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Lesson Plan Name: What is your passion? Brainstorming business ideas based on your

hobbies/interests/talents.

Objective of the lesson plan

Use the brainstorming and SCAMMPER skills that you learned about in Lesson 2 to dive in and start exploring

the different types of businesses that you can run based on who you are and what you love! Discover in

Lesson Plan 3 how to develop a business idea based on things that you love to do or have interest in. During

this lesson we are going to examine closely:

Who you are and words that describe you

Your passions/hobbies/interests

Problems that you or someone close to you have encountered

This is the most important lesson plan throughout the Patch Program. This lesson plan will help you start to

think about the type of business you want to run and will walk you through how to narrow it down to a few

options. After narrowing down your topics to a few, by the end of the lesson plan, we will explore each of

these business ideas further in Lesson 4.

Lesson Plan Resources

Video Links: 10 Genius Kids Who Became Millionaires Overnight (11:38 minutes)

Length of time for lesson plan: 45 - 60 minutes

Supplies needed

Computer access with internet to watch videos

Printed copy/copies of the worksheet

Pen or Pencil

Piece of paper

Activity Instructions

1. Read the information under each activity and follow the instructions provided in the activity. Step by

step instructions will be provided when necessary. The lesson plan is written to the Girl Scout.

Lesson Plan 3

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Hi BossGIRLs!

I hope that you are having a great time and learning a lot in the BossGIRL Patch Program. There is so much to

learn about being an entrepreneur and running your own business. You have only just begun to explore what

it takes to be an entrepreneur and develop your own business.

So far, in BossGIRLs, you have learned what an entrepreneur is and how entrepreneurs think up their ideas (by

brainstorming!) You have even been able to discover products and services that were designed by kids. Do

you remember Zollipops from Lesson 1? That product was design by Alina Morse when she was seven year

old. She loved to eat candy but hated what it did to her teeth. She took an interest of hers, saw a problem

that needed to be solved and then designed a business around that. She was a true Go-Getter!

As a BossGIRL and a Girl Scout, you are already a Go-Getter, Innovator, Risk taker and Leader. Could you

imagine developing a product that could be on the shelves of your local store? How exciting!

Did you know that there are currently over 22 million entrepreneurs in the world! WOW! In a world where

there are so many entrepreneurs and so many amazing products and services being sold, the BIG question to

ask is what do you have an interest or passion in that you want to turn into a business idea? OR What problem

have you encountered that you want to solve?

This is the next piece of the puzzle that as a BossGIRL you are going to examine closely. The best inventions or

products designed each year, are designed because their creator: Had a passion or interest in something.

Came up a brilliant idea. Saw a need that they could fill with a product or service. & Made it happen!

Are you ready to make it happen!? I bet that you are excited, ready to make it happen and come up with your

own business idea like Alina Morse. Let’s get started!

The first few steps in making it happen are:

Looking closely at who you are and what you are good at

o Think about who you are as a person

o Come up with a list of your passions/hobbies/interests

Investigating a problem that you or someone close to you has

o Examine your life and think about problems that you have that could be solved

o Talk to people, ask questions and listen to their problems

o Think about how you could help solve that problem

Determine what product or service you can create

o Come up with solutions/business ideas that people would be excited about or will

solve a problem and make life easier for someone.

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Who are you? How can you help? What business idea can you come up with? As mentioned above, the best new ideas for businesses are designed because an entrepreneur stopped to

think about who they are, their needs and the needs of people around them, what they are good at and how

they can help. They then used that information to develop their business idea.

Activity 1: Who are you? To be successful as an entrepreneur and develop a good business idea, you need to know more about who

you are as a person and what makes you tick. If someone were to ask you to describe yourself in 5 single

words, what words would you give them? Are you creative? Funny? Energetic?

Knowing who you are and words that describe you will help you start to think about a good business idea for

you.

Maybe you are creative and are really good at writing. You could write a book.

Maybe you are artistic. You could make and sell your art pieces or teach others about art.

Maybe you are smart and really knowledgeable on a specific subject. You could tutor other

kids.

Maybe you are athletic. You could coach other kids or think of a new product to help you

with your sport.

Take a few moments and think about who you are. Write down below, or on a piece of paper, the words that

come to your head that describe you. Don’t think too hard about this. What comes to your head right away? If

you are having trouble thinking of words, ask your parents, family or friends.

What words did you write down? Were you able to come up with at least 5? List them below or on your paper,

then think about a type of business that you could have that relates to each word. If you have trouble, look

back at the examples above for help.

Word that describes you Type of business that you could have

Words that describe me…

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Now that you have thought about who you are and words that can describe you, it is time to start looking

closely at your passions, hobbies, and interests. Examining these things about you will help you start to think

about possible business topics that you could expand on further and turn into a business. We will examine a

different way to brainstorm possible business ideas in Activity 4.

Activity 2: What are your passions/hobbies/interests?

Look at the topics below and brainstorm as many ideas as you can that will answer that question. Fill in the

boxes below (or draw these boxes on a piece of paper) with as many things that you can think of based on the

question written in that box. The more items you write down the more topics you will have to develop a

business idea out of.

What are your passions? What are your hobbies?

What are you good at? (singing | sports | coaching | tutoring)

Are you creative and enjoy making things? If

so, what do you like to make?

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Good Job! I bet that this activity was fun and that you were able to write down quite a few things that you are

good at or enjoy doing. Which ones are your favorite? Are there ones that stick out in your head as your

favorite?

Look back at your list and circle the items that are your favorite in each box. This will help you narrow down

your possible list of topics that you can develop a business around. Try not to circle all of them. Limit yourself

to the top 2 items from each box.

Now that you know what your favorites are, let’s rank them. Look back at the topics or item on your list that

you circled and rank them in order. After you have ranked your top 5 favorites from the ones you circled,

spend a few minutes and come up with 1-2 possible business ideas that you could move forward with for your

business. Keep this list so you can refer back to at the end of the lesson.

My Favorite Items: Possible Business Ideas 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Activity 3: SCAMMPER method of brainstorming Did you know that not every business that is started each year is a brand new idea? Many of the businesses

that entrepreneurs start each year are a modification of an already existing business. They saw a way to

change the business or improve it and then started their own business.

When an entrepreneur changes a product or service to

create a new one they are using the SCAMMPER method

that you learned about in Lesson 2. As a reminder,

SCAMMPER is a brainstorming technique that creates

many ideas from one by asking questions.

Now that you are comfortable using the SCAMMPER

method, let’s look at products that already exist that you

could possibly change to make a new product. Think

about a product that you like to use. Can you think about

a way to improve it? Can you make it different in any

way? Ask yourself each question listed with each step and

see what you come up with.

SCAMMPER

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S-C-A-M-M-P-E-R

Step

Question(s) to be asked… Item I want to use SCAMMPER for:

___________________

Substitute What can be used instead? What can be used instead of the materials, objects, places, or methods now used?

Combine Which parts or ideas can you blend together? What could be added? How can you combine uses with a current object or invention? Can you combine materials?

Adapt What else is like your idea? What can be copied or imitated? How can it be adjusted to fit another purpose?

Modify Can changes be made to it?

Magnify How can it be made stronger, longer, or higher?

Put to other uses Can it be used in any other way than originally intended? Who else might be able to use it?

Eliminate / Minimize What can you take away or remove? What parts aren’t really necessary? Can it be made smaller or lighter? Can it be divided? How can it take less time?

Rearrange Can parts be exchanged or put into a different order? Can it be laid out differently?

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Activity 4: What is a problem that needs to be solved? A final way to brainstorm possible business ideas is to examine problems that you or someone else that you

know, have encountered in their life. If you could solve a problem that exists by developing a product or

service what would that be?

For this activity, you are going to:

Watch a YouTube video about kids who encountered a problem and then developed a

product to solve that problem.

Start to think about problems that you have encountered that you could solve

Interview 2 – 3 members of your family and friends and ask them to share with you a

problem they have that you could potentially help them solve.

Find out from them why this is a problem and how life would be if that problem didn’t exist.

Brainstorm a solution that could solve this problem.

As you are working through this activity you are going to think about these four things.

1. Who has the problem? (this is your audience, learn more this in Lesson 4)

2. What is the problem?

3. Does it impact other people or just you?

4. Why is this a problem?

5. How would they know the problem was solved?

6. What is a possible solution to solve the problem?

Let’s Try it!

To get your brain thinking about possible problems that you could solve, let’s watch a YouTube video about kids

who saw a problem and then developed a solution to the problem. After coming up with a solution they created

a name for their product and a prototype (more about this in Lesson 9).

To complete this part of the activity, you will need to have access to the internet to be able to watch a YouTube

video. YouTube video: 10 Genius Kids Who Became Millionaires Overnight (11.38 minutes)

Watch the YouTube video.

As you are watching the YouTube video think about these things:

o What problem did they discover?

o Who has the problem? Who is the audience?

o Why was it a problem?

o How did they solve the problem?

o What did they call their product?

As you are watching the video fill out the table on the next page with your thoughts. There

will be 10 kids you will learn about but you only have to fill out the table for the following 4

girl entrepreneurs. (Abbey Fleck, Sarah Buckel, Cassidy Goldstein, KK Gregory)

Can you spot the Girl Scout?

Fun Question: Who in the video is a Girl Scout? _____________________________________________

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10 Genius Kids Who Became Millionaires Overnight video activity Abbey Fleck What problem did she discover? ____________________________________________________________ Who has the problem? Who is the audience? __________________________________________________ Why was it a problem? ____________________________________________________________________ How did she solve the problem? ____________________________________________________________ What did she call her product? _____________________________________________________________

Sarah Buckel What problem did she discover? ____________________________________________________________ Who has the problem? Who is the audience? __________________________________________________ Why was it a problem? ____________________________________________________________________ How did she solve the problem? ____________________________________________________________ What did she call her product? _____________________________________________________________

Cassidy Goldstein What problem did she discover? ____________________________________________________________ Who has the problem? Who is the audience? __________________________________________________ Why was it a problem? ____________________________________________________________________ How did she solve the problem? ____________________________________________________________ What did she call her product? _____________________________________________________________

KK Gregory What problem did she discover? ____________________________________________________________ Who has the problem? Who is the audience? __________________________________________________ Why was it a problem? ____________________________________________________________________ How did she solve the problem? ____________________________________________________________ What did she call her product? ____________________________________________________________

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Can you believe the problems that these kids discovered and the inventions they created to solve those

problems? We encounter problems almost every day that need to be solved. It is up to you as a entrepreneur

to help solve those problems. Maybe your next solution to a problem could end up being worth millions!

Wouldn’t that be awesome!

Here are two other examples of people (audiences) who have a problem and how to work through answering

the questions to help solve the problem.

Who has the problem? Mother of a toddler

Kids who want to try out a sport before investing money into the equipment

What is the problem?

Toddler keeps throwing toys into the front seat and hitting the driver (mom).

Sports equipment can be expensive.

Does it impact other people?

Yes, it can happen to other moms as well Yes, it can affect families whose children are trying out lots of different sports.

Why is this a problem?

The driver (mom) could get distracted and cause an accident or get into an accident.

Some families do not have the money to buy the sports equipment if the child is not going to like the sport.

How would they know the problem was

solved?

The toddler was still able to play with the toys but they stayed in the backseat with the child.

They could rent/borrow sports equipment for a trial period before investing in purchasing the equipment

What is a possible solution(s) to the

problem?

An easy to see through net that could get strung across the car between the driver’s seat and the back seat blocking the toys from coming into the front seat. A system of cords or ribbons that attached to the toddlers toys allowing them to play with them but they couldn’t go farther than 1-2 feet from child.

A rental company that specialized in renting out sports equipment for children to use while they are trying out the sport to see if they like it. The family can then purchase the equipment they rented at a discounted rate because it is used OR buy it new from a sports equipment store.

Thinking about problems in this way is a great way to start looking at problems that exist and thinking about

how you can come up with a solution or a way solve it. The way that you solve it is your business idea that you

can then further develop and turn into your business.

Think you are ready to try it for yourself? Fill out the tables on the next two pages.

The first two times I want you to interview a different family member or friend for each

column and fill in the boxes.

Next, I want you to look at your life and problems that you have and see if you can solve the

problems by filling in the boxes.

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Person 1

Person 2

Who has the problem?

What is the problem?

Does it impact other

people?

Why is this a problem?

How would they know

the problem was solved?

What is a possible solution(s) to the

problem?

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Your First Problem

Your Second Problem

Who has the problem?

Self

Self

What is the problem?

Does it impact other

people?

Why is this a problem?

How would they know

the problem was solved?

What is a possible solution(s) to the

problem?

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Hey Girl Scouts!

Did you realize that thinking about problems in this way and coming up with solutions to these problems, is

the same process you should use when coming up with a Take Action Project? When you are deciding on a

Take Action project to do as a Girl Scout, you are Discovering problems that exist in the community,

researching the problem by Connecting with community organizations and then determining how to solve that

problem and Take Action. The way that you solve the problem is your Take Action Project.

Activity 5: What is the best business idea for you? During Lesson 3, you have used three different methods to come up with possible ideas that you can turn into

your business. Determining the best business idea for you is up to you. Only you will know which idea is right

for you.

To get a sense of the possible business ideas that you can look into further, look back at Activities 2-4 and

write down your top 3-5 ideas below that you are most excited about. We will look closer at these ideas in our

next lesson plan when we start to investigate the audience (type of person to use your product) and your

niche (specific group who will use your product/service) for each business idea and reach out to those

audiences to get their feedback and input on your business idea.

Idea 1

Idea 2

Idea 3

Idea 4

Idea 5

Here are some things to think about when picking the best idea for your business:

1. Which idea excites you the most?

Remember, it is very important to choose a business idea that you are interested in or

excited about so you don’t get bored or lose interest. If you are personally invested in the

idea you will work harder at making it happen.

2. Can that business be started easily or will it take a lot of time and money to start up?

Thinking about the amount of work that may need to go into the business idea you select

will be very important. You want to make sure that you have enough time to invest in your

business to make it successful. You will also want to look at what it will cost to create that

product or service so you don’t choose one that will cost more money then you are willing

to invest for your first business. (Learn more about start-up costs in Lesson 9.)

3. What business idea seems the most likely to succeed?

After you have come up with your ideas, talk to your family and friends to see what they

think of the idea. Go online and see what other types of businesses exist that sell the same

product or offer the same service in your area. (Learn more about this in Lesson 4.)