Start with a cupcake

Often folks who have the beginnings of an idea for a social venture, business, organization, passion project, or consultancy say to me: I'm not sure where to start.

My reply? Start with a cupcake.

(I learned this metaphor from my friends at LearnServe International, and it's basically a fun and approachable way of teaching the Lean Start-Up methodology.)

Let's say your dream is to launch a bakery dedicated to making sustainably sourced wedding cakes for inclusive celebrations. But you've never make a wedding cake before. If you start with the full wedding cake, it might melt on the way to the event, or the textures and flavors may not be to the guests' liking. So where do you start? Start with something a bit smaller and more manageable... a cupcake!

A "cupcake," as we talk about it in the Changemakers Circle, is a minimum viable product or service, designed to help you test and learn about your bigger venture vision. Instead of waiting until you have a fully fleshed out business model, you can start now with a "cupcake" that you can try out and get real-life feedback on.

So, I encourage you to consider your emerging idea or vision… what could a “cupcake” version of it be?