side menu icon

FUN FACT: A recent study shows 80% of women business owners were once Girl Scouts. And you can bet that many of them started their business careers by participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program which lets girls master these 5 skills: Goal Setting, Decision making, Money Management, People Skills and Business Ethics. 

TAKE THE NEXT STEP BEYOND COOKIES: BossGIRL builds on the entrepreneurial spirit of the Cookie Program and lets each girl create her own business idea. She’ll gain the knowledge and skills to plan her business, finance it and put it into action. From an idea to reality!  

HOW TO EARN THE BossGIRL PATCH

GET STARTED!

Who Can Participate and How the Money Piece Works

Girls in grades 2-12 can participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program. They can participate as an individual or in a troop.

Follow these Badgerland BossGIRL specific financial guidelines:

 

Expenses/Profit

 

Individual Girl

Individual Girl backed by an investor

 

Troop

Who covers the expenses?

Girl assumes all expenses for the program

Girl assumes a portion of the expenses and receives partial investment costs by their investor (troop)

50/50 split

Troop assumes all expenses for business

Who earns the profit?

 

Girl earns all profit from the sale of the product

Girl and her investor split profit 50/50 from selling of product

Troop earns all profit from sale of product

Is the BossGIRL Patch Program a money earning activity?

Participation in the BossGIRL Patch Program is not considered the same as participating in a money earning activity.  Money earning activities are fund producing activities that troops can execute to earn the dollars necessary for their planned and scheduled Girl Scout activities.  Money Earning Activities should be executed by girls with assistance and guidance, if necessary, from troop leaders. (www.girlscouts.org)

The goal of the BossGIRL Patch Program is to introduce girls to what an entrepreneur is and have them work through the process of developing a business idea and business plan, connect them with female entrepreneurs, have them pitch their business idea to an entrepreneur and finally experience talking to customers at our Youth Business Fair. The BossGIRL will assume all costs for their business and there is no guarantee they will make a profit from their business.  

Can a girl do BossGIRL if she doesn't participate in both the fall Nutshell sale and the Cookie Program?

Yes, she can participate in the BossGIRL Patch Program even if you do not participate in both the Fall Product sale and Cookie sale. This is a patch program and any Girl Scout in grades 2-12 can participate in the program. 

BossGIRL Activities and Lesson Plans

Lesson plans are designed to lead girls through the entire process of learning what an entrepreneur is, brainstorming possible business ideas and developing a business plan for their chosen business idea.  The curriculum is progressive, building and incorporating hands-on activities, videos and activity pages. 

DO THESE ACTIVITIES IN ORDER! THEY ARE PROGRESSIVE.
New ones will be added regularly. Registered Patch program members will receive email updates when new ones are added!

BossGIRL Lesson Plan and Activities

 
  • FUTURE LESSONS TO BE POSTED BELOW
  • Marketing Your Business: How to spread the word
  • Developing your team: Who do you need to develop your product or service?
  • Budgeting 101: What to charge to cover your costs and make a profit?
  • Designing Your Business Plan
  • Creating Your Product to Sell
  • Funding your business and startup costs. What is an Investor?
  • Risk Taking: Do you have a plan?
  • Making it happen: Registering your business
  • Pitching your idea: The basics of how to pitch your idea (Big Idea Pitch Party)
  • Time to sell! Where and When?
  • Evaluating your success
Badges Earned Along the Way

Girl Scout level

Badge

Steps completed

Brownies

Meet My Customers

Step 1: Find out who your customers are

Step 2: Talk to some customers

Step 3: Practice handling money and making change

Juniors

 

Business Owner

Step 1: Explore businesses you might like to start someday

Step 2: Learn the basics of running a business

Step 3: Find out what kind of support is available for small    businesses

Step 4: Investigate what makes great customer service

Step 5: Pitch your business

Cadettes

Business Plan

Step 1: Write your mission statement and goals

Step 4: Make a risk management plan

Step 5: Get expert feedback on your plan

 

Cadettes

Marketing

Step 1: Find out more about brand identity

Step 2: Check out the competition

Step 3: Research other products that have a philanthropic angle

Step 4: Develop your marketing message

Step 5: Create your marketing campaign

 

Cadettes

Entrepreneur

Step 1: Brainstorm business ideas

Step 3: Get into the financial side of things

Step 4: Imagine creating your business

Step 5: Practice sharing your business idea
BossGIRL: 9 Steps to Earn the Patch
  1. Register for the BossGIRL Patch Program and pay the $2 patch fee per participant. (Patches will be mailed late June, 2019)
  2. Complete each lesson plan in order and participate in the activity/video that go with each lesson plan. 
  3. The lesson plans will build upon each other and progress through the process of thinking about possible business ideas to developing her chosen business.
  4. Follow the activities relevant to your Girl Scout level.
  5. Brainstorm business ideas and select the one idea you want to develop a business plan for.
  6. Build your prototype/design your service and test it out
  7. Register and attend a Big Idea Pitch Party to pitch your business and obtain feedback (recommended, not required)
  8. Perfect your business plan
  9. Produce your product
  10. Get ready to sell! Attend the Youth Business Fair on June 15 in Madison (page 22 of PathFinder)
BossGIRL Important Dates
  • Program runs October 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019
  • Attend a Big Idea Pitch Party in March: La Crosse | Beloit | Madison
  • June 15, Youth Business Fair in Madison
    This is the BossGIRL Finale Event!
    Girls will set to market and sell their product or serve at this exciting event. Cost will be $15 per table. Registration coming later.
  • June 30, Program Evaluation Due
    Share what you learned and how you did as a BossGIRL entrepreneur. Patch program evaluation will be linked to evaluating Your Success lesson plan and is due after the finale Youth Business Fair.
  • June 30: Patches will be mailed

     


     

 

BossGIRL Business Ideas
  • BossGIRL Pinterest Board!
  • Homemade Crafts (Mason jar gifts, homemade cards, gift baskets, art prints, pottery)
  • Homemade household items (kitchen towels, cord keepers, laptop cases, blankets, pillow cases)
  • Homemade spa products (bath fizzies, bath crystals, lip balm, sugar scrub)
  • Handmade jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings)
  • Personalized Clothing (t-shirts, accessories, handbags)
  • Professional Services (photography, babysitting, dog walking, landscaping, tutoring)
  • Author (write a book or blog)
  • Edible gifts* (baked goods, chocolates, hard candy, dry mixes)

*MORE NOTES ABOUT AN EDIBLE GIFT BUSINESS:
If selling edible gifts state law requires you to advertise to customers : "These goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection."

These items cannot be sold (see more details)

Anything that is not baked, in other words an energy bar or cookie that is simply rolled together without being baked.

Low-acid home-canned foods such as vegetables, fish and meat

Sauces, dressings or condiments unless they are clearly fruit or vegetable products

Home-canned foods that contain meat, eggs or dairy such as pickled eggs, lemon curd, and pesto

Food that needs to be kept refrigerated such as baked goods, dried foods, flavored vinegars, and beverages to ensure safety. High acid foods that need to be kept refrigerated are approved.  
 

 

What BossGIRLs Will Learn  

  • Goal Setting
    As an entrepreneur you need to examine your hobbies, interest and talents and design a business that fills a niche in your community.
  • Decision Making
    Teaches risk taking. To be an entrepreneur, you must be comfortable with taking action, even without having a clear idea of the outcome.
    Strengthens critical thinking
  • Money Management
    Teaches amd reinforces money management and financial literacy skills:  budgeting, money management, tracking expenses, determining profit
  • People Skills
    Increases self confidence
    Further develops leadership skills, self-responsibility, and program solving skills
  • Business Ethics
    Teaches girls to go through life and see voids, injustices or things that could be done better, they take responsibility to make changes.

SHARE YOUR BossGIRL JOURNEY
Send us your BossGIRL stories and photos.  info@gsbadgerland.org or tag us on social #BadgerlandBossGIRL