JA Be Entrepreneurial: Rapid Business Planning at Akins Early College High School

As a volunteer for Junior Achievement (JA) Be Entrepreneurial – Rapid Business Planning, you help high school students understand how entrepreneurs turn ideas into viable business concepts using a streamlined business-planning process focusing on the Lean Canvas, a one-page business planning tool that helps students organize and evaluate a business idea.

By serving as a volunteer, you help students:

• Learn entrepreneurial thinking and innovation skills.
• Understand the fundamentals of business model development.
• Build confidence in problem-solving and decision-making.
• Create a concise, actionable one-page business plan for a business idea and pitch presentation.

Key Volunteer Responsibilities

• Facilitate classroom discussions and activities related to entrepreneurship and business planning.
• Share personal career experiences and real-world business insights to help students connect concepts to practice.
• Guide students through the lean business planning process, including:
  • Identifying customer needs
  • Defining value propositions
  • Understanding competitive advantages
  • Assessing fixed and variable costs
  • Testing and validating business assumptions
• Support students as they develop and complete a Lean Canvas business plan
• Encourage critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, and presentation skills

Time Commitment

The Rapid Business Planning module is delivered through 8 weekly classroom session visits starting in September ending in November.