Entrepreneurs Ideation Workshop: Tools to Turn Your Idea into Action
Entrepreneurship isn't just about having a great idea – it's about transforming that idea into something that solves real problems. On Thursday, March 28th, the Innovation Hub hosted an ideation workshop led by Jet Patrocinio and Katia Shatalova, arming student visionaries with the expertise to refine their ideas and communicate them clearly. During this workshop, we were equipped with some of the Innovation Hub’s exceptional tools to help entrepreneurs work through their journey. This event was one and a half hours of fantastic learning, and hands-on ideating using templates introduced by our exceptional facilitators.
Defining Your Problem:
We dived headfirst into crafting problem statements. This might sound simple, but it's a powerful technique that challenges us to truly understand the heart of our idea. Our facilitators, Jet and Katia, guided us through pinpointing the specific issue our product or service solves for the customer. The problem statement helps us move beyond the 'what' – it pushes you to dig deeper and identify the 'why' this problem matters. The goal of using the problem statement template is to have a clear, concise way of explaining how our idea makes a real difference in someone's life. This foundation is crucial – it allowed us to move forward with confidence, knowing we were truly addressing a customer need.
Refining Solutions with the Lotus Blossom
Building upon the clarity of our problem statements, we used the Lotus Blossom technique to push our thinking even further. We started by placing our problem statement in the center of the page. The next step is to challenge ourselves to generate eight unique solutions directly addressing that problem – our existing idea being just one of those potential solutions. This structured approach forced us to look beyond our first 'favourite' solution and consider a wider range of possibilities. It helped us avoid getting stuck in the familiar and explore truly innovative approaches. This process then continues on to define the steps we can take to reach the solution and finally its value to your customer. This whole process is about truly understanding the potential of our idea and how to speak about it in a clear and value-based way.
Crafting Your Value Proposition
Finally, we learned how to craft a powerful value proposition. This short statement explains what makes your product or service special. The goal of this exercise is to make it easy to explain our ideas and their value in a way that gets people interested. We left feeling more confident about our ideas and ready to talk about them with others.
Do you have an idea that you feel could benefit the community?
We at the Hub are always here to help you through your process. All of the tools we covered today are available here.
We also have a full library of templates to help you at any step of your entrepreneurial journey. If you're at a stage where you're looking for real-time feedback, book a spot at our Open Podium every Monday from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm to show off your idea to our expert panel and get constructive feedback. If you're looking for community resources and advice come to our Launch Lab office hours every Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm to speak with Launch Lab’s Garret Elliott about your idea. At any step of your entrepreneurial journey, we are here to help! Learn more about our upcoming events and opportunities here.
“Passion, creativity, and resilience are the most crucial skills in business. If you’ve got those, you’re ready to embark on the journey.”