Step by step guide and roadmap to help social enterprises and social businesses plan and implement scaling of impact and operations. This guide is based based on the PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact.

1. Implementation at Scale:
A Guide for Scaling Social Business
Rizwan Tayabali
Supported by Ashoka Globalizer

2. 2

3. Adapted from
The PATRI Framework
for Scaling Social Impact
© Rizwan Tayabali, 2014
3

4. The PATRI framework takes you step by step
through all the aspects of diligence needed to
understand whether or not scaling is feasible
for you and if so, to produce an effective scaling
plan that you can follow during implementation.
4

5. PATRI
Framework
I
Purpose
II
Applicability
(Viability)
III
Transferability
IV
Readiness
V
Implementation
5

6. An overview of the complete
PATRI Framework, is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“PATRI Framework for Scaling
Social Business”
6
PATRI
Framework

7. Caveats
1. The following guide is specifically targeted at social
businesses and therefore places an emphasis on
financial viability along with impact i.e. It is
designed for organisations that create their impact
through the use of business models.
2. The PATRI Framework is focused on scaling rather
than incremental growth. If you are simply aiming
to set up operations in another location or enter
another market, then the framework will still offer
you value, but some aspects of it may only be
applicable a bit further down the line.
7

8. The 1st step of the Framework is to define
purpose and targets, without which you have no
useful basis for planning or design.
If you haven’t already got clarity around
these, more support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Defining Purpose: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
Purpose

9. The 2nd step of the Framework, is to understand
whether or not your model will be applicable at
scale, and if not, how you could adjust it to
make it more relevant and viable.
If you haven’t already considered
applicability, support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Applicability at Scale: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
Applicability
(Viability)

10. The 3rd step of the Framework is to
improve your solution and model’s ability to
be replicated or delivered by others i.e. to
ensure that it is systematic and transferable
for use in scaling, either by your own teams
or by external partners.
If you haven’t already addressed
transferability, support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Transferability for Scale: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
Transferability

11. The 4th step of the Framework helps you
establish whether or not your organisation
and people are ready for scaling, and if not,
what you can do about it.
If you haven’t already addressed
readiness, more support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Readiness to Scale: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
IV
Readiness

12. Once you have understood what is required to
get your organisation and people ready for
scaling, you can move on to the final piece of
the planning process, which is to prepare for
implementation.

13. This guide thus focuses specifically on the
5th and final step of the Framework, which
helps you plan the journey and manage
implementation when scaling.

14. Implementation
14

15. The actual process of scaling needs to be
managed like a complex project with
wide-reaching organisational implications.
Implementation

16. A robust scaling plan will therefore be
essential if you are to be successful in
raising the support needed to scale.
It will also be critical in helping you scale
without all the usual growing pains that
organisations typically suffer from.
Implementation

17. A good place to start is with a
roadmap for implementation.
Implementation

18. A roadmap is an outline of all the different
activities that comprise implementation, laid
out in dependency order, over whatever
timeframe you believe is sensible for execution.
It is a useful visual aid for planning, and if
converted into a Gantt chart, should become
your primary implementation management tool.
Implementation

19. Implementation can typically be
broken into five phases ...
Implementation

20. Key
Phases
1
Planning
2
Resourcing
3
Setup
4
Execution
5
Impact
Monitoring
& Quality
Control
20
V
Implementation

21. While these phases have a chronological order
of dependency, in practice various aspects can
and do happen in parallel.
For clarity however, it is worth starting with a
plan that clearly shows dependencies and
delineates between the phases.
Implementation

22. If you've worked your way through the previous
sections of this framework, you should already
have most of the thought process, design and
organisational aspects of planning covered.
Implementation
1
Planning

23. All that should be left at this stage is to
1. Aggregate your requirements for scaling
from the previous sections
(skills, capacity, technology, infrastructure etc).
2. Aggregate the costs of those requirements.
Implementation
1
Planning

24. Once you’ve got your overall costs and
requirements together, the next step is to
find the necessary resources.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

25. If these resources are not already available
to your organisation, you may need to raise the
funds to finance the set-up and execution
stages.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

26. For this you will need to create formal
business plans and develop financing proposals
or fund-raising campaigns, depending on
whether or not your social business has a
commercial or non-profit status.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

27. If you have a fully commercial structure,
there are a number of financing options
you could consider ...
Implementation
2
Resourcing

28. Financing Options for Social Businesses
Seed investors
Angel investor groups
Patient capital groups (Acumen, etc.)
RSF Social Finance
Net Impact, Echoing Green
Peer to peer lending (Prosper, etc.)
Business plan competitions
Microfinance institutions
Banks/credit unions (USDA, Shorebank, Vancity etc.)
Pension funds
Business co-op networks
Investors Circle
Community alliances
RISE Investing
Mondragon / Evergreen Cooperatives
Social Capital Partners
Investeco
Renewal Partners
Source – Open Source Green: Overview of Brainstorming Sessions, 2010.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

29. But first it is worth establishing the type of
funding that you will need ...
Implementation
2
Resourcing

30. Identifying Your Ideal Funding Structure
Source – Chelwood Capital
PE/VC = Private equity / venture capital
SRI = Socially responsible investments
WC =Working capital
Implementation
2
Resourcing

31. If you are structured as a non-profit on the
other hand, you might find it a little harder to
raise commercial finance.
However, there are still philanthropic options
available to you ...
Implementation
2
Resourcing

32. Philanthropic Funding for Social Business
Source – From Blueprint to Scale - Case for Philanthropy in Impact Investing. Koh, Karamchandani & Katz 2012
Implementation
2
Resourcing

33. While it is obvious that you may need finance to
increase production or service delivery, a key
aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked is the funds
needed to boost your skills and capacity
towards your optimal operating size.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

34. Depending on your approach, you may then
need to restructure teams, recruit as
necessary, improve technological scalability
and run any change management programs
that are needed to help get your people ready to
start scaling.
Implementation
2
Resourcing

35. Set-up is where you get your operations
ready and make them scalable.
Implementation
3
Setup

36. At this stage you will need to start increasing
the capacity of your output, production,
platforms, technologies and physical
infrastructures to make them capable of
supporting the full roll-out of your scaling
ambitions.
Implementation
3
Setup

37. You will also need to consider messaging and
materials to recruit and enable any commercial
and non-commercial partners you plan to work
with when scaling.
Implementation
3
Setup

38. If using delivery partners or franchisees,
you will need to expand and formalise
the operating manuals you developed
during the transferability stage.
Implementation
3
Setup

39. Franchise Operating Manual
Source – Social Franchising © Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Berlin 2008
Implementation
3
Setup

40. Finally, for social businesses that choose to
scale through the use of external partners or
franchisees, contracts and other formal
agreements need to be drawn up at this stage.
Implementation
3
Setup

41. Typical Contract Categories
Source – Social Franchising © Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen, Berlin 2008
Implementation
3
Setup

42. Execution involves the actual process of
delivering or rolling out your model and impact
to reach the scale you have planned for.
Implementation
4
Execution

43. This stage primarily involves boosting
the distribution or delivery of your
products or services.
Implementation
4
Execution

44. To support this, you may need to
1. Enable your wider delivery network
with support and technology.
2. Launch any marketing campaigns
to drive and support take-up.
3. Manage any partners or third-parties
you are working with.
Implementation
4
Execution

45. You will also need to boost your impact
monitoring and quality control team so that it is
ready to cope with the increase in workload as
your reach expands.
Implementation
4
Execution

46. Once you’ve scaled up, and your new operations
are reaching need and servicing demand as
planned, you will reach the final stage, which
essentially involves maintaining quality and
supporting your ongoing rate of expansion.
Implementation
5
Impact
Monitoring
& Quality
Control

47. Here you will need to manage finances,
logistics, technology and third parties
(partners, manufacturers, distributors, agents,
franchisees etc.) as applicable to your model.
Implementation
5
Impact
Monitoring
& Quality
Control

48. In parallel you will need to monitor and collect
impact data, manage quality, collate and share
learning across your organisation and/or
network, and finally use that learning to drive
continuous improvement and greater
efficiencies as you scale.
Implementation
5
Impact
Monitoring
& Quality
Control

49. When visualising your roadmap you may
need to break your activities into a series
of work-streams that reflect different
operational aspects ...
Implementation

50. Core
Implementation
Streams
Strategy &
Planning
Finance and
fund-raising
Human
Resources
Infrastructure
Technology
Communications
(Internal &
External)
Management of
delivery agents
Handover
materials
(as necessary)
Training /
Advisory
(as necessary)
Impact
monitoring &
Quality Control
Implementation

51. You can then lay them out in a swim-lane
diagram that allows you to see exactly what is
going to happen and when.
Implementation

52. Sample Implementation Roadmap
Implementation
Source – PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact © Rizwan Tayabali, 2014

53. Once you have the roadmap visualised, you can
combine it with your business plans or funding
proposals for added robustness.
Implementation

54. When it comes to actually project managing the
process of scaling, simply convert the roadmap
into a Gantt Chart. Fill in timeframes, and major
and minor milestones, and you should have a
practical way to manage, track and monitor the
implementation of your scaling journey.
Implementation

55. To summarise, many of the pitfalls in scaling
can be overcome simply by considering the
factors involved. However, it isn’t necessary to
address them all to prohibitive levels of detail.
If done reasonably well, in combination with a
good roadmap, you should be able to inspire
confidence both within your organisation and
also amongst the supporters that you need to
back your scaling endeavours.
55
PATRI
Framework

56. ©Rizwan Tayabali, 2014
56