This workshop works for a class, an entrepreneurship club, a research team, or a group evaluating new services. No prior business-planning experience is required.

Workshop objective

Each participant or group will leave with one completed first-draft canvas, a list of the three riskiest assumptions, and an initial real-world test. The aim is clear thinking, not polished sales language.

A suggested one-hour agenda

Time Activity Output
0–10 min Explain what the canvas does and show the CampusKit example. Shared understanding of the nine boxes.
10–20 min Define the customer, problem, and existing alternatives. Specific customer and top three needs.
20–35 min Draft the value proposition, solution, and channels. How the offer creates and delivers value.
35–45 min Estimate revenue, costs, metrics, and any unfair advantage. First financial and operating hypotheses.
45–55 min Share canvases with another group. Challenge assumptions and vague claims. Three risky questions to test.
55–60 min Export/print the canvas and choose one experiment. Versioned one-page artifact and a next step.

Questions for peer review

Ask the other group to explain their idea without using the presenter’s own description. If the concept cannot be explained accurately, something is probably unclear.

  1. Can we identify the customer without saying “everyone”?
  2. Is each problem something customers actually experience?
  3. Does the value proposition offer a clear outcome?
  4. Is the solution smaller than a complete product roadmap?
  5. Do the channels identify a real path to first customers?
  6. Is the revenue model specific about who pays and why?
  7. Have any important costs been omitted?
  8. Would the chosen metrics measure customer behavior rather than only attention?
  9. Is the unfair advantage real, or is it a hope?

Suggested assignment

Deliverables

Submit a one-page Lean Canvas, a 200–300 word explanation of the most important customer problem, and a one-page experiment proposal showing the hypothesis, target audience, method, evidence threshold, and next decision.

Assessment should emphasize clarity, internal consistency, and testability—not an assumption that the idea must become a successful business.

Facilitation tips

Invite teams to leave a square empty if they do not yet know the answer. Require them to distinguish observed customer behavior from an unsupported expectation. For a multidisciplinary team, invite technical, customer-facing, and financial perspectives so no one part of the canvas dominates the conversation.

Ready for the activity?

Open one copy of the canvas per team. Complete the nine squares and use Print / Save PDF to turn in a one-page version.

Launch the canvas →