Davian: Alright. So we just wrapped up an amazing session this morning. Thank you for the invitation. You mentioned this is the first time you guys did this. What was your inspiration?

William: I know they got great ideas. I know they got great vision of things they wanna do. And sometimes, as entrepreneurs, sometimes we get caught in our head on the ideas, but we don't put them down on paper. Right? And so I'm a fan of the Business Model Canvas because I utilize it myself as well whenever I just want to kind of brain dump and get these ideas out of my head. And I try to explain to them that even when you dump it, it's, like a living document.

William: So for those that are not familiar with the Business Model Canvas, it's 9 building blocks allowing you to break down your vision of your business - right - from the cost to deciding your customer segment to some of the channels you have to go through, how to reach them, as well as, some of the other activities to help make that business successful, and also understanding your revenue, but also understanding your cost as well.

Davian: Surprisingly enough, I've seen or you might have even heard of, a school doing something like this before, but it usually involves them building up their own mock barbershop.

Davian: You did a little spin where you kind of gave them free reign, where they could create any type of business model with any industry - not just the barber industry - why that?

William: I can't pronounce the gentleman's name who actually discovered the Business Model Canvas format. But I use it as part of my mentoring for other entrepreneurs as well. And, the main thing I wanted them to take away from it is that even though it wasn't a barbershop - as long as you understand the requirements to start a business it'll help you in your journey in being an entrepreneur.

William: The same fundamentals you need to start a barbershop, you can apply those same steps to start any business. So I allowed them to have the free reign to think of any business, in order for them to think outside the box, because the most important part, is that they understand how to use that tool. And the cool thing is that all the information they put down on the canvas, could be built and turned into a more traditional business plan. 

Davian: There's something called cross industry practices (CIPs). So how one of the students presented on an amusement park and was figuring out how they can attract customers - some of those tactics can be translated into their barbershop or their mobile barber truck or whatever else they want try to create.

William: And I was super proud of them because some of them kept the businesses a secret. They didn't want tell me prior to presenting because they knew I would start giving them the 3rd degree.

William: I was very proud of them. They did exactly what I was hoping they would do - which is to allow themselves to be creative, allow themselves to be free - because when you're thinking about a business, it doesn't have to always be daunting. It can be, but, you know, we want to be able to tap into that creative space so you can really open up and think about everything.

Davian: Expectations. What did you expect them to come up with? And did they exceed that expectation or meet it?

William: They met it and some exceeded it as well. I say they all exceeded it because I'm surprised some even showed up and presented. I was thinking that they would use an excuse to take a day off. So, yes, they all exceeded it.

William: You know, again, we want them to know how to cut good hair, but we also want them to know how to run a good business as well. And that doesn't necessarily mean a full shop because those same principles apply, to your individual chair as well.