Patch Program instructions When you look at a Girl Scout, what do you see? Do you see a future leader? An activist? A scientist? Entrepreneur? Girl Scouts is developing future leaders by teaching girls essential life skills and invaluable lessons. Changing the world and making it a better place is exactly what Girl Scouts do. Girl Scouts is helping girls Discover who they are as leaders, Connect with their communities and the world around them, and Take Action to solve problems. By helping solve their communities homeless pet problem, advocating for change in their school or community, connecting with those around them, taking action to stand up for what they believe in, or becoming Entrepreneurs as they surpass their cookie sale goals, they are changing the world. Through Girl Scouts, girls are gaining essential life skills and working as a team to accomplish common goals and solve problems, while building the confidence they need to shine as girls, as young women and as leaders. FUN FACT: A recent study shows 80% of women business owners were once Girl Scouts. And you can bet that many of them started their business careers by participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program which lets girls master these 5 skills: Goal Setting, Decision making, Money Management, People Skills and Business Ethics. TAKE THE NEXT STEP BEYOND COOKIES: BossGIRL builds on the entrepreneurial spirit of the Cookie Program and lets each girl create her own business idea. She ll gain the knowledge and skills to plan her business, finance it and put it into action. From an idea to reality! Grades: 2 12 (Girl Scout Brownies Ambassadors) Cost of Program: $2 patch fee per participant By participating in the BossGIRL Patch Program Girl Scouts will: Discover what an entrepreneur is Brainstorm the perfect business idea Develop a business plan Develop their product Decide how much they want to sell their product for Pitch their idea to female entrepreneur mentors Sell it to make real money at the Youth Business Fair!
What girls will learn during BossGIRL: Goal Setting: o As an entrepreneur you need to examine your hobbies, interest and talents and design a business that fills a niche in your community. Decision Making Teaches risk taking. o To be an entrepreneur, you must be comfortable with taking action, even without having a clear idea of the outcome. o Strengthens critical thinking Money Management: o Teaches / reinforces money management and financial literacy skills: budgeting, money management, tracking expenses, determining profit People Skills: o Increases self confidence o Further develops leadership skills, self responsibility, and program solving skills Business Ethics: o Teaches girls to go through life and see voids, injustices or things that could be done better, they take responsibility to make changes. BossGIRL FAQs Who can participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program? Girls in grades 2 12 can participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program. They can participate as an individual or in a troop. Please follow the Badgerland guidelines for this specific patch program as outlined below. Expenses/Profit Who covers the Expenses? Who earns the Profit? Individual Girl Girl assumes all expenses for the program Girl earns all profit from the sale of the product Individual Girl backed by an investor Girl assumes a portion of the expenses and receives partial investment costs by their investor (troop) 50/50 split Girl and her investor split profit 50/50 from selling of product Troop Troop assumes all expenses for business Troop earns all profit from sale of product
Is the BossGIRL Patch Program considered a money earning activity? Participation in the BossGIRL Patch Program is not considered the same as participating in a money earning activity. Money earning activities are fund producing activities that troops can execute to earn the dollars necessary for their planned and scheduled Girl Scout activities. Money Earning Activities should be executed by girls with assistance and guidance, if necessary, from troop leaders. (www.girlscouts.org) The goal of the BossGIRL Patch Program is to introduce girls to what an entrepreneur is and have them work through the process of developing a business idea and business plan, connect them with female entrepreneurs, have them pitch their business idea to an entrepreneur and finally experience talking to customers at our Youth Business Fair. The BossGIRL will assume all costs for their business and there is no guarantee they will make a profit from their business. Can you participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program even if you don t participate in both the Fall Product sale and the Cookie Sale? Yes, you can participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program even if you do not participate in both the Fall Product sale and Cookie sale. This is a patch program and any Girl Scout in grades 2 12 can participate in the program. How can we share our story and journey with other Girl Scouts? Share your entrepreneur journey with Badgerland by emailing us your story/photos. You can send your story/photos to info@gsbadgerland.org, or use #BadgerlandBossGIRL. What types of activities will the girls be participating in and learning about? Lesson plans are designed to lead girls through the entire process of learning what an entrepreneur is, brainstorming possible business ideas and developing a business plan for their chosen business idea. The curriculum is progressive, building and incorporating hands on activities, videos and activity pages. Please follow the lesson plans in the order listed below. Lesson Plans: What is an Entrepreneur and what do they do? How does an Entrepreneur develop their business idea? Design Process and Brainstorming What s your passion? Brainstorming business ideas based on your hobbies/interests/talents Who is your audience and what is your niche? Social change for social good Do you incorporate it into your business? Picking the business that is right for you: The Design Process Designing your Business Plan Creating Your product to sell Budgeting 101: What to charge to cover your costs and make a profit? Developing your team: Who do you need to develop your product or service? Funding your business and startup costs. What is an Investor? Risk Taking: Do you have a plan?
Making it happen: Registering your business Pitching your idea: The basics of how to pitch your idea (Big Idea Pitch Party) Perfecting your business plan Marketing your product Time to sell! Where and When? Evaluating your success How will we learn about new lesson plans and resources added to the BossGIRL s website? BossGIRL updates and reminders will be emailed out to ALL registered participants as curriculum is uploaded and new resources are discovered. If you, as a leader would like to get emails to about the patch program and receive updates with your girls please email info@gsbadgerland.org, and put BossGIRL Patch Program: Leader email in the subject line. How much time will this program take? Designing a new business and becoming an Entrepreneur takes a lot of hard work, dedication and time. Each lesson plan should take no more than 30 60 minutes. The Big Idea Pitch Party will take 2 3, hours and girls can leave once they have pitched their idea. The Youth Business Fair will run for 4 hours and require an hour for set up and tear down. The amount of time that a BossGIRL invests in her business is completely up to her. What if we cannot make the Big Idea Pitch Party or the Youth Business Fair? If a BossGIRL participant is not able to make a Big Idea Pitch Party or the Youth Business Fair, she will need to show that they accomplished that step in order to complete the Patch program. She can do this by completing the survey link associated with that lesson topic on the BossGIRL website. Can we sell our products outside of the Youth Business Fair? Talking to your customers, selling your product and getting their feedback is an important piece of the BossGIRL program. You are welcome to sell your product at local vendor fairs, famers markets, social functions, etc. Attendance at the Youth Business Fair is recommended, so you can meet other BossGIRL entrepreneurs like yourself. Selling online on an etsy store or similar is not allowed for this patch program. You can share your business through social media as long as sales do not occur online. When will we receive the BossGIRL Patch? Patches will be mailed out at the end of June once the BossGIRL Patch Program completion survey is completed. The survey will be linked on the BossGIRL Patch Program website and emailed out to all participants.
What Girl Scout badges will we work on during the program? Girl Scout level Badge Steps completed Meet My Customers Step 1: Find out who your customers are Step 2: Talk to some customers Step 3: Practice handling money and making change Business Owner Business Plan Step 1: Explore businesses you might like to start someday Step 2: Learn the basics of running a business Step 3: Find out what kind of support is available for small businesses Step 4: Investigate what makes great customer service Step 5: Pitch your business Step 1: Write your mission statement and goals Step 4: Make a risk management plan Step 5: Get expert feedback on your plan Marketing Entrepreneur Step 1: Find out more about brand identity Step 2: Check out the competition Step 3: Research other products that have a philanthropic angle Step 4: Develop your marketing message Step 5: Create your marketing campaign Step 1: Brainstorm business ideas Step 3: Get into the financial side of things Step 4: Imagine creating your business Step 5: Practice sharing your business idea BossGIRL Instructions: 1. Register for the BossGIRL Patch Program and pay the $2 patch fee per participant. (Patches will be mailed out at the end of June, 2019) 2. Complete each lesson plan in order and participate in the activity/video that go with each lesson plan. The lesson plans will build upon each other and progress through the process of thinking about possible business ideas to developing her chosen business. 3. Follow the activities relevant to your Girl Scout level. 4. Brainstorm business ideas and select the one idea you want to develop a business plan for. 5. Build your prototype/design your service and test it out 6. Register and attend a Big Idea Pitch Party to pitch your business and obtain feedback (recommended, not required) 7. Perfect your business plan 8. Produce your product 9. Get ready to sell! Register and attend the Youth Business Fair.
Important dates to remember: Program runs October 1, 2018 June 30, 2019 Big Idea Pitch Party ($5 per participant, includes appetizers and punch) An idea is just the beginning. What she does with that idea can be the difference between a dream and success. At the Pitch Party, girls will share their business ideas whether it s a product, a service or something in between with local, successful start up innovators. Girls will get feedback and, importantly, professional advice, support and access to successful leaders. This is an opportunity for girls brimming with aha ideas to step up, stand up and embrace their entrepreneurial spirit. It is a party and the evening will be full of music, fun, food and celebration. La Crosse March 8, 2019 Beloit March 22, 2019 Madison March 29, 2019 Youth Business Fair ($15 table fee per table) Budding Entrepreneurs needed to sell their products and market their services at our Youth Business Fair! Make money, promote your business and have fun at Badgerland s Youth Business Fair. At this finale event to the BossGIRL Patch Program (pages 8 and 18 of the Pathfinder), girls will get to market and sell their product or service they ve been working on over the months. June 15 at Madison Area Technical College, Truax Campus Program evaluation is due (June 30, 2019) Share with us what you learned and how you did as a BossGIRL entrepreneur. Patch program evaluation will be linked to the evaluating Your Success lesson plan and due right after the Youth Business Fair. BossGIRL business ideas: Not sure of what type of business to develop? Check out the Badgerland Girl Scouts BossGIRL business ideas Pinterest board for great business ideas. Here are some great ideas to get you starting to think about your business idea: 1. Homemade Crafts (Mason jar gifts, homemade cards, gift baskets, art prints, pottery) 2. Homemade household items (kitchen towels, cord keepers, laptop cases, blankets, pillow cases) 3. Homemade spa products (bath fizzies, bath crystals, lip balm, sugar scrub) 4. Handmade jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings) 5. Personalized Clothing (t-shirts, accessories, handbags) 6. Professional Services (photography, babysitting, dog walking, landscaping, tutoring) 7. Author (write a book or blog)
8. Edible gifts (baked goods, chocolates, hard candy, dry mixes) ~ Must advertise to customers that "These goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection." What cannot be sold: For a full list and other details please visit: http://pickyourown.org/cottagefoodlaws-wisconsin.php#l1lkps6mhz9jyreg.99 1. Anything that is not baked, in other words an energy bar or cookie that is simply rolled together without being baked. 2. Low acid home canned foods such as vegetables, fish and meat 3. Sauces, dressings or condiments unless they are clearly fruit or vegetable products 4. Home canned foods that contain meat, eggs or dairy such as pickled eggs, lemon curd, and pesto 5. Food that needs to be kept refrigerated such as baked goods, dried foods, flavored vinegars, and beverages to ensure safety. High acid foods that need to be kept refrigerated are approved. Questions about the program? Call Badgerland Council's Customer Care Team at 800.236.2710 or check out the BossGIRL webpage.