in the table below
Reflect on your practise facilitation and think about what evidence exists that demonstrates your
achievement in each performance dimension
Rate your facilitation performance against the performance dimension using the following scale:
1 = I have no evidence of behaviour(s) in this performance dimension
2 = I have some evidence of behaviour(s) in this performance dimension
3 = I have good evidence of behaviour(s) in this performance dimension
4 = I have excellent evidence of behaviour(s) in this performance dimension
Provide evidence that supports your ratings
Rating (1-
Role Performance Dimension Evidence to Support Rating
4)
Facilitates Creates a respectful environment where

learning learners feel comfortable sharing ideas
and uncertainties
Encourages and provides opportunities

for the learners to participate and to lead
Encourages learners to generate own

answers
Recognises different learning styles and

employs learning approaches to meet
learner needs
Manages Manages own time, space, and priorities

Projects
253
StartUp! Foundation Skills Development.docxStartUp!
Foundation Skills Development.docx
PRACTICE FACILITATION WRAP UP

120 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Prepare to co-facilitate at StartUp! Foundation module
OBJECTIVES
Interns will follow a standard facilitation preparation process.
PURPOSE
This facilitation process has been tested and found to be extremely
WIIFM effective in preparing to facilitate curriculum that is new to a facilitator.
Once the curriculum is clear and prepared, Interns can respond more
effectively to what is happening in the classroom
Coaching notes; self asssessment
MATERIALS
Module Q&A 60 mins
MODULE Facilitation coaching triads 60 mins
SECTIONS
MODULE NOTES:
FACILITATION Q&A – 60 MINS

Use the next hour to hold a concept debrief on the practice
facilitation modules.
You just re-experienced the 5 key modules of StartUp!

Foundation. These modules form the basis for StartUp!
Foundation. It is critically important that you are comfortable
with the concepts that are presented in these modules. This is
your time to become completely clear.
254
StartUp! Foundation Skills Development.docxStartUp!
Foundation Skills Development.docx
? What questions do you have about modules 2-6?
? What questions to you think Participants will ask about

those modules? How might we answer those
questions?
FACILITATION COACHING TRIADS

– 60 MINS
It’s time for your first real coaching session. Find your two
coaching partners. Before you begin, you might want to quickly
review the coaching posters for coaching tips.
Here’s how it will work. You have 60 minutes to complete three

Coaching Sessions and three Coaching Feedback Sessions.
You will need to carefully manage your time to make sure that
all three of your coaching triad members get a chance in each
role.
COACHING SESSIONS – 15 MINS EACH

Choose who will be Coach 1, who will be Coachee 1 and who
will be Observer 1. This will be Coaching Session 1. Coach 1
will begin the session with Coachee 1. Together you will be
working on a facilitation goal, identified by Coachee 1. While
the coach and the coachee are working, Observer 1 will
observe the coaching session. The coaching session will last
15 minutes. The session should end with a commitment to
action.
FEEDBACK SESSIONS – 5 MINS EACH

At the end of Coaching Session 1, Coach 1 will receive 2-3
minutes feedback from Observer 1. Then Coachee 1 will talk
for 2-3 minutes about what worked in the session for them, as
well as any new insights they may have.
At the end of 20 minutes, Coaching and Feedback Session 2

will begin and will follow the same process.
You will repeat the process one more time and end after
Coaching and Feedback Session 3.
Together, find a private place to hold your session. Bring your

facilitation self-assessment and your coaching notes with you.
If you leave the room, make sure to come back after 60

minutes.
255
LISTENING FOR UNDERSTANDING

120 minutes
TIMING
! Practice role play so that it flows smoothly and can be
presented with drama
! Prepare flip chart with 10 Listening Guidelines
LEARNING • Record their inner dialogue
OBJECTIVES • Practice open listening
• Follow guidelines to listen effectively
Pair activity, group discussion
METHODS
Open listening is an advanced coaching practice and one that Interns will
PURPOSE use when coaching their Participants to achieve livelihood goals.
To be effective coaches, Interns must be able to quiet their inner dialogue
WIIFM and listen with an open mind. This module allows Interns to practise
suspending predictions and eliminate the common filters that often distort
what we are hearing.
10 Listening Guidelines flip chart
MATERIALS
Story circle icebreaker 20 mins
MODULE Personal coaching goals 20 mins
SECTIONS The left-hand column 20 mins
Listening without filters 30 mins
Listening skills 30 mins
MODULE NOTES:
256
STORY CIRCLE ICEBREAKER – 30

MINS
The purpose of this icebreaker is to demonstrate what it’s like
to not have preconceived ideas about where a dialogue is
going. We call that Open Listening. This is a core coaching
skill in being able to truly hear what the coachee is saying
without adding your own filters on to it.
Have the group sit in a circle.
This morning we are going to tell one story as a group. First,

we need a title for the story.
Here’s one title just as an example, but we’re not going to use
this one. This is just to get the thinking started.
“Ella and the strength of elephants”
? Who can start us off with a good story title?
Repeat the title that was offered.
Now we are going to tell the story as a group. We will go

around the circle and everyone will contribute. There’s one
catch. When it’s your turn to add to the story, you can only say
one word. You will need to listen closely to make sure that your
word will fit with the others and continue the story.
? Who would like to begin?
Go around the circle several times until the story has ended.
? What did you have to do in order to make the story

work?
? What was hard?
Acknowledge responses.
Bring out the two points of listening closely and not pre-
determining where the dialogue is going.
? How might this exercise inform your coaching skills?
If you decide where the dialogue is going before your coachee,

you are not going to be ready when the coachee says
something different. A key coaching skill is being responsive in
the moment, and not a minute or a second before.
257
PERSONAL COACHING GOALS –

20 MINS
You know quite a lot about what coaches do. You have
conducted your first real coaching session. How was that?
? Coachees, how did the facilitation coaching triads

further your facilitation development goals?
You are going to be practicing a few more coaching sessions

before the end of StartUp! Foundation Skills Development. The
best way to improve your coaching skills is to practice, with
real coachees and with real goals.
You will now have 15 minutes to come up with at least 5 goals

on increasing your effectiveness as an Intern that you would
like some help with. These must be REAL goals, something
that you really want to achieve.
Write down at least 5. If you have more, that is even better.
THE LEFT-HAND COLUMN – 20

MINS
You’re going to have a conversation with a partner for 5
minutes about something you both feel strongly about.
Take 2 minutes to agree on a topic.
Call time at the end of 2 minutes and tell pairs to start the
conversation.
Call time at the end of 5 minutes and stop the conversation.
Take 5 minutes to quickly complete the table on your handout,

briefly listing what you said and what the other person said.
Then fill in the far left column with notes about what you were
thinking and feeling but not saying during the conversation. Try
to remember closely what you were thinking; you will not show
anyone what you write in your left-hand column.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What kept you from saying the things you wrote in your
left-hand column?
Gather responses. Make the point that not everything that

appears in a left hand column should be said.
? How is what you wrote in your left-hand column

different from what you said?
258
Usually what we see in the left-hand column contains a lot that

doesn’t actually occur in the conversation. However, our inner
dialogue can greatly influence what we hear. Becoming aware
of that dialogue is the first step to truly hearing what is said.
LISTENING WITHOUT FILTERS –

25 MINS
DEMONSTRATION – 15 MINS
Do this next demonstration with a co-facilitator. You’re going to
have a conversation; however, during the conversation you’re
each going to share the voice inside your head. This
demonstration is intended to bring out three common listening
filters that limit our conversation.
They are:
• I know this person, therefore I think he/she is . . .

• This experience isn’t true for me
• The logic of what this person is saying doesn’t make
sense
A says to B: Why are today’s movies so full of violence? It

seems like every movie, no matter what it’s about, has
violence in it. It’s bad for kids.
B says to the audience: That’s not right. Not all movies

are violent. I wonder how many movies she’s/he’s seen?
B says to A: Hmm. That doesn’t sound exactly right. What

movies are you talking about?
A says to the audience: Why is [B] always contradicting

me?! We always have an argument when all I did was
make a statement.
A says to B: Of course I’m right. I took my children to a movie

last week. We weren’t home for 5 minutes and they were
hitting each other.
B says to the audience: A’s always so dramatic. I wonder

what really happened.
B says to A: Did they actually hurt each other? You think

movies are why your kids hit each other? Do your kids hit each
other any other times?
B says to the audience: When I take my niece and

nephew to the movies, they don’t come back and hit each
other.
259
A says to the audience: It’s happened to us twice this

year already. We went to a movie and they came back
and hit each other.
A says to B: Yes. They don’t hit each other any other time.
B says to the audience: Yeah, right.
? What was the original point?
Violence in movies was bad for children
? What did they talk

about?
A’s children hitting each

other
? What kinds of
things were going
on behind the
scenes?
Draw this picture on the

flip chart and explain as you label the thought bubbles.
There is a lot going on when we process a conversation. In our

example,
1. Each person was comparing what was said to their own

experience
2. They were deciding if what was said was true or not
3. They were listening to the logic of the argument to see
if it made logical sense.
Not only can all these filters get in the way of what we are
hearing but they can hijack the conversation.
When you are coaching, you need to apply all your listening
skills. Remember, coaching means you are helping the
coachee find their own way. To do that, you really need to hear
what the coachee is saying without imposing your filters n the
conversation.
Draw an X through each thought bubble.
One way to do that is to practise both curiosity and not

knowing. That means that you assume that you don’t know
anything about the subject, but you’d really like to know more.
Let’s go back to the earlier example.
Act out this next segment.
260
A says to B: Why are today’s movies so full of violence? It

seems like every movie, no matter what it’s about, has
violence in it. It’s bad for kids.
B says to A: I hear you saying that movie violence is bad for

kids. Does that mean that it’s bad when they see it or that,
when others see it, bad things happen to kids?
A says to B: I meant that it was bad when kids saw the

violence but I wonder how it might also affect kids if others see
it?
B says to A: Can you give me an example of how it’s bad?

What happens to kids when there is violence in movies?
? What was the original point?
That violence in movies is bad for children
? What did they talk about?
How violence in movies might be bad for children
PAIR CONVERSATION – 10 MINS

Go back to your earlier conversation topic from the left-hand
column activity. Pick who will speak first. Then practise
curiosity and not knowing and continue your conversation for 5
minutes.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What was hard about the process of not knowing?
? How did you feel about the second conversation

compared to the first conversation?
? Where did your conversation end the second time?
LISTENING SKILLS – 30 MINS

Listening is hard work. Again, you’re wearing many hats.
You’re paying attention to what is being said, you’re working to
understand and you’re keeping all of those filters at bay. When
you have really listened, you will feel tired afterwards. That’s a
good sign that you have really listened.
Reveal flip chart.
This list of Listening Guidelines will help you listen effectively

as a coach.
1. Be curious
2. Practise not knowing
261
3. Focus your attention

4. Show that you are listening
5. Offer prompts and nudges to keep the
conversation going
6. Aim for a 30:70 talk to listen ratio
7. Be patient with silence
8. Listen for highlights
9. Make notes
10. Check for understanding
LISTENING PRACTISE – 20 MINS

Today you came up with a few coaching goals that will make
you more effective as an Intern. You’re going to practice
listening now as you coach a partner on one of their goals. Use
the Listening Guidelines on the flip chart as you coach.
You will each have a chance to be the coach and the coachee.
As a coachee, choose a goal that you would like to talk about
and then begin your coaching session. The session will last 10
minutes and then you will switch places.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and have pairs switch.
Call time at the end of 20 and bring the group back together.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
I’d like to hear about the coachee experience now.
? What did the coach do to demonstrate the first

Listening Guideline? How did you know that the coach
was curious?
Walk through the rest of the list asking similar questions for
each item on the list. For example for Guideline 9, Make notes,
you would ask something like, How did the coach use the
notes that they took during the coaching session?
262
LEFT-HAND COLUMN HANDOUT
I THINK/FEEL . . . I SAID. . . THEY SAID. . .
263
COACHING WITH POWERFUL QUESTIONS

60 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Discuss a subject without asking questions
OBJECTIVES • Create open questions for specific coaching purposes
Group discussion, pair activity
METHODS
Interns will use questions to help Participants explore their learning and
PURPOSE livelihood options. This module introduces how to create questions that
create new insights.
Asking powerful questions is a key skill for guiding coachees to form new
WIIFM insights. By practising the art of question creation in this module, Interns
will be better able to respond during the coaching conversation.
Powerful Question Creation worksheet
MATERIALS
No questions pairs 10 mins
MODULE Coaching with powerful 10 mins
SECTIONS questions
Pair question creation 30 mins
Debrief 10 mins
MODULE NOTES:
264
NO QUESTIONS PAIRS – 10 MINS

You and a partner are going to hold a 5 minute conversation
about something of interest to you in your community. The only
rule is that you cannot ask any questions during this
conversation. The rest of the conversation should be
completely normal. Just, no questions. Select a partner. Ready.
Talk.
Call time at the end of the 5 minutes.
ACTIVITY DEBRIEF – 5 MINUTES

? What was the experience like?
We don’t even notice how many questions we ask, even in a

brief conversation.
? Why do we ask questions?
Think about someone you knew or know right now between

the ages of 1-2, someone who has just started to talk.
? What is the conversation like?
Adults ask children lots of questions. What colour is this? What

is this thing? What sound does the cow make? Who is this?
Think about someone you knew or know right now who is

between the ages of 2-5, someone who is talking. Think about
their conversation.
? What does it sound like?
Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to go to bed now?
? What is the purpose of questions for these two different

children whose conversation you have described?
They’re learning.
? So, if questions are a natural part of how we learn and

communicate, what stops us from asking questions?
• Don’t want to seem foolish.

• Not enough time.
• Don’t really want to know.
• Aren’t interested in getting more information from that
person.
COACHING WITH POWERFUL

QUESTIONS – 10 MINS
As coaches you will be asking lots of questions.
265
When coaching, the right questions help identify the

Participant`s goals and desires as well as how they plan to
achieve them. The right answers are theirs to determine.
? What specific functions do questions perform in the

coaching relationship?
Let’s practise with a story. Erina, one of your Participants, tells

you that her brother needs help in his grocery store and has
asked her to help.
? What kind of question might you ask her?
Look at your Powerful Question Creation worksheet and give

me an example of a question you could ask your Participant for
any one of the functions.
Here are a few examples to get the group started:.
Show you understand what she is saying. “Your brother wants

you to work in his grocery store?”
Help explore assumptions. “What will you do with the money

you make?”
Uncover facts “How do you feel about working in a grocery

store? Or What prior experience have you had?”
Bring out options “How could this job help your career search?”
Or “How can what you’re learning right now help him?”
? What might be the impact of this question, ―Why didn’t

your brother ask you earlier, when you were really
worried?
Look for responses similar to: Create a defensive or reactive

response.
Why questions often create a defensive response.
Just like listening, asking good questions is a skill.
Listen to the following questions. You don’t need to answer

them. However, pay attention to your thinking as you hear
them.
? Is this experience what you expected?
? What did you think about when you heard that question?
Now this one.
? What expectations do have for the rest of this week?
266
? What was the difference in your thinking when you

heard that question?
? Were the questions different?
Hold up your hand to pause response.
? How were the questions different?
One was closed, required a one to two word answer; one was
open ended.
Open ended questions open up thinking on a topic. They invite

others into the thinking. They create a space for thoughts to
develop.
There are times when all you need for an answer is one or two
words. That’s when a closed question might make sense.
? Who has an example of a situation for a closed

question?
What time do you want to meet at the coffee shop?
Even beyond closed and open ended questions, the words you
use in your questions make a difference. Suppose you wanted
to know which movie showing you should select to
accommodate you and your three best friends.
? How would you ask the ticket seller?
Ask for a volunteer to create a question. For each question you

hear, ask questions to find out what purpose the responder is
trying to accomplish.
“How many available seats do you have?” would tell you

whether or not you could all see the movie.
“How many available seats do you have together?” would tell

you whether you could sit with your friends.
“What would you suggest to a group of four who want to be

able to enjoy a movie together?” might give you a whole
different set of information.
Purpose matters in your question asking. It helps you select

the right words to use in your questions.
267
PAIR QUESTION CREATION – 30

MINS
FIRST PAIR QUESTION CREATION – 20 MINS
Medula, your coachee, thinks she needs a partner in order to
expand her business but she’s not sure what makes sense for
her. She has three new clients and needs help but she is
having trouble finding a business partner.
You are going to work with a partner on crafting one question

to coach Medula by writing one question for each purpose in
the Powerful Question Creation worksheet. You will have 20
minutes to come up your questions for the scenario.
If Interns appear to have trouble with this activity, walk the

group through a couple of the examples in the answer key and
then allow them to work on their own.
PAIR QUESTION IMPROVEMENT – 10 MINUTES

Now swap your worksheet with another pair. The new task is
to refine the questions. See if you can improve them. You have
10 minutes.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and have Interns swap their
worksheets back.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What questions would you ask to help us think about
the points in this module?
Acknowledge each response and immediately follow up with:
? What purpose did that question serve?
268
POWERFUL QUESTION CREATION
HANDOUT
QUESTION EXAMPLE QUESTION FOR MEDULA

PURPOSE
Open a What is it you would like to
discussion accomplish in this session?
Call attention How was your experience today

to a point different from the last time we
talked?
Uncover facts What happened? What happened

next?
Show you Do I understand correctly, that you . .

understand . ?
Gain What would you like to work on

commitment between now and the next time we
talk?
Help explore Does it happen every time or most of

assumptions the time?
Test an idea What if you tried that option? What

might happen?
Bring out What other things might you do that

options have a similar impact?
Summarise a Are you saying that you need these

discussion three things and if you have those
then. . .
269
QUESTION EXAMPLE QUESTION FOR MEDULA

PURPOSE
Open a What is it you would like to What would you like to talk about
discussion accomplish in this session? today, Medula?
Call attention How was your experience today What are you looking for in a business
to a point different from the last time? partner?
Uncover facts What happened? What happened What is it that the clients want that
next? you can’t provide?
Show you Do I understand correctly, that you . . You’re saying if you had a partner,
understand . ? they could help you . . . ?
Gain What would you like to work on What will you do to explore the
commitment between now and the next time we options we talked about today?
talk?
Help explore Does it happen every time or most of How can having a business partner
assumptions the time? help with your current situation?
Test an idea What if you tried that option? What What if you found a partner? What
might happen? would they do that someone you hired
couldn’t do?
Bring out What other things might you do that Where else could you get the help you
options have a similar impact? need?
Summarise a Are you saying that you need these Are you saying you want a business
discussion three things and if you have those partner to share expenses as well as
then. . . the work?
270
COACHING STRUCTURE
120 minutes
TIMING
! Print out the Coaching do and don’t strips and cut them apart
LEARNING • Recall coaching do’s and don’ts
OBJECTIVES • Experience the DOT coaching structure
• Recall Coach actions and behaviours during each stage of the
coaching structure
• Practice coaching using the structure
Role play, coaching triads
METHODS
The module demonstrates a detailed structure that Interns will use when
PURPOSE delivering coaching.
A clear coaching structure enables new coaches to adhere to correct
WIIFM coaching procedures. For that reason, each DOT coach follows a defined
structure for the coaching session.
Coaching do and don’t slips, a box to put them in, Role play script,
MATERIALS Coaching structure worksheet and coaching structure handout.
Coaching do and don’t race 20 mins
MODULE The DOT coaching structure 20 mins
SECTIONS Triad debrief, completing the structure worksheet 30 mins
Triad coaching practice 40 mins
Coaching practice debrief 10 mins
MODULE NOTES:
271
COACHING DO AND DON’T RACE

– 20 MINS
It’s time to recall everything you know about coaching so far.
Think back to everything you learned about coaching pitfalls
when you created your coaching poster. Think back to when
you listened for understanding and created powerful
questions.
We’re going to do this as a true false question race. Here’s

how it will work. I’m going to draw a statement from the box. I
will read it out loud. I will then ask, “Is this statement true?”
Those of you who believe that it’s true will raise your hands. I
will check to see whose hands are up and then ask you to
lower them. Then I will ask, “Is this statement false?” Those of
you who believe the statement is false, will raise your hands. I
will check to see whose hands are up and then will ask you to
lower them. Then I will tell you the correct answer. If you have
answered correctly, you will take one step forward. If you
answered incorrectly, you will stay where you are.
I will then ask, “Why is this statement true?” or “Why is this

statement false?”
If you can explain Why the statement is true or false, raise

your hand. If I call on you and you provide the correct answer
as to why, you may take an additional step forward.
The first person to the front of the room is the Star Coach.
Then everyone move to the back of the room and we’ll start.
272
COACHING DO AND DON’T SLIPS

Cut the strips below apart and put them into a box or basket. You will then draw each one
out and read it. Follow the instructions that you have provided for the Interns.
When a coach is an expert in a business area, he or she may give advice to the
coachee, but only if he or she is an expert. F
Sometimes a coach needs to check his or her phone during a coaching session to
make sure they don’t miss the next coaching appointment. F
It’s the coach’s responsibility to hold the coachee accountable.
F
It’s the coach’s responsibility to keep conversations confidential.
T
Coaching is most effective when the coachee has a goal that he or she wants to
work on. T
Coaches listen openly and without filters.
T
Coaches believe in their coaches ability to achieve their goals.
T
If a coach invests money in a coachee’s business, he can still be neutral when he
coaches that person. F
Coaches spend most of their time talking during a coaching conversation.
F
Good coaches are curious.
T
It is the coach’s responsibility to correct a coachee’s decision when she knows it is
wrong. F
Coaches know more about the subject they are coaching on than the coachee.
F
Coaches help a coachee tap into their own personal wisdom.
T
273
Coaches need to know the local resources in order to refer a coachee to an expert
when needed. T
The coachee determines their next action step.
T
Paraphrasing is one method that a coach can show that he is listening.
T
The purpose of coaching is improvement.
T
Coaches often ask questions that start with “Why did you. . .?”
F
Coaches use questions to uncover facts and bring out options
T
If the coach doesn’t agree with what the coachee is say, she should say so.
F
274
THE DOT COACHING STRUCTURE

– 20 MINS
Think about a time when you were struggling to understand or
to solve a difficult problem. To help you understand it better,
you explained it to another person and suddenly the light came
on. That’s the role of the coach, to help turn on the lights. A
coach can help the coachee solve problems, reach goals and
make decisions. It’s true that two brains are better than one.
Coaching is a partnership between at least two people, the

coach and the person being coached. Coaching recognizes
that the coachee is the expert in the field of their life and their
business.
The coachee’s role is to provide the expertise in the subject

being discussed. The coachee is also the one who will do the
work toward the desired outcome.
The coach’s role is to listen, support, provoke and ask

questions that lead to new discoveries or ways of looking at
things. Coaching is a key ingredient for the success of DOT
Participants.
The coaching process at DOT follows a defined structure to

help the coachee determine their next course of action.
Listen to the following role play and see if you can tell what the
stages of the structure are.
COACHING STRUCTURE ROLE PLAY – 15 MINS

Ask a co-facilitator to help you in this role play. Pause after
each stage and signal to the listeners that you are moving into
the next stage by pausing and pointing toward them.
We are now going to role play the first coaching session

between an Intern coach and a participant. I will pause and
point out to the audience at the end of each stage of the
coaching session so that you know that one stage has ended
and another is about to begin. Make note of the kinds of things
that are happening during each stage. You will use these
notes in the next exercise.
Ready to begin? Here’s the first stage.
Point to the audience.
1. OPEN THE SESSION
275
Coach: Good morning, Grace. How are you today?
Grace: I am fine.
Coach: Great! I am really excited about starting our coaching

relationship. Today we’ll have an hour to talk about you’re your
goals are and what you want to work on.
What questions do you have for me as we begin?
Grace: So, you are going to help me decide what I should do

about my business, right?
Coach: That’s right. I am going to help you decide. But let’s

talk about what each of us will do so that we’re both clear on
expectations. Okay?
Grace: Yes.
2. ESTABLISH THE COACHING RELATIONSHIP

Grace: I really need help finding the right business idea to
work on. I don’t know what to do. What should I do? What’s a
good business idea?
Coach: This is a great opportunity to talk about how we will

work together. While I won’t be able to tell you what you
should do, we will work through any options that you are
thinking about. We can even explore some new options that
you might not have considered before.
You are really the expert on what you should do. However, as
your coach, I can guide you through a thought process that
can help you come up with the right answers.
It will work sort of like this. I will ask you questions to fully
understand your thinking up to this point. Through this
question and answer work, you will decide on a course of
action to take. Then together we will agree on a time and date
to complete that action. I will help you make sure that the
action is reasonable and something that you can complete
between one coaching session and the next. You will complete
the action and we will then talk about the results in the next
coaching session. I will help guide you through your decisions,
based on your own goals. You will be doing the work.
How does that sound?
Grace: Okay, I guess. So what does might that look like?
276
Coach: I think the best way to describe it is to do it. Is that

okay with you?
Grace: Sure.
3. ESTABLISH THE SESSION GOAL

Coach: Okay, so tell me a little bit about what you are trying to
accomplish?
Grace: Well, I said I needed help deciding on a business idea.

Can you help me with that?
Coach: I’m sure I can. Is that what you would like to work on
today, coming up with a business idea?
Grace: Yes.
Coach: Okay. Great.
4. EXPLORATION
Coach: Tell me about all of the ideas that you are considering
right now?
Grace: Well, I thought I might start a child care service in my

home. Or maybe I might open a stationery store. Or I could
open a beauty salon.
Coach: Those are three very interesting ideas. Are there

more?
Grace: Yes. A friend of mine started making really nice

smelling soap and has done very well. I might want to try that.
And another friend is cooking snacks to sell in the market. And
then I heard about someone who had done well making and
delivering fresh bread to homes in the neighborhood.
Coach: Okay. You have a lot of ideas. So far, you said:
Childcare, stationery store, beauty salon, making soap, selling

snacks and baking and selling bread. Anything else that you
are interested in or that your community might need?
Grace: It’s sort of a crazy idea.
Coach: That’s good. We want to get all the ideas out right now.
We’ll narrow them down later. Let’s hear your crazy idea.
Grace: It would be really nice to have a shower house in the

community. With lots of water.
277
Coach: That’s an interesting idea. What other ideas do you

have?
Grace: I think that’s it for now.
Coach: Okay. Let’s talk about all of those ideas now.
5. DECIDE
Coach: How about you look at the ideas to decide which ones
are the most interesting for you to pursue. Let’s use this
decision making grid that you used during ReachUp!
Why don’t you write all your ideas as a list and number them.
Then see if you can plot each of your ideas on this grid. As
you make each point, put the number of it next to the point so
that we know what each one is.
1. child care services

2. stationery store
3. beauty salon
4. soap
5. selling snacks
6. bread bakery
7. shower house
8. boutique
Grace: Okay.
Coach hands Grace a sheet of paper with the grid on it. Grace
plots each idea on the grid where she thinks it belongs.
278
Coach: I see you put the boutique in the High/High quadrant.

Tell me about that. What assets do you have that would allow
you to start a boutique?
Grace: As I thought about it, I just really wanted to start one.
Coach: That’s great. Tell me what you would need in order to

open your boutique.
Grace: Well, I’d need a store.
Coach: Yes. What else?
Grace: dresses, handbags, blouses, shoes
Coach: Yes. What else?
Grace: maybe hats. I think that’s it.
Coach: Okay. So, do you have a store that you can use?
Grace: Not now. But my uncle has a shop that he might let me
use part of.
Coach. Great. That’s one asset that’s available to you. What

about the clothing you would sell? Do you have that available
to you?
Grace: No. I would have to buy it.
Coach: And about how much would that cost?
Grace: I could get started with around 3000.
Coach: And do you have that money as an available asset?
Grace: No, but I could get a loan maybe?
Coach: okay. So you said you might have access to a location,

which is an available asset but you don’t currently have the
money to buy the stock you would need to sell. So, with that
information, would you still place the boutique in the same
place that you had before?
Grace: I guess not. Maybe lower on the asset side.
Coach: Are there other business ideas on this plot that you
might want to adjust after our conversation about the
boutique?
Grace: Yes. I just realized that as a mother, I know a lot about

caring for children. And my aunt could help me. And I have a
279
good garden area where the children could play. It’s behind a
wall so it’s secure. Maybe I have more assets for that. Maybe
I’ll move it up on the asset line.
Coach: Why don’t you look at all of the ideas now that you
know more about the thought process. See which ones are in
the right place and which ones you might want to move.
Grace and the Coach act out moving the points around.
Coach: Great. Now let’s talk about the attractiveness to the

market. Do you think people in your community would shop at
a new boutique?
Point to the audience
6. PLAN
Grace: I would. I guess I don’t know about them.
Coach: How could you find out?
Grace: I can ask around and see.
Coach: That’s a great idea. Who might you talk to and what
kinds of questions might you ask?
Grace: Well, let’s see. . .
Coach and Grace have a conversation about a plan. You don’t

need to do the details of the plan; just put your heads together
and mumble.
7. COMMIT
Coach: Okay, you have a great list of people to talk to and
you’ve come up with some really great questions. Is that what
you would like to work on between now and our next session?
Grace: Yes! I will talk with three potential customers for each
of these four business ideas in the top asset quadrant. Then I’ll
learn how attractive the business might be to the community.
8. ENCOURAGE
Coach: Grace, that sounds great!!! I know you’re going to have
wonderful conversations and the questions you came up with
are really going to help you get the answers you need. I can’t
wait to hear what you learn.
Grace: Yes, I’m really excited too!
280
9. CLOSE
Coach: Great! I think you are well on your way toward deciding
on what business makes sense for you. And I think that your
conversations are going to provide you with some really
valuable information.
Are you still okay meeting in two weeks at this same time?
Grace: Yes. Two weeks will give me time to do all of these

interviews.
Coach: Great! We can talk how they went and what you
learned at that time.
Grace: Yes. Thank you for your help. I also learned how
coaching worked today.
Coach: (laughs) Yes. It was a great session for me too! See

you in two weeks.
TRIAD DEBRIEF – 30 MINS

You’re now going to work in triads to recall what happened
during each stage. What did the coach do or say in the role
play? You’ll have 20 minutes to discuss and fill out the
worksheet. Recall what the coach did or said at each stage.
You may use your notes.
At the end of 20 minutes, we’ll come back together as a big

group and talk about what you learned.
Create groups of three Interns each. If you don’t have an even

number, you may to pairs to make up the difference.
Hand each group one Coaching Structure worksheet.
Call time at the end of 20 minutes and go around the room,

asking each triad to describe what happened on one stage.
Look for answers that indicate the actions described in the
table below:
For example, for Stage 1, if a triad says, “The coach said

Good morning to Grace and asked how she was,” probe to
gather the rest of the action for setting time parameters.
You might offer that, “The coach also said, ‘Today we’ll have
an hour to talk about you’re your goals are and what you want
to work on.’
281
So, in that stage, the action is that the coach greeted Grace
and explained how much time they would have to work
together.
Stage Action
1. Open the Greet, set time parameters

session
2. Establish the Set expectations and establish common ground for coaching
coaching including responsibilities, confidentiality, schedules,
relationship procedures, termination and boundaries
3. Establish the Determine the subject(s) of the session conversation.

session goal
4. Exploration Search broadly for options and opportunities to address the
session goal
5. Decide Determine what coachee wants to work on specifically
6. Plan Determine how to work; ways of moving forward
7. Commit Agree on what actions the coachee will take between now
and next session; create an action statement that they agree
to
8. Encourage Acknowledge and reinforce coachee’s ability to complete the

tasks
9. Close Agree on next date and time
282
COACHING STRUCTURE WORKSHEET
Step Action
1. Open the
session
2. Establish the
coaching
relationship
3. Establish the
session goal
4. Exploration
5. Decide
6. Plan
7. Commit
8. Encourage
9. Close
283
Triad coaching practice – 40 MINS

PRACTICE – 30 MINS
Hand out the Coaching Structure handout to each Intern.
You’re now going to have the opportunity to practice coaching

using the coaching structure. As before, there will be a coach,
a coachee and an observer. You will do all of the practice
sessions before sharing observations.
The handout shows you what should happen in each stage of

the coaching session. See if you can follow it as you coach
each other.
Decide who will start in each role. Then begin. Coachees, use
one of your 5 goals that you came up.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and have Interns switch

roles.
Call time at the end of 20 minutes and have Interns switch

roles again.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
Okay, Observers, it’s time to report back to your coaches. You
have ten minutes to complete your observations so make sure
that you allow enough time for each coach.
Coaches, think about what you did at each stage.
MODULE DEBRIEF – 10 MINS

Today you learned about a defined coaching structure that
coaching sessions follow at DOT.
? Would you use the exact same structure for every

session?
No, you only need to establish the coaching relationship at the

first session.
? What was hardest about following the structure?
? What does the structure help you with?
? What techniques can you use to help you remember

the stages?
284
COACHING STRUCTURE HANDOUT
Stage Action
1. Open the Greet, set time parameters

session
2. Establish the Set expectations and establish common ground for coaching
coaching including responsibilities, confidentiality, schedules,
relationship procedures, termination and boundaries
3. Establish the Determine the subject(s) of the session conversation.

session goal
4. Exploration Search broadly for options and opportunities to address the
session goal
5. Decide Determine what coachee wants to work on specifically
6. Plan Determine how to work; ways of moving forward
7. Commit Agree on what actions the coachee will take between now
and next session; create an action statement that they agree
to
8. Encourage Acknowledge and reinforce coachee’s ability to complete the

tasks
9. Close Agree on next date and time
285
OFFER THE NEXT STEPS

120 minutes
TIMING
! Schedule program managers or officers to participate in this
module
LEARNING • Interview program experts to learn about WorkUp! and StartUp!
OBJECTIVES • Share their knowledge with each other
• Form their own expert panel to interview
• Practice delivering Information Sessions
Small group discussion, expert interviews, jigsaw and expert panel
METHODS
In this module, Interns will learn how to present program information
PURPOSE during the Information Sessions. StartUp! Interns will share information
about StartUp! Foundation but this module will give them a better idea of
the other track.
Interns need to be able to present information about StartUp! during
WIIFM Decision Coaching. This module will build a deep knowledge of those
programs.
Program experts (you may bring in your program managers and/or
MATERIALS officers for this module)
Small tables for expert interviews
Panel tables for two panels
Program expert interviews 30 mins
MODULE Create your own expertise 10 mins
SECTIONS Stump the Expert 20 mins
Debrief 10 mins
Mock Information Sessions 50 mins
MODULE NOTES:
286
COACHING EVENTS DURING DOT

PROGRAMS – 15 MINS
In this module, you are going to learn about the first formal
coaching sessions that Participants experience.
But first, you should know that there are three separate
coaching opportunities that occur during DOT programs.
Decision Coaching – This occurs right after ReachUp!

graduation. Decision Coaching is intended to help participants
choose their next learning path and to further their action plans
toward a sustainable livelihood.
Employment Coaching –Participants transition to individual

coaching sessions toward the end of the WorkUp! learning
sessions,. This individual coaching is intended to help
Participants fully develop their application packet so that they
are as competitive as they can possibly be. Participants may
choose to continue their individual coaching sessions for 6
weeks from the end of WorkUp! Foundation.
Business startup coaching –StartUp! Group coaching

transitions to individual coaching in the 8th week of StartUp!
Foundation. In the first two individual coaching sessions,
coaching helps Participants complete and refine their Business
Model Canvas and Business Presentation packet. After these
two sessions, Participants may choose to continue their
individual coaching sessions for 8 weeks from the end of the
StartUp! Foundation learning experience.
DECISION COACHING – 20 MINS

ReachUp! Participants are given the option to sign up for
Decision Coaching during the Showcase Preparation
Workshop, the next to the last module in ReachUp!
Draw the diagram on the flip chart and tell the following story.
Add each point to the line as you say it.
Martha is a RU! Participant.
Point 1 – During Module 2, she creates a 30 second

commercial describing her strengths
Point 2 – During Module 7, she decides that she wants to find

employment.
Point 3 – During Module 9, she writes her Personal Mission

Statement
287
Point 4 – During Module 10 she starts her Action Plan
Point 5 – During Module 11, she researches and completes

her SWOT analysis
Point 6 – During Module 15, she writes a letter of introduction
Point 7 – During Module 16, she starts on her CV
Point 8 – During Module 26, she creates a Powerpoint pitch
Point 9 – During Module 27, She creates a compelling

Showcase, showing off her talents. A
Point 10 – And during that same module, she signs up for an

individual coaching session with you.
Point 11 – She completes ReachUp! and graduates.
Point 12 -- She meets with you for Decision Coaching and

discusses her action plan. It’s clear to both of you that Martha
has a clear business idea and want to start a business.
She still needs to refine her business idea, test it in the market
and create a clear plan toward making the business
successful.
Point 13 – Martha attends the information session where she

learns about WorkUp! and StartUp!
Point 14 – Martha attends the StartUp! track.
Put a circle around points 12 and 13.
These two sessions that I circled make up Decision Coaching.
PROGRAM EXPERT INTERVIEWS

– 30 MINS
BE A PARTICIPANT – 10 MINS
You have just explored the first session of Decision Coaching,
the Intake session. While Intake is one to one, between the
288
coach and an individual Participant, the Information Session is

a group session.
The Information Session is the second part of Decision

Coaching.
The Information Session occurs after the Intake session and is

conducted by both the ReachUp!/WorkUp! Intern AND the
StartUp! Intern. This allows all potential Participants for these
programs to meet the Interns they will be working with.
The Information Session is intended to give Participants a

deep understanding of the next two opportunities so that they
may make an informed decision.
Be a Participant right now.
? What questions would you want to have answered in

the information session?
Flip chart each of the questions. Keep probing until you have a
really strong, complete set of questions.
INTERVIEW THE EXPERTS – 20 MINS

Put a table or some kind of station in each corner of the room.
Have one expert go to each station and number the stations 1,
2, 3 and 4. 1 and 3 will be WorkUp! stations and 2 and 4 will
be StartUp! stations.
You are going to find the answers to these questions as well

as any others that occur to you. You will do that by
interviewing a program expert on one program track. Your goal
is to gather all the information you need to answer Participant
questions about the program tracks.
You are going to divide up into groups of four. Two groups will
interview a WorkUp! Program Expert and two groups will
interview a StartUp! Program Expert. Try to learn everything
you need to know from your expert by asking good questions.
You may want to take notes from your interview. Work as a
group to gather your information.
You will have 10 minutes to interview your expert. The experts

will not answer any questions you do not ask.
Group 1 and 3 will each interview a WorkUp! Expert; Groups 2

and 4 will each interview a StartUp! expert.
Now you will each have a chance to learn about the other
program. Rotate one station to the right.
289
You will again have 10 minutes. The experts will not answer
any questions you do not ask.
CREATE YOUR OWN EXPERTISE

– 10 MINS
Now you are going to enhance the knowledge you have of
your program. You are going to form groups with one person
from each of the four interview groups. So, form groups with
members from groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. When you have formed
your groups, I will give you the next instructions.
In your new groups, form a comprehensive understanding of

the two tracks so that everyone in your group understands
both tracks and can answer Participant questions. You have
10 minutes to discuss both programs in your new groups.
STUMP THE EXPERT – 20 MINS

SET UP – 5 MINS
Get back into your original groups. You are now going to form
a panel of Intern Experts. Choose two people from your group
who will be the experts on the panel.
Once you have chosen your experts, I will give you the next
instructions.
Set up two sets of tables at the front to accommodate the two

expert panels.
Okay, panel members, come to the front of the room.
Show each group where to sit.
Experts from groups 1 and 2 will form 1 team; experts from

groups 3 and 4 will form 1 team
This is an expert competition. Each expert team will get one

point for a correct answer. The first person to raise their hand
will go first.
If one panel gets the answer wrong, you will hear this sound:
Make a sound like a buzzer; loud and obnoxious.
Then the other panel will have a chance to answer.
All of the rest of you are Participants. Participants, ask

questions that you might expect to hear about the two
290
additional programs. Experts, give clear, concise answers that

your Participants can understand. Only answer the questions
that are asked.
Let’s begin. What’s the first question from the Participant

audience?
HOLD THE EXPERT PANEL – 15 MINS

Have your co-facilitator keep score while the panel answers
questions. You should focus on whose hand went up first. If
you try to do both things yourself, you will fail.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
The next activity is to plan and hold mock information
sessions.
? What questions do you still have about either of the

programs?
MOCK INFORMATION SESSIONS –

50 MINS
CREATE AN OUTLINE – 20 MINS

Get back into mixed groups of four, the ones you were in when
there was one person from group 1, one from group 2, one
from group 3 and one from group 4.
In this activity, you are going to plan the information that you
will deliver in an Information Session.
Decide as a group the order in which you would present the

information. Present in the order of importance.
Once you have decided, write your outline on a flip chart.
You will have 20 minutes to complete this activity. Then

choose a spokesperson for the group. This person will deliver
a 5 minute information session. Your spokesperson will
present information in the order shown on the outline.
PRESENT THE INFORMATION SESSIONS – 30 MINS

Move through these rapidly, one right after the other to give
each group a chance to present.
291
At the end of all the sessions, correct any misinformation that

might have occurred.
292
WRITING POWERFUL BLOG POSTS

105 minutes
TIMING
! Print out the success story examples so that you have one for
each Intern in the correct group
In this module, Interns will:
LEARNING
• Discover structure in outstanding Success Story posts
OBJECTIVES
• Write their own Success Stories using the points of structure
• Comment on other Success Stories
• Identify places to look for success stories
Small group discussion and presentation, individual activity
METHODS
Interns are required to blog about their experiences in the field. This
PURPOSE module introduces them to best practices for creating strong Success
Story posts.
Interns can connect and become known for their work in the field by
WIIFM sharing success stories. These stories also become key inputs for making
program decisions.
Igloo Country site
MATERIALS Sample success stories
Sharing success stories 10 mins
MODULE Review Strong Story Examples 60 mins
SECTIONS Create your own success story 60 mins
Read and comment on other stories 20 mins
Debrief 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
293
Thanks to DOT Uganda and DOT Ethiopia for providing great

content on Intern blogging.
SHARING SUCCESS STORIES – 10

MINS
Participant success stories help identify and share notable
impacts within the communities in which we work. It is
important that other DOT offices, potential and existing
funders, partner organizations, and Interns can see a clear
idea of the success you are creating.
Intern blogs are vital resources for effectively expressing your

experiences, first-hand. These blogs are posted on the country
website and circulated throughout DOT, allowing you to
connect globally with other Interns through shared
experiences. In essence, Blogging is an Intern’s key to
connecting with a global and national network of DOT Interns
and staff.
Sharing your personal success or the success of your

participants functions as a social activity to engage with the
DOT youth network, to give others insight into the kind of
impact you are generating within your community and within
yourself through the DOT programs. While the topics can vary,
the most important thing to focus on in a success story is
change. Whether this change is professional, personal, or
economic, DOT wants to hear about it. In success stories,
detail the meaningful change and success within the
participant/Intern before and after DOT.
Success Stories can vary immensely in subject and content,

but each story seeks to celebrate an important and meaningful
success taking place in the lives of Interns or participants as a
result of DOT programs.
REVIEW STRONG STORY

EXAMPLES – 60 MINS
You are going to work in groups to review a great success
story example. Each group will get a different story. After your
review, you will present a summary of story that you read to
the rest of the group.
Right now, let’s get into five different groups. Then I will give
you the next set of instructions.
Divide the class into five groups. Once they are in groups,
hand out one story to each group. Each member of a group
should have their own copy to read.
294
READ AND MAKE NOTES OF STORY HIGHLIGHTS – 10

MINS
You will have 10 minutes to read through the story. Look to
see what makes it great.
As you read, look for the following points and make notes. You
will use those notes in the group discussion that follows.
Write the underlined points on a flip chart and explain them as

you write them.
1. Who exactly is the main character in the story? What is

her/his background?
2. What was his/her original situation?
3. What was the challenge that was faced? What was the
original state of mind for the participant about that
challenge?
4. What specific learnings from ReachUp did the

participant use?
5. What action(s) did the participant take to overcome the

challenge?
6. What was the result of the action?
7. Why is this particular success important to the

individual involved?
8. How is the participant’s future improved?
CREATE YOUR GROUP STORY SUMMARY – 15 MINS

Now you are going to create a summary presentation that you
will share with the rest of the class. You will have 15 minutes
to agree on your presentation contents and to write a flip chart
that you will use to guide your presentation.
You will have 5 minutes to present the story you studied. Your
presentation should include something for each of the points
you studied.
Call time at the end of 10 minutes and remind Interns to create

their flip chart if they haven’t.
Call time at the end of 15 minutes and begin presentations.
295
296
297
298
299
PRESENT STORIES – 25 MINS

Ask for a volunteer to go first and deliver their presentation. Go
around the room until all presentations have been delivered.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What did all of the stories have in common?
300
? How were they different?
? What would have made a story more interesting to

you? What else did you want to know?
? How can you use what you learned from this activity to
create your own compelling success stories?
? Why do you think it’s important to tell these stories?
CREATE YOUR OWN SUCCESS

STORY – 60 MINS
RECALL A CHANGE – 10 MINS
Now it’s time to try writing a success story of your own. You
are going to think about what has happened so far during your
Intern Learning Experience. You may want to make a few
notes that you can use when you write your success story.
? Think back now to your first day. What was it like?

What did you think? What worried you? Who were you
then?
Pause and give Interns a chance to recall their first day.
? Now think about any challenges that you faced coming

into this Skills Development experience. What was one
of those challenges?
Pause after every question to allow Interns to think and make

notes.
? What did you learn from Skills Development that

helped you overcome that challenge?
? What action did you take as a result of that learning?
? What is the result of that action?
? Why is that success important to you?
? How has your future improved?
WRITE YOUR OWN SUCCESS STORY – 50 MINS

You are going to write and post your story now on your country
website on Igloo. Think about what you learned about how to
make a story interesting. And make sure that your story
answers each of the Success Story questions.
301
READ AND COMMENT ON OTHER

STORIES – 20 MINS
? What would you like to read as a comment on your
own success story?
Blog comments are a great way to build connections. Just like

a good blog post is an art, good blog comments are also artful.
A good blog comment goes beyond appreciation and

encouragement. They contribute meaningful information to the
post. A good comment connects the information in the blog
post to new thinking or ideas. They create personal
connections between the blog poster and the commenter,
through shared experience or thinking.
It’s time to comment!
In the next 20 minutes, you will read at least three other stories
and write meaningful comments on the stories.
Before you write your comment, read the post thoroughly.

Then go back and scan it before commenting. Look for the
parts that inspire you to respond and mention them in your
comment.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
Where might you find sources for success stories?
How might you ask permission to share a Participant’s story?
How can you make a Participant story come to life?
What might you expect to learn from the stories that other
Interns share?
302
LASER COACHING
120 minutes
TIMING
! Read through the module to get a sense of the flow
PREPARATION and to gain an understanding of what happens
! Work through the exercises as if you are a Participant
to develop examples or samples for explanations
OUTCOMES • Practice laser coaching in front of a group
Small group laser coaching, large group discussion
METHODS
Interns perform laser coaching during Group Coaching Sessions
PURPOSE 1-5. This module allows them the opportunity to practice and to
observe.
As an Intern, you will be laser coaching in at least 5 different
WIIFM sessions. This module will give you a chance to practice as well as
observe laser coaching and receive feedback from your peers
The Laser Coaching Process flip chart that you used during Group
MATERIALS Coaching Session 1
Recall Laser Coaching 20 mins

MODULE Conducting a laser 30 mins
SECTIONS coaching session
Laser coaching practice 50 mins
Debrief 20 mins
MODULE NOTES:
303
RECALL LASER COACHING – 20

MINS
Put up the Laser Coaching Process flip chart.
You participated in several Laser Coaching sessions during

the first five Group Coaching Sessions, when you were
Participants experiencing StartUp! Foundation. Let’s go way
back, back to the first Group Coaching Session. Remember
this flip chart?
? What do you remember about the Laser Coaching

process?
• It only lasts for 10-15 minutes

• It’s best if you are working through a small issue
• It’s done in front of a group of observers
• The issue should have relevance for the rest of the
group
? What do you remember about the Laser Coaching

process? As I point to each of the steps, I’d like a
volunteer to demonstrate an example of what that step
might sound like from the coach’s role.
Walk through the process flip chart, step by step.
CONDUCTING A LASER
COACHING SESSION – 30 MINS
A laser coaching session is one that is conducted between a
coach and a coachee but is observed by the group. For a laser
coaching session to be effective, two conditions must be true:
1. The coachee has to be comfortable talking about their goal

in front of witnesses
2. The goal has to be relevant to the rest of the group as well
as the coachee. It has to be similar to an issue or a goal
that they want to achieve.
There are three parts to laser coaching: preparing the group to
listen, the laser coaching session and the group debrief of the
session.
Because the issue that is chosen is relevant to the group, each

member of the group gets coaching support for similar goals of
their own. There are techniques that you can use to guide the
group to their own coaching discoveries.
304
You will use one set of techniques to help the laser coachee in
the coaching process. You will use another to allow the group
to listen and learn while focusing on their own goals.
READ LASER COACHING POINTERS – 10 MINS

Let’s look at the parts in more detail.
Here is a copy of the Facilitator Instructions on conducting

laser coaching from the StartUp! Foundation Facilitator Guide
(or you may reference the page numbers from the StartUp!
Foundation Facilitation Guide and have Interns turn to those
pages).
Read through the pages that describe the actual laser

coaching session. You have 10 minutes to read through the
information.
? Can you use the DOT Coaching Structure during Laser

Coaching?
Yes, absolutely! During the actual individual coaching session.
? What is unclear to you about any of the techniques that

were described on the Laser Coaching Pointers page?
PREPARING AND DEBRIEFING THE AUDIENCE – 10

MINS
Now let’s talk about preparing and debriefing the audience.
? Brione wants to talk about how to get to a clearer vision

statement. What might you say to invite the rest of the
group to listen with their own goal in mind?
Gather a number of responses. Look for some version of:

Today, Brione would like to talk about how to clarify her
business vision. As you listen to the coaching session, think
about what might still be unclear for you regarding your own
vision.
That’s a great invitation. Can you see how that gives the rest of
the group a focus for listening?
For the debrief, I might ask something like: What were your
own big takeaways or discoveries as you watched the laser
coaching session?
? What are some other ways that I could help the group
gather their own discoveries?
305
LASER COACHING POINTERS
Begin the laser coaching session using the actions that are
outlined below, starting with inviting participation from the
volunteer. Ask:
? What would you like to work on today regarding your

business vision?
1. Make sure the issue is small enough to talk through in

10 minutes. Ask questions that will allow the Participant
to identify a specific need that is small enough to work
on in a 10-minute session. For example, in response to
“I would like to work on defining my business vision,”
ask “What particular part of your business vision would
you like to work on?” If you need to narrow further, ask
a question like, “How far do you think we can get on
that issue in 10 minutes?”
3. Probe for the question the coachee wants to answer or

areas where they are uncertain: “What exactly about X
is unclear for you?”
4. Work on the issue asking questions to pull out

obstacles, create options, and/or help with decision-
making.
5. Recap what was said to demonstrate you are listening

fully and test your understanding.
6. Debrief by asking, “What are you taking away from this

session today?”
7. Gain commitment by asking, “What are you going to

work on regarding this issue?” Make sure the
commitment represents a SMART goal.
You may use versions of these questions to help guide your

laser coaching conversation. As you develop your coaching
proficiency, questions will come to you more easily. Above
all, remain focused and curious about what the coachee is
telling you and do not offer advice.
• What is still unclear for you? What do you have

questions about?
306
LASER COACHING PRACTICE – 50

MINS
This will be your final coaching practice before deployment.
During this practice you will have a chance to perform Laser
Coaching in small groups. You will have time for 3 15 minute
Laser Coaching Sessions in your groups so not all of you will
have a chance to Laser coach. Once you are in your groups,
decide who will be the coachee for the first session and who
will be the coach.
Don’t forget the sequence:
1. Gain permission from the coachee before the session

2. Prepare the Group to listen with their own context
3. Conduct the laser coaching session
a. following the DOT Coaching Structure and
b. using the techniques on the Laser Coaching
Pointers
4. Debrief the Group’s experience
Divide the class into groups of at least 7-8 each and begin the
first session. Call time at the end of 15 minutes.
Decide who will be the coachee for the next session and who
will be the coach and begin.
Decide who will be the coachee for the final session and who
will be the coach and begin.
DEBRIEF – 20 MINS
? What did you learn about the practice of Laser
Coaching?
? Coachees, were you able to move your goal forward?
? Coachees, what was it like to be coached in front of the

group?
? Coaches, what was it like to conduct a Laser Coaching

session?
? Coaches, what was the hardest part?
307
? Were you able to follow the DOT Coaching Structure?

How did it help? What was hard about trying to follow
the structure?
? Groups, what did you learn as a member of the group

during Laser Coaching?
308
M&E PART 1, PROVE AND IMPROVE

50 minutes
TIMING
! Read through the module to get a sense of the flow and
PREPARATION to gain an understanding of what happens
! Write the four headings for the Results Chain on 4 pieces
of paper

OUTCOMES • List reasons to measure performance
• Identify the primary results that DOT is aiming to achieve
through its programs
Large group discussion, small group exercise
METHODS
To prepare Interns to carry out their M&E role in completing and
PURPOSE administering surveys as part of the DOT M&E strategy.
As an Intern, you play a critical role in measuring and evaluating
WIIFM DOT’s programs. In this module, you will learn about DOT’s goals
and our M&E strategy.
Sticky notes or small squares of paper and tape
MATERIALS Results Chain headings
Why measure? 15 mins
MODULE DOT’s goals for success 20 mins
SECTIONS Debrief 15 mins
MODULE NOTES:
309
WHY MEASURE? – 15 MINS

We’re going to go into detail now on one of the letters of
SMART goals.
? Who remembers what the “M” in SMART refers to?
Measurement
? Why do we need to add a measurement to our goals?
So we know:
• when we’ve achieved them

• how well we’ve achieved them
? Why does it matter that we know how well we’ve

achieved them?
Measuring your progress towards your goals is the first step in

Prove and Improve. The right measures act as proof that you
have achieved your desired results or let you know you’re not
quite there yet and need further improvement.
Measurement helps you develop your path to Personal

Excellence.
Here’s a quick story to think about. Noviella is interested in

becoming a Star Facilitator Intern. The first time she met with
Debere, her ISM, they had the following conversation.
Debere: Hello, Noviella. How are you today?
Noviella: I’m okay, but in class I seem to be doing all the

talking. And I know that’s not quite right. Star Facilitators
should talk less and ask questions more.
Debere: When you say, you do all the talking when you are
facilitating, about how much of the time are you talking
compared to when the Participants are talking?
? What is Noviella’s ISM trying to do here in terms of

“Prove and Improve”?
Prove: Determine if something needs to change.
Improve: Determine how and how much it needs to change.
How much of the time should the facilitator talk compared to

the Participants? A good rule of thumb is 30:70, where the
facilitator speaks 30 percent of the time and Participants speak
70 percent of the time.
310
In small groups of 2 or 3, you have 3 minutes to come up with

three measurement ideas on how Noviella could determine
whether or not she is meeting those guidelines. Just turn your
chairs to those closest to you to get into groups. This is just a
quick exercise.
Call time at the end of 3 minutes. Then get each group to

share their answers.
? Who can share one measurement for how Noviella

could determine whether or not she is meeting those
guidelines?
After each report out, ask the larger group:
? Is that measureable?
? How would you measure that?
Make the point that we have to be able to observe what we

want to measure and that this measure must be specific. This
will help us work together and collect the same information
from all the places DOT works as we all understand what the
end result look like.
? Why does DOT need to measure the success of our

programs?
Prove: We need to prove to donors, partners, and government

policy makers that our programs work and that youth can be
effective leaders of change
Improve: We need to know how we can adjust our programs to

make them even more successful.
DOT’S GOALS FOR SUCCESS – 20

MINS
BRAINSTORM RESULTS – 10 MINS
Divide Interns into small groups of 3-4 Interns per group. Give
each group about 10 sticky notes.
Based on your knowledge of DOT so far, you’ll have 10

minutes in your group to come up with as many results that
you think DOT is trying to achieve with the StartUp! Foundation
program. It might help to think about different results at
different stages of the program and once the program has
finished. Change happens in incremental steps. What
happens when participants come to StartUp! Foundation the
first day? What happens by completion of StartUp!
Foundation!? What happens a month after graduation?
311
Write one result on each sticky note.
Call time after 10 minutes.
POST TO THE RESULTS CHAIN – 10 MINS

Let’s now post these results in the order that they occur. Come
up and place each of your results in a timeline on the flip chart.
Once all the results are posted, take a few minutes to look at
the results and make any changes to the order.
DEBRIEF – 15 MINS
Review and discuss the results and the order they were
placed. They should align with DOT’s Result Chain shown in
the diagram above. Ask powerful questions to allow Interns to
make any changes to the order if necessary and add any
missing elements to ensure all elements of the Result Chain
are included. For example:
• What happens first?

• Then what?
• Does this need to happen before this happens?
• What else might need to happen before this can
happen?
What you have created here is DOT’s Result Chain. This

results chain shows all the results that occur as a result of the
program. When we design programs it is important for us to
keep in mind what it is we want to achieve and the different
things that need to happen along the way. This makes it easier
for us to ensure that we are addressing the different factors
that lead to success.
312
Let’s look at the Result Chain in more depth. We start with an

Output. This is a statement of a completed activity. For
example, youth graduate from DOT programs.
• Approximately 730 Interns have completed DOT

Internships across East Africa since 2006.
• More than 130,000 men and women have graduated from
the DOT programs across East Africa since 2006.
Tape a piece of paper with the word “Output” above the first
cluster of stickies that represent the first box in the results
chain.
We then have Immediate Outcomes. These happen right

after the completion of the output. These might be a change in
skill, attitude, or awareness.
Tape a piece of paper with the words “Immediate Outcomes”

above the second cluster of stickies that represent the second
box in the results chain.
? As a result of the completion of StartUp! what results

do we expect? Look at the stickies on the wall to help
you answer this question.
Increased entrepreneurship, work-readiness, and ICT skills;

knowledge of youth participants; improved entrepreneurial
attitude; increased confidence of youth to engage in economic
activity
For example, the following increases in skill levels were

experienced when measured before and after DOT programs:
• DOT Kenya participants report a 75% increase in their

ICT skills.
• DOT Rwanda participants report a 104% increase in

entrepreneurship skills.
We then have Intermediate Outcomes. These happen when

people start to take the next step and apply the skills and
knowledge they have learned.
Tape a piece of paper with the words “Intermediate Outcomes”

above the third cluster of stickies that represent the third box in
the results chain.
? As a result of the skills and knowledge developed in

StartUp!, what results do we expect? Look at the
stickies on the wall to help you answer this question.
more businesses started and expanded by participating youth
For example,
313
80% of Interns find jobs or start businesses after their

internship.
Almost 50% of participants find jobs or start businesses after

DOT programs
Lastly, we have the Ultimate Outcomes. These usually

happen near the end of a project or after it is completed. They
are the changes in state or being.
Tape a piece of paper with the words “Ultimate Outcomes”

above the fourth cluster of stickies that represent the fourth
box in the results chain.
? As an ultimate result of StartUp!, what results do we

expect? Look at the stickies on the wall to help you
answer this question.
Increased economic security of participating youth
The income of 82% of participants in East Africa increases

after they participate in DOT programs.
Let me share a story with you that will help you to visualize
what DOT results mean.
Aime Angelique joined DOT Rwanda as an Intern in August

2012. Through the Intern Learning Experience and the
hands on experience facilitating the ReachUp! program she
was able to follow a path of career development.
Here is a summary of her learning journey, in her words
“DOT’s Internship program helped me to become a life-long

learner and to develop an entrepreneurial spirit. I have
learned that starting my own business is a risky and often
stressful endeavour, but I can overcome all the barriers
successfully if I have a clear vision. Interning with DOT
Rwanda also boosted my confidence and helped me to
discover my keen interest in small enterprise development.
I went on to do more research to get enough knowledge on
the roadblocks encountered by business startups, and how
they can be supported along the way to realize their
dreams. As my Internship was nearing its end, I was
offered an employment opportunity at DOT Rwanda as an
Enterprise Support Program Officer owing to my hard work,
good performance and my entrepreneurial aspiration.”
314
Let’s think about how the DOT theory of change happens in

her story.
? What happened first?
Give Interns a chance to share their thoughts.
She joined the Internship program. We refer to this as an

output. When she graduates from the Internship it is an output
because it’s a completed activity in that she completed the
Internship learning programs.
? What happened in the short-term when she joined the

internship program?
She learned to become a life-long learner, developed

entrepreneurial spirit, boosted her confidence, discovered her
interests, did research. These are all skills and knowledge
she developed. We refer to these as immediate outcomes
because they happen fairly quickly, as a direct result of the
Internship learning.
? What happened over the medium to long-term?
She was offered a job at DOT. She plans to keep learning,

upgrading her experience. Getting a job is a change in
behavior, she used her new skills and attitudes to find
employment. We refer to these as intermediate outcomes,
because it takes time for an individual to apply what they have
learned to their life and to make a change.
Wrap-up
This story has provided you with a real example of how the
DOT achieves results. How does this relate to your
understanding of the Internship you have applied for?
315
Before we finish I’d like to share a participant story with you.

While I am reading it, think about how this story reflects the
DOT Results Chain.
Aisha is currently running a small retail shop selling items such
You now know DOT’s as cassava flour, maize flour, sugar, soap, bread, donuts, soda,
Result Chain and bottled water, cakes, sweets, chewing gum plus some other
what it is we are drinks she makes herself such as bushera, juice, munanasi
(fermented pineapple juice) which she packages in small
aiming to achieve
"buveera" and she sells them at 100 and 300 shs accordingly.
through StartUp!.
From these, she makes some profit and saves 2000 shs each
day.
Aisha has a small savings box where she keeps this 2000shs
and has been doing this ever since the day she opened the shop
and she intends to keep doing this for two years after which she
will break the box and invest the money back into her shop. She
also has another where she keeps the savings she gets from the
airtime she sells.
Aisha's next move is to save up more money and add more items
into her shop. She has a diary where she has been noting all the
frequently desired items the customers want but has not yet got
the money to buy. When she does, some of them will include
vim, powdered detergent, and more cassava flour because it is
frequently bought by those who make the local pancakes. She
also plans on building a shed outside her shop where she will
transfer the plastics such as the basins and buckets. Aisha still
helps out her brother in baking cakes but cannot sell them at her
shop because they are expensive for the society in which she
operates. The queen cakes they make require a lot of ingredients
and cannot be sold cheaply at the usual 300 shs. She however
put a signpost/posters outside her shop indicating that she can
make occasional cakes.
316
M&E PART 2, SUCCESSFUL M&E

SURVEYS
60 minutes
TIMING
! Create the guidelines for conducting a good survey flip
chart
OUTCOMES • Establish guidelines for conducting successful Participant
surveys
• Apply those guidelines in a role play to complete a
Participant survey
Role play
METHODS
PURPOSE administering surveys as part of the DOT M&E strategy. Develop
picture of what the M&E system looks like, emphasizing intern role
As an Intern, you are critical to DOT’s success in empowering lives.
WIIFM You are also at the frontline and can observe what works and what
doesn’t. We need to constantly evaluate our programs so we know
how we can improve them. You are a key person in this process
and we need your input.
In addition, as an Intern, one of your responsibilities is to collect

information from Participants. You will need to register them in the
DOT network, as well as administer surveys that will measure the
change that Participants experience as a result of their participation
in the DOT programs.
Guidelines for conducting a good survey flip chart
MATERIALS Baseline survey
Progress survey
Introduction 10 mins
MODULE Baseline survey role play 30 mins
SECTIONS Progress survey 10 mins
Debrief 10 mins
317
MODULE NOTES:
We have now discussed DOT’s goals and the DOT Results
Chain.
One of your roles as a DOT Intern is to help DOT measure the

success of our programs. DOT has an action plan to measure
whether we are achieving our goals, just like you have your
own action plan for achieving your goals. As an Intern, you are
critical to DOT’s success in empowering lives. You are the
frontline observers of what works and what doesn’t. When we
need to determine how to improve programs, we need you to
help us collect the data that will help us make decisions.
DOT uses different tools to measure change in Participants’

skills and behaviours. As an Intern, you will be responsible for
using these tools to help measure these changes.
The tools you will be using include:
• Baseline/progress surveys
• Registration tools
In this module, we’re going to talk about the survey tools.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the registration tools.
? Why do we need to conduct a baseline survey?
To provide:
• a picture of the Participants’ background so you know

something about the people you are facilitating
• a starting point against which Participants’ can
measure their own improvements and growth
• a starting point against which we can evaluate the
effectiveness of DOT’s programs
318
You will be responsible for ensuring that baseline surveys are

completed and will help Participants to complete them.
In the last module, you developed an interview guide and role

played a marketing survey.
? Why was it important to receive accurate, honest

responses to your questions in your marketing survey?
Because if people don’t tell you what they think, you might
build the wrong product. You won’t be able to meet their
needs.
? Why is it important to ensure that you receive honest,

accurate answers in the baseline survey?
If people aren’t honest, we won’t know how to improve the

DOT programs; the Participants won’t be able to measure their
own growth
? How do you ensure accurate, honest responses from

participants?
It starts with the introduction. People need to know that you

aren’t measuring them, you are measuring the program.
Imagine you are a Participant for a minute. Listen to the way I

introduce the survey to you:
You must complete this survey for DOT. We use this

information to monitor participants’ progress, to see what
they learn in our programs.
? How would you react to this request? What might you

do?
Now, listen to another way I could introduce it:
DOT would appreciate your help in measuring the impact

of our programs. To do this, we need to understand your
skills and knowledge when you start the program. This
provides us with a starting point so we can see what
changes over time. It is important for you to know that your
participation in the program is not dependent on your
answers to these questions. There are no right or wrong
answers. The more honest you are in answering the
questions, the better I can ensure the program meets your
needs. DOT does not measure your individual progress in
the program. Instead, we put all the responses from all the
Participants together to develop a general picture of what
happens in Participants lives’ as a result of their
participation in StartUp!.
319
It will take you 20-30 minutes to complete this baseline

survey. Is that OK?
Let’s start going through the questions together. I will

explain each one so the meaning is clear. Ready?
? How do you feel after this introduction?
? What’s the difference between the two introductions?
? How might those feelings translate into how

Participants’ answer the questions?
BASELINE SURVEY ROLE PLAY –

30 MINS
Now you’re going to have a chance to practise doing the
baseline survey. I have posted some guidelines for conducting
a good survey on the wall. You may use them during your role
play.
Write the underlined portions of the list below on a flip chart

and explain each briefly:
• Explain the purpose of the survey and how the

information will be used at the start.
• Put Participants at ease by telling them the information
will be used to measure DOT’s performance NOT to
judge them.
• Ask ONE question at a time. Make sure people
understand it. Give them time to answer.
• If people ask for clarification, explain the meaning of
the question, but don’t give any more information than
is in the question. Do NOT lead Participants in a
particular direction by suggesting one answer is
preferable.
• Use simple language. Ask the question in a way that
makes sense in the local language BUT retain the
original meaning.
• Only ask the questions in the survey. Do NOT add
additional questions.
ROLE PLAY – 15 MINS

Get into groups of 3. One person will be the Participant, one
will be the Intern, and one will be the Observer. The first Intern
will introduce the baseline survey and start to ask the
questions. At the end of 5 minutes switch roles and the next
Intern continues on asking the questions.
320
Participants, if you are unclear about any of the questions on

the survey, ask the Intern to explain them.
Observers, use the guidelines on the flip chart as you watch

and make notes. You will give each other feedback at the end
of the role play.
Call time after 5 minutes and remind Interns to switch roles.
Call time after 5 minutes and remind Interns to switch roles

again.
FEEDBACK SESSION – 10 MINS

Now, Observers, you have 5 minutes to share with your group
on what the interviewer did well during the survey role play.
PROGRESS SURVEY – 10 MINS

You just did a role play of how the baseline survey should be
completed. Let’s look at another survey now, one that is given
at the end of StartUp!.
Hand out the progress survey and give Interns a few minutes
to review it.
? What’s different between the two surveys?
Questions are the same; but we can anticipate that the

Participants’ responses to the two surveys are different
because they have learned skills in the program.
? Why are the questions the same?
Because we want to know how the StartUp! experience might

have changed Participants’ skills and attitudes.
DEBRIEF – 10 MINS
? What was hard about doing the baseline survey in the
role play?
? Based on the marketing survey module and this

module, what key actions do you have to remember
when conducting surveys?
• Let people know how long it will take

• Don’t lead, introduce bias
• Avoid loaded questions
• Don’t clarify, unless someone asks
• Ask the questions in the same way to each Participant
to ensure Participants have the same information when
answering
321
• Say thank you and reinforce how the information will be

used
322
M&E PART 3, THE DOT PROFILE

50 minutes
TIMING
! Make sure the link to DOT Connect works.
http://connect.dotrust.org/
! Register yourself so that you know how the system works

OUTCOMES • Role play the completion of the registration profile
• Identify the registration process
Role play, large group discussion
METHODS
PURPOSE administering surveys as part of the DOT M&E strategy.
As an Intern, you are required to register Participants into DOT
WIIFM Connect. This module will teach you how to do this.
Online access to DOT Connect

MATERIALS Internet connection
Introduction 5 mins
MODULE Registration role play 20 mins
SECTIONS Registration process 15 mins
Debrief 10 mins
MODULE NOTES:
323
In the last module, you learned about one of the DOT M&E
tools: The baselines and progress surveys. Today we are
going to work with the DOT registration profile.
? Why does DOT want to register Participants?
• To gather contact information (e.g., name, telephone

number) so that we can keep in touch with Participants
during the program and afterwards.
• To gather information on Participants’ location,
education, and occupation so we understand who
Participants are.
• To create an online account for participants where they
can track their employment/entrepreneurship process,
their completion of learning programs and their skills
development progress.
As an Intern, you are responsible for registering all the

Participants that you facilitate in StartUp!. This is done at the
very beginning of the program.
REGISTRATION ROLE PLAY – 20

MINS
ROLE PLAY – 15 MINS
Write the link on a piece of flip chart paper.
http://connect.dotrust.org
DOT Registration Code: EA-b4-1-opme-CEPS
You’re going to work with a partner to complete a DOT profile

to register a Participant. You will take turns playing the role of
the Participant and the role of the Intern.
Choose who will be the Intern and who will be the Participant.
Interns, use what you learned about conducting surveys in the

last module to introduce the DOT Connect profile and ask the
questions.
Participants, make sure you ask the Intern any questions you
might have about the process or any questions that are
unclear.
http://connect.dotrust.org
Click sign up and follow the instructions. (Use Test in the

name data can be deleted).
324
Call time at the end of 8 minutes and ask Interns to switch

roles. They should continue on with the same survey if they
have not finished so they see all the questions. If they have
time, they can start at the beginning and enter data for the
second “Participant”.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? Which questions were the hardest to explain?
? Where do you think Participants might have trouble

answering questions?
? How can you help Participants feel comfortable so they

answer the questions honestly?
REGISTRATION PROCESS – 15
MINS
With the Interns, brainstorm the process that they will
undertake in terms of their M&E role of particular participants.
Go step by step (as below) to make sure the order is correct.
Register participants (Day 1-2 of StartUp!)
? What do you need to do to make this happen?
1. Have a computer with an internet connection.

2. Set up meeting times with participants.
3. When participants arrive, explain the
registration process (you will be provided with
written guidelines)
4. Go through the form, entering participants
responses.
5. Re-explain how the info will be used (you will
have a sheet) and say thank-you.
If there is no internet connectivity, keep a paper record in a

notebook with the information you need. You need to record
User Name, Password, Registration Code, First Name, Last
Name, Email, Mobile Phone, Gender, Birthdate, Highest Level
of Education Completed, Employment Status (details of
job/business/study such as sector, type, registered, date
started) This information will be entered by you, the Intern,
into the system when you can connect, using the above
process.
DEBRIEF – 5 MINS
? What questions do you have about DOT Connect
Registration?
325
? How can you use what you learned about the

measurement tools to help you with the market
research that you are going to do next?
326
DEVELOP YOUR SHOWCASE

160 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Envision their community as a model for the future
OBJECTIVES • Plan two bold steps that they will take to help create their model
community
• Describe how they helped shape the model community
Large group discussion, small group activity, partner activity, individual
METHODS activity
This module helps Interns envision their role in a positive community
PURPOSE future. It builds on the vision work that Interns did in Introduction to DOT
and prepares them to develop their Showcase.
Interns need the confidence that envisioning a positive future promotes.
WIIFM These exercises are designed to develop clear visions of their future.
They may use these visions to develop goals to achieve them. They will
also be facilitating a visioning process for ReachUp! Participants as well
as coaching Participants on sustainable livelihoods. They may wish to
adopt some of these techniques for their own coaching work.
MATERIALS
Introduction 10 mins
MODULE Community cover story 10 mins
SECTIONS Your place in the story 20 mins
Take two bold steps 10 mins
Create your Showcase 110 mins
MODULE NOTES:
327
INTRODUCTION – 10 MINUTES
Think back. Way back to the first day of Skills Development.
Remember the drawings that you did to envision Skills
Development? This session is going to be all about creating a
vision to guide and enrich your Showcase stories.
Let’s move back into the future. You are walking through the
capital city and you pass a newsstand filled with national
magazines. There is your community as a model community
on the cover of four different magazines! Take 10 minutes to
make a few notes about your future story.
? What are you doing in this future?
? What is different? About you? About your community?
COMMUNITY COVER STORY – 10

MINUTES
Divide Interns into small groups, with 4-5 Interns per group.
In your small groups, take 2 minutes each to share your vision.

It might have changed slightly from Day 3 with all you know
now about the work that you will be doing.
YOUR PLACE IN THE STORY – 20

MINUTES
Find your place in this future story. Try storyboarding the
future and putting yourself in it, or mindmapping it, creating a
success story outline or even creating a feature benefit table.
Spend 20 minutes figuring out your role in achieving this
brilliant future.
TAKE TWO BOLD STEPS – 10

MINS
Use the future you just created and find a partner. Coach each
other with powerful questions. Together you will plan 2 Bold
Steps that you will each take to achieve your community vision.
Make sure to write them in the form of SMART goals. These
are the important actions that you have taken that help move
your community from the present community to the model
community of the magazine cover story.
328
PREPARE FOR THE MAKING

YOUR FUTURE CONFERENCE –
120 MINS
Tomorrow, you’ll present your model community to the rest of
your Intern cohort and describe how you helped shape it. You
may use any media you like to bring your community to life.
You’ll have the next two hours to create a showcase for your
model community. You will share your Showcase at the
Making Your Future conference, held tomorrow, the final day
of Skills Development. Each of you will create a display as a
conference presentation.
You will have a chance to be both a presenter and an attendee

at the conference. For the first round, Group A will be
presenters and will remain at their display while Group B, the
attendees, will circulate through all the displays. The goal for
the presenters is to tell the story of their model community and
to thoughtfully consider and answer any questions from the
attendees.
The attendee’s goal will be to carefully consider the display

and ask powerful questions that open the presenter to new
options and new thinking. Attendee’s input will be limited to
asking questions.
Then you will switch groups and repeat the process.
PREPARE FOR MAKING YOUR FUTURE CONFERENCE

Divide Interns into A and B groups in preparation for the
Making Your Future conference session. If you have a group
of 20, you will have 10 Interns presenting and 10 attending at
one time.
Check in with each group of Interns to see what kinds of

equipment they might need for their conference presentation.
Make sure that the conference area is set up in preparation for

the morning conference. Each Intern will need a display area;
they may each need a computer to show their stories on.
You will need to create the Skills Development slide show that
you will use to help Interns recall and celebrate their two
weeks together during the 1/2 hour of conference set up time.
Interns may need access to the computer lab to prepare their

Showcase. Make sure that you are available for consultation
during the work time.
329
MAKING YOUR FUTURE CONFERENCE

180 minutes
TIMING
! Set up Conference area
PREPARATION ! Create the Skills Development slide show
LEARNING • Present their future model community
OBJECTIVES • Describe how they helped shape it
• Consider questions asked by touring members
• Ask powerful questions of presenting members
Group conference with individual displays
METHODS
This module celebrates the vision that Interns have developed as change
CONNECTIONS agents. It is the first formal knowledge exchange that Intern engage in
and can set the stage for future exchanges.
TO OTHER
MODULES
This module allows Interns to present their ideas for positive community
PURPOSE futures within a supportive environment.
Interns will build confidence in presenting their role as change agents.
WIIFM They begin by presenting to a group of people they know and trust and
can then work out the details of what they might need to present to
convince or engage strangers in their vision.
Skills Development Slide Show
MATERIALS
Group A Showcase 90 mins
MODULE Group B Showcase 90 mins
SECTIONS
MODULE NOTES:
GROUP A SHOWCASE – 90 MINS

GROUP A CONFERENCE SET UP – 30 MINS
Allow Group A 30 minutes to set up their conference
presentation areas.
330
GROUP B SLIDE REVIEW – 25 MINS

While Group A sets up, have Group B review the Skills
Development slideshow. Use the photos as memory triggers to
debrief key learning throughout the 2 weeks.
SET UP GROUP B TOURS – 5 MINS

Remind Group B Interns that they will only have an hour to tour
the first conference round. They might not have enough time to
see everyone’s presentation so they should use their time
carefully.
You will be doing several things during the hour that you are
touring:
• Actively listening (which could include watching) to each

story
• Paying attention to powerful questions that the story
triggers
• Finding their 3 support quad members
GROUP B TOURS GROUP A CONFERENCE

PRESENTATIONS – 60 MINS
Start the tour walk process. Allow Interns to move through the
conference at their own pace and in their own pattern.
Walk around yourself and deliver individual praise for

accomplishment to Group A presenters.
GROUP B SHOWCASE – 90 MINS

GROUP B CONFERENCE SET UP – 30 MINS
Allow Group B 30 minutes to set up their conference
presentation areas.
GROUP B SLIDE REVIEW – 25 MINS

While Group B sets up, have Group A review the Skills
Development slideshow. Use the photos as memory triggers to
debrief key learning throughout the 2 weeks.
SET UP GROUP A TOURS – 5 MINS

Remind Group A Interns that they will only have an hour to tour
the first conference round. They might not have enough time to
see everyone’s presentation so they should use their time
carefully.
You will be doing several things during the hour that you are
touring:
• Actively listening (which could include watching) to each

story
331
• Paying attention to powerful questions that the story

triggers
• Finding their 3 support quad members
GROUP A TOURS GROUP B CONFERENCE

PRESENTATIONS – 60 MINS
Start the tour walk process. Allow Interns to move through the
conference at their own pace and in their own pattern.
Walk around yourself and deliver individual praise for

accomplishment to Group B presenters.
332
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT WRAP UP

60 minutes
TIMING
LEARNING • Describe how they feel at this moment in time
OBJECTIVES • Create their Field Prep Support Triads
• Deliver a certificate to one Intern along with praise and worlds of
encouragement
• Evaluate Skills Development
Large group discussion, small group activity, partner activity, individual
METHODS activity
This module closes out Skills Development and sets Interns up to work
CONNECTIONS together during Field Preparation.
TO OTHER
MODULES
This is the closing module for Skills Development
PURPOSE
Interns show colleagues and leadership what they have learned during
WIIFM Skills Development as well as what their hopes for the future. They also
test their powerful question skills as conference attendees.
Index cards
MATERIALS Certificates
Check in circle 5 min
MODULE Set up Field Preparation 20 min
SECTIONS Intern words of encouragement 20 min
Your words of encouragement and praise 5 min
Course evaluation 10 min
MODULE NOTES:
333
CHECK IN CIRCLE – 5 MINS

Go around the room and ask each person for one to two words
about how they are feeling right now. Acknowledge feelings
when you close the circle.
The activity below is a different way to present certificates to

Interns which allows them one final connection point prior to
the end of Skills Development. You may use this or any other
version of your own choosing.
FACILITATION PREPARATION – 20
MINS
Hand out a copy of the Preparation Process table to each
Intern.
As you know now, preparing to facilitate is a lengthy and

careful process. You will use the same process that you used
to prepare to facilitate your module during Skills Development.
A good rule of thumb for preparing to facilitate new content is

to spend approximately 3 hours preparation for each hour of
delivery.
This preparation is followed by practice facilitation to your

group, which adds another 4 hours. If you follow this process,
you will walk into the room fully prepared and present for your
learners.
Based on what you know now about the facilitation preparation

process, you will now build your preparation schedule. This will
be a day by day guide for preparing to deliver StartUp!
Foundation for the very first group of Participants.
You have 9 classroom modules to prepare for. For Modules 10

and 11, your preparation will consist of setting up the space,
coaching and monitoring. There will be no additional content
that you have to prepare for those sessions.
You also have 5 group coaching sessions that contain

curriculum that you must prepare for. The direction for the rest
of the group coaching sessions will be determined by the
group. Your role will be to facilitate the discussions and to keep
the group on schedule, so there will be limited preparation for
those sessions.
That means that you have 14 3 hour modules to prepare for

using the Facilitation Preparation Process you used for your
Practice Facilitation Sessions. Based upon the time estimates
of 10 hours preparation for each module, you will need
334
approximately 3.5 weeks or 140 hours of full time for

preparation to prepare the full StartUp! Foundation curriculum.
The best way to ensure that preparation happens is to put it in
your calendar. Steps 1-4 can be completed in a day, followed
by a half day for Steps 5-6.
Get together with your facilitation team and create and agree
upon a preparation calendar for your first StartUp! Foundation
Participants.
335
STARTUP! FOUNDATION SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT.DOCX
STEP TASK APPROX. TIME IN

HOURS
Individual work
Step 1 Read through noticing flow, timing and transitions. Gain a 1

general sense of the module objectives and intentions.
What is this module try to accomplish? How does it link to
the next module?
Step 2 Make note of detailed objectives and linkages between 1

sections within the day, and the prior day.
Co-facilitation pairs
Step 3 Complete all the activities, including all worksheets or 2

journal entries. Compare your results with your partners.
Deliverable Completed worksheets and activity documents.
Step 4 Reword all of the concepts in your own words. 2
Deliverable Typed notes on the concepts.
Entire facilitation team
Step 5 Deliver your Day in practice facilitation 3
Deliverable Prepared Flip charts.
Step 6 Debrief and create Facilitation Tip Sheets for all sessions 1
created by all.
Deliverable Facilitation Tip Sheets for all sessions.
336
Module
______________, ___________________________________
NUMBER TITLE
SECTION NAMES KEY CONCEPTS FACILITATION TIPS
337
PREPARATION PLAN CALENDAR
WEEK 1
Day Module Lead Step Scheduled
1
2
3
4
5
WEEK 2
Day Module Lead Step
1
2
3
4
5
WEEK 3
Day Module Lead Step
1
2
3
4
5
338
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT –
20 MINS
Place the certificates in several piles on a table at the front of
the room with Intern names clearly visible.
Congratulate Interns for their focus and their success during

Skills Development.
You’ve formed a strong support team during your work

together. The bonds of teamwork will continue to strengthen
throughout your Internship.
As the next strong step on that path, we’d like each of you to
offer another Intern a few words of thank you, praise and
encouragement before you take leave of each other.
PICK UP CERTIFICATES – 5 MINS

Rather than us handing out certificates to each of you in a long
process, you’re going to hand a certificate to one of your fellow
Interns. The certificates are here on the front table.
Come up and quickly pick up a certificate for another Intern,

making sure that it is for someone you know and not your own.
Take the certificate back to your seat with you and put it face
down on the table in front of you.
PREPARE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT – 10 MINS

Hand a piece of paper to each Intern.
Think about the Intern whose certificate you have picked up.
Recall a specific way in which they have helped you during

Skills Development. Prepare a short thank you for that and
write it on the piece of paper.
Think about a specific instance where they performed in an

outstanding manner. Prepare a congratulations statement for
that and write it on the piece of paper.
Finally, think about the work that your certificate holder will
now be doing in the field. Write a specific encouragement
piece of paper, ensuring them that you know they will
accomplish the task based on what you know about them.
DISTRIBUTE THE CERTIFICATES AND ENCOURAGEMENT

– 10 MINS
When I say “Go,” each of you should give the certificate to the
appropriate Intern along with the information you have
prepared.
339
At the beginning of this activity, some Interns will have two

certificates (their own and the one they have to give to
someone else) while others will have no certificate (because
they have given the certificate they picked up but not yet
received their certificate). This situation will correct itself
automatically. When Interns have received their own certificate
and given away the other one, ask them to move to the front of
the room, holding their certificate aloft.
PRESENT YOUR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND

PRAISE – 5 MINS
When all Interns have moved to the front, give your final words
of encouragement.
COURSE EVALUATIONS – 10 MINS

Hand out the course evaluation form and make sure that each
Intern completes it before leaving.
340
341

Untitled

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Untitled

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Untitled

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

StartUp! Foundation Intern Learning Experience v.

Copyright © 2014 Digital Opportunity Trust

Traditional vs. learner-centred learning .............................................................. 212

ABOUT THE STARTUP! FOUNDATION

GOALS OF STARTUP! FOUNDATION SKILLS

STARTUP! FOUNDATION TARGET AUDIENCE

They need to:

• Have completed ReachUp! or the Business Ideation Bootcamp.

HOW STARTUP! FOUNDATION SKILLS

We have attempted to provide classroom time to accommodate the Application to Business

LIST OF BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS SHEETS

LIST OF WORKED EXAMPLES

• Family Africa profit or loss worksheet (StartUp! Foundation Module 9)

Preparation should occur at both the individual and group level.

OVERVIEW OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP APPROACH

Business Model Generation website http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com

CORE BOOKS RELATED TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP APPROACH

Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup. New York: Random House.

Guillebeau, C. (2012). The $100 Startup, New York: Random House.

Stoltzfus, T. (2008). Coaching Questions. Virginia Beach, VA: Stoltzfus.

Whitmore, J. (2009). Coaching for Performance (4th ed.). London.

CULTURAL AND GENDER CONSIDERATIONS

GENDER SENSITIVE FACILITATION

Set context for the following modules (how they will

5 StartUp! Foundation Module 2, Know your customers 180

14 StartUp! Foundation Module 11, Business presentation 240

17 Practice facilitation session 1, Know your customer 180

17 Self assessment, tip sheets and coaching notes 20

18 Practice facilitation session 2, Annual sales estimates 180

WELCOME AND EXPECTATIONS – 60

In this session, Interns will:

WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER? – 20

Introduce yourself as a superhero, using your superpower. For

Decide on your superpower and pick your Superhero name. It can be

Call time at the end of 5 minutes.

? What did you learn about the people in this room?

? What superpower was the most interesting? Why?

? How did it feel to create and share your own superpower?

? How does knowing someone’s superpower help you know

OVERVIEW OF THE NEXT 5 WEEKS –

business model development experience, which will last another 11

SET CONTEXT FOR STARTUP!

1. Your target customer must be within 2 Km o this training centre

Adjust this amount as makes sense. If you have Interns who

3. There are NO obligations to continue the business idea that

? Are there any questions before you get started on your

INSERT JUMPSTART CONTENT

MODULE 1, ARTICULATE YOUR

Throughout this course, you will be designing, building, and testing

We recognise that each of you brings valuable life experience and

This course consists of 10 modules. Each module includes the

• 3-hour classroom session

? Are there any questions before we begin?

LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS – 20 MINS

In this icebreaker, everyone will have a chance to be a leader and a

Call time at the end of 3 minutes.

Here is another example. Leaders, you might instruct your followers to

Call time at the end of 1 minute

Call time at the end of 3 minutes.

Call time at the end of 5 minutes.