After a full week of 5 days of coaching sessions that the BujaHub facilitated for the 40 preselected innovators of the Burundi innovation week 2021, there was a lot of engagement and activities that were carried out according to the proposed program.
The BujaHub team consisted of.
• 1 Personal development coach,
• 2 Business design experts,
• 1 Communication manager,
• 1 Graphics designer,
• 1 Project manager,
• 1 Photographer / Videographer.
• 2 IT mobile and web developers
COACHING OBJECTIVES.
Specific objectives of the coaching.
1. Equipping the participants with personal development skills that improve their public speaking and personality
2. Developing the digital skills of the participants in exploring technology and its advantages to entrepreneurs
3. Preparing the participants for their innovation for the selection pitching
4. Introducing the participants to an innovation pitch deck
5. Refining their innovative ideas into a scalable business model
6. Acquiring skills in ideation and start-up management
COACHING METHOD.
The coaching mechanism was carried out in two main forms
1. General instructions
2. Personalized coaching for the 40 participants
Coaching content and curriculum.
The coaching for the 40 preselected innovators was focused on two main orientations:
1. Educational programs on personal development and digital skills
2. Business model development and pitch deck
Training curriculum.
1. Personal development and digital skills
The personal development and digital skills content featured the most basic but very important points of developing public speaking and presentation skills. It also featured the digital skills training that focused on preparing the innovators to be able to exploit the internet with all its opportunities and create strategies for their online presence both as individuals and companies.
The table of contents for the personal development included.
1. Self esteem
2. Public speaking
3. Stress management
4. Team building
5. Personal leadership
The content for the digital skills included
1. Introduction to internet
2. Creating an online presence
3. Strategies for digital transformation
4. Digital marketing strategies
2. Business model development and pitch deck
The business model development and pitch deck content were delivered in order to assure that the participants understand their business model, master their expenditures and revenue streams, create value propositions and most importantly assess the target market readiness for their innovations.
The combination of the personal development and the business design and pitch deck generation is to create an all-round entrepreneur that not only understands their business but also that are ready to pitch their business to anyone at any time, understanding the mechanisms of the business model, anticipating market reactions, and most importantly scaling up the business.
The content featured.
Activity Tools
1. Problem identification Root cause analysis
2. Solution alignment Ideation boards, Point Of View
3. Product/service design Prototypes, story boards
4. Business model development Business model canvas
5. Go to market strategies development Validation boards, speed dating
6. Market analysis, customer segmentation Value proposition boards, persona maps,
7. Launching and traction calculation Unit cost and profit metrix,
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COACHING SESSIONS.
DAYS KEY OBJECTIVE ACTIVITIES OUTPUTS STATUS BY END OF PROJECT TIME FRAME
Day 1 Equip the participants with skills to self-esteem, communication skills, stress management, and team building. Personal development session Skills in communication and proper presentation of pitch decks Complete within the time frame
Create awareness about the opportunities brought by the internet.
Equip participants with skills to create an online presence & digital marketing Digital skills session Skills to create online presence and basic to social media marketing Complete within the time frame
Day 2 Understand the problem you are solving Problem & solution mapping Gather secondary data to back up the problem Complete within the time frame
Create solutions for the problem and benefits it creates for the customer Solution Benefits The solution created with a minimum of three benefits Complete within the time frame
Day 3 Design product features and a demo Product Product features created and a demo Complete within the time frame
Understand what a business model canvas is and why it’s crucial to innovators Business model development A mapped-out business model canvas Complete within the time frame
Day 4 Understand how to track the progress of your start-up and how you can present it to investors Traction Organization traction and business traction pitch deck slide created Complete within the time frame
Learn how to measure the size of your market and create a market entry strategy Go to Market strategy Market entry strategy slide created for the pitch deck Complete within the time frame
How to create a start-up team and what you can communicate to investors about your team Team Start-up team formed and added to pitch deck slide Complete within the time frame
Learn how to raise funds and what you will use them for Raising funds A pitch deck slide showing how much start-up is looking for and what it will be used for Complete within the time frame
Day 5 Prepare final pitch deck and storyboards Final pitch deck preparation and storyboards A fully designed pitch deck and storyboard for pitching Complete within the time frame
Plan for follow-up activities.
The BujaHub intends to create a follow up plan for the 10 selected innovators and for those in Bujumbura allocate them free co-working space where they can be able to concretize their innovations, get further innovation support, create prototypes and benefit of the vast database of BujaHub in skills matching for an assured launch in the market.
PARTICIPANTS EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK.
Evaluation.
Evaluations of the coaching sessions were assured by handing feedback forms at the end of every session. There feedback forms were intended to serve as measurements of successful delivery of the content in terms of objectives, impact to the knowledge and business understanding as well as need for further support.