Feminist Business Model Canvas Workshops for Students & Entrepreneurs
Here’s a description of the five different online workshops we offer on the FBMC.
You can find the next scheduled workshops on the Events and Workshops page. And, you can email me to let me know that you’re interested in a particular workshop and we’ll schedule one for you (and invite some more folks too)!
We offer five different workshops to introduce students to business modeling and to take them though the FBMC process. These courses can be combined and crafted into a workshop experience that fits students’ needs and your program’s goals.
In order of increasing depth, student workshops include:
1. Meet and Compare Business Model Tools (60/90 mins)
2. Introducing Feminist Business Models and the FBMC (60 mins)
3. Tour the FBMC (90 mins)
4. Exploring the Feminist Business Model Canvas (3 hours)
5. Using the Feminist Business Model Canvas to Define Your Business (6 hrs)
1. Meet and Compare Business Model Tools (60 /90 minutes)
• Introduces business models as concepts
• Introduces canvases as tools
• Introduces some cluster of canvases (e.g., Osterwalder, Lean, Running Lean,
Flourishing, Aulet) and the Feminist Business Model Canvas
• Can include application exercise (Kassun-Mutch, 2021), (add 30 mins)
• Offers slightly deeper intro to FBMC to show how it calls forth perspectives that differ
from common assumptions
• Concludes with summary of strengths of each tool, explaining that each tool adds different kinds of insights.
If desired, students get handout of the “FBMC Teaching Version” with overview, definitions, & template (4-5 pages).
2. Introducing Feminist Business Models and the FBMC (1 hour)
• Definition of Feminist Business and feminist business models.
• Quick overview of business model canvases, with a quick intro to Osterwalder canvas, to offer contrast to the FBMC
• Intro to FBMC showing how it differs in mindset, process, and elements
• Concludes with recap of what users get from the FBMC versus other tools
Students receive a handout of the “FBMC Teaching Version” with overview, definitions, & template (4-5 pages).
3. Tour the FBMC (90 minutes)
• Introduces the FBMC’s unique mindset, process, and elements.
• Takes participants through all elements with just one or two questions per element. Encourages a bit of a ‘lightning round’ approach, where the students sketch broadly versus digging deeply.
• Concludes with a different ‘picture’ and ‘story’ of students’ business idea, that highlights values and social impact.
Students get the FBMC Tour Workbook (20 pages) to use during class, as well as to take home so they can complete on their own what doesn’t get done in the interactive session.
4. Exploring the Feminist Business Model Canvas (3 hours)
• Quick overview of business model canvases, with a quick intro to Osterwalder canvas, to offer contrast to the FBMC
• Intro to the FBMC’s unique mindset, process, and elements.
• Reviews the full, five-step process for working with the FBMC.
• Samples the “deep dive” experience by working fully through just a few sections of the canvas.
Students learn how the tool works during the sample “deep dive”, so they can complete the rest on their own. Most often, the sections explored have been Foundational Strengths, Customer Needs, and Outcomes. However, facilitators can choose the sections they think will be the most useful to their participants.
Students receive a full FBMC workbook (70 pages) that has every question for all five steps, plus an appendix of supporting background information. Students are expected to complete their FBMC by working though the remaining sections of the workbook.
5. Using the Feminist Business Model Canvas to Define Your Business
(six hours or so, with offline work in between two or three sessions)
Offers students the core experience of the FBMC, with enough time and depth to see how the tool helps transform their understanding of their business idea.
• Introduces/ reminds students about business model canvas, with a presentation on Osterwalder, et al., canvas to offer contrast to FBMC.
• Explains the big picture of the FBMC showing how it differs in mindset, process, and elements.
• Reviews the full, five-step process for working with FBMC.
• Sketches the whole FBMC with a lightning round, then
• Explores the “deep dive” experience by working through as many sections as time can manage, using work outside of session to continue to develop students’ business models.
Students get enough experience with the tool that they can complete the rest on their own. Following a particular sequence of elements (e.g., Begin with Strengths, then Intent, …. ending with Simple Theory of Change), facilitators can choose to complete or skip sections based on what they think will be the most useful to their participants.
Students receive a full FBMC workbook (70 pages) that has every question for every step, plus an appendix of supporting background information. Students are expected to complete their FBMC by working though the remaining sections of the workbook.