ROLE MODELS
These Girls Mean Business! Girl Guide Entrepreneurs BY DIAMOND ISINGER
Fans of reality television will probably be familiar with the popular CBC show Dragons’ Den, in which entrepreneurs, hoping to score big investments in their companies, pitch their top business ideas to a panel of successful business professionals. The 12th Toronto Guides have borrowed that concept to create an awesome activity – setting up their very own dragons’ den!
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uider Rachel Vickerson helped the girls plan and organize their den, and developed a list of tips for a successful pitch competition to share with other units along the way. With elements of product research, marketing strategy, public speaking and presentation development, this activity enables girls to gain entrepreneurship skills, while having a huge amount of fun. Here’s a brief description of how the 12th Toronto Guides did it:
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Planning and Positioning At the first meeting, the Guiders discussed the components of a good business plan and the factors that an entrepreneur should consider. Working in patrols, the girls brainstormed their biggest and best business ideas and planned their pitches. The Guiders provided a sample business plan handout (downloaded from bizkids.com ), which the girls used to estimate their start-up and ongoing costs, brainstorm how to market their business, determine pricing and market positioning, and calculate profits. The written plans helped them focus on their business objectives and use their time efficiently to figure out their presentation strategies.
Presenting and Pitching At the second meeting, the Guides were given time to do some last-minute preparations before they presented their pitches. Their objective was to present short and compelling explanations of why their business idea deserved support and funding. In a less intimidating atmosphere than that of the original Dragons’ Den, these young entrepreneur wannabees were pitching to a panel of three not-too-scary dragons recruited from the community. These local female entrepreneurs brought their business insights and savvy to the den and offered their advice on each pitch presented. Coming from diverse businesses in the Toronto area, they included a woman who sells craft patterns online, an astrophysicist who runs her own space education company, and the CEO of an all-female renovation company. CANADIAN GUIDER | SPRING 2018