Value proposition canvas

Deliver post-MBA graduates consulting experience in their dream field.

Business Description: MBA graduates who desire to integrate their studies with the daily practice of a startup find it a challenge to connect with entrepreneurs who will pay for their consulting services. These graduates may face ‘imposter syndrome’ - the sense their education belies their ability - and desire a testing ground for the concepts they have learned. A consultant who acts as a middleman between the fresh MBA student and a selection of businesses, who will connect the student with a personalized business tailored to their MBA experience and will benefit the business by identifying talented managers, partners, and consultants available for hire.

Proposed Country & City: Chicago as the hub, with connections to universities with graduate-level business programs across the United States.

Multicultural Dimensions: The customers of this business will comprise the full range of cultures MBA students from universities such as GLU, Booth, and Keller represent. To cater to a diverse crowd, the consulting opportunities must reflect diverse values. There must be startups and established businesses, local businesses and multi-nationals as consulting partners.

Proposed Customers: The primary customer segment will be fresh MBA graduates (under six months after their graduation), with an interest in a field of work they have less than a year’s prior experience in. They have a sense of the style of the company they would like to work in, or the startup they’d like to help launch, but lack the experience to connect their MBA studies with the practice of business. It’s likely they will be under thirty years old, and may have entered their MBA program shortly after their Bachelor’s degree was completed. It is possible older MBA graduates may be interested if they intend to transition to a new field of which they have little experience.

##Customer Profile

Customer Description: A twenty-eight-year-old male, a citizen of the United States, who graduated last month from Global Leadership University. He insists on launching a counseling program in Adana, Turkey but feels his education needs to be tested before used under the pressure of a new environment. He is willing to join another’s startup in the United States without the same emphasis but prefers to practice with a startup first, and a psychological or medical field is possible. He’s willing to give 25% of his earnings during the program in exchange for a six-month consulting externship at a startup in the same state.

Customer Jobs:

  1. A person or people who speak well of his ability to assist them in launching a business.
  2. Personal stories that express the application of his MBA studies.
  3. Confidence from a positive consulting experience.
  4. A growth in understanding the problem area that he aspires to use business to deliver solutions.
  5. An entrepreneur who requests further assistance or partnership with him, or a company who requests his consulting assistance a second time.
  6. A satisfaction in the completion of his first, six-month, consulting experience.

Customer Pains:

  1. Others not benefited from his MBA program experience.
  2. He has insufficient experience to accomplish the daily tasks of a startup.
  3. He fears being asked to accomplish a task others assume he can do because he has completed an MBA.
  4. He fails to connect with an entrepreneur or business with similar interests and methodologies.
  5. His first consulting experience is too shameful to list on a resume.
  6. His dream is abandoned because the gap from his studies to an application is never bridged.

Customer Gains:

  1. He experiences the satisfaction of equipping others to be successful entrepreneurs and managers.
  2. He deepens his practical experience in his business methodology of choice, whether it be Lean Startup or traditional management.
  3. His sense of ‘impostor syndrome’ is diminished.
  4. He confirms that the MBA education he possesses is useful in an environment similar to the workplace he aspires to.
  5. He connects with others who are passionate about the methodology of his choice.
  6. He increases the chances the first consulting experience of his career is a success.

##Value Map

Products and Services:

  1. A selection of credible six-month externships with startup companies and established businesses.
  2. A history of prior success stories.
  3. A consulting service to correlate an externship with the graduate’s interest and experience.
  4. A monthly check-in with an experienced consultant to gauge the program’s success and give recommendations.
  5. The validation of an experience consultant’s encouragement.
  6. A community of current and prior externship participants.

Pain Relievers:

  1. The fear that others won’t benefit is lessened by stories of prior externships.
  2. The concern that he cannot accomplish the basic tasks of his dream role is lessened by the support of an experienced consultant.
  3. His externship is aware of his ‘green’ status and is informed about his abilities ahead of time.
  4. He is connected to a network of prior and current externship participants, so he has many opportunities to widen his network.
  5. The connection of his interests to a startup or business decreases the fear it will be a shameful experience.
  6. His experience in the MBA program is demonstrated in real life.

Gain Creators:

  1. The stories of past externships encourage him that others will benefit from his consultation.
  2. His education is validated by practicing it in a live environment.
  3. He has an identity as a student consultant, so he isn’t expected to know everything about the business.
  4. He is assisted in finding an opportunity that corresponds to his dream work.
  5. His first consulting experience is coached by a senior consultant.
  6. His dream is solidified by assisting others with similar passions.