Social Impact May 2007 Implementing the Business Plan Hyderabad India May 2007

Social ImpactMay 2007

Implementing the

Business Plan

Hyderabad IndiaMay 2007


The CVE Bakery: How Can You Plan for the Impossible?

In-Facility Work: The Bird Seed Fiasco!

What Happens When a Good Plan Goes Bad…


And Even When Things Go Right, Things Can Go Wrong… NW Works Janitorial and

Business Plan Actual growth exceeded plan by

330% Board of Directors, staff and

infrastructure issues Mission in question


“To stumbleis not to fall . . .it’s just a wayto move aheadmore quickly!”

- Ben Cohen

Implementation Snafus


Mouse trap’s built and nobody comes

Grand expectations Insufficient marketing

Wrong product Wrong market


All things to all people No clear:

Niche Target market Differentiation strategy

We do everything!!


But we still have checks…

Undercapitalization Slow start up Unexpected expenses Overstocked inventory Didn’t plan forbusiness cycles


Low capacity to deliver

Inexperienced business management

Untrained/wrong staff Weak systems & infrastructure

Chaos


Inability to Measure Performance Objectives are not clearly stated in business plan

No plan on how you will manage to objectives

Benchmarks tell you if you’re on track

Know what and how much to measure Inform decision making

Measuring takes time—and costs moneyso choose wisely


Contingency Planning

Build capacity to make accurate projections

Add in buffer for expenses Use “what if…” scenarios Develop “Plan B” (and Z) for major decisions

Test Business Plan assumptions

Objectivity


Before Implementation

“Failing to plan is

planning to fail”-Effie Jones


Pre-Launch of Your Business Plan

Ask the hard questions up front Bring negative people to the table early and let them hit you with their best shot

Have contacts lined up for future issues- get stakeholders and the community behind you before you need them!!!

Just do it! No business plan will cover all of the potential issues, but if you know that up front you’ll be ready to tackle the unknown

Know what and how you will measure your performance


Valuable Questions to Ask What if scaling has risk some negative impact on clients?

What if the success or failure of scaling threatens to change your mission?

How will your stakeholders deal with a failure?

How will your stakeholders deal with a success?

What is your scale?


Post Launch Get your negative critics to S.T.H.U.

Be Flexible Ask for Help Even if your new plan looks completely different than the original, as long as it serves your mission, who cares?

Be ready to drop the whole thing if you’ve given it your best shot and it’s still not working


Lessons Learned: Reality!!!

Business plans are living documents. Where you start is not where you’ll finish. Flexibility is key Constant adjustments Expert tyre-kicking Keep your eyes on the road


It’s a Road Map - Use it!

To Vision

2,000Poor Served

40%Cost

RecoveryAchieved

Client Income up

35%


Implementation Planning


Implementation Planning

Implementation planning turns strategy into reality.

Implementation planning details tactics of the business plan execution: activities, deliverables, timeline, who’s responsible, cost or level of effort

Short term - i.e. 1 year Implementation planning is tightly integrated with the annual budget.


Set Realistic Targets Unrealistic targets sets everyone up for failure

Conservatism - rule of thumb - do not be overly optimistic or ambitious with targets

Flexible to changes If you do not have clear objectives and targets you CANNOT develop an implementation plan


Team effort Not a one person job Functional skills team Include stakeholders Include resisters


Implementation Plan1. Objectives – what are the main objectives and

intermediate objectives?2. Deliverables – what will the outcomes be?3. Milestones – what are the important check

points?4. Activities and tasks – How will you execute? 5. Accountable party – who will be responsible?6. Implementation schedule – over what time

period?7. Budget – How much will it cost?8. Assumptions and Risk – what are the

underlying assumptions and potential risks?

Documents

Social Impact May 2007 Implementing the Business Plan Hyderabad India May 2007