Social Enterprise Feasibility Assessment & Business Planning

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1 Social Enterprise Feasibility Assessment & Business Planning Minakshi Radhakrishnan Senior Manager, Portfolio June 10, PLEASE - DO DO NOT DISTRIBUTE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM REDF

2 Why is planning for a social enterprise different than for a small business? The desired outcome of for-profit business is already known: to make a profit Business Plan Set up Business $ Returns The desired outcomes of a social enterprise are not obvious and so the goals need to be established first $ Returns Set social and financial goals Select business idea based on goals Plan Business Set up Business Social impact 1

3 How do we assess ideas? Social Enterprise planning has three phases Focus of this session Define Goals List the social and financial objectives for social enterprise Find the Deal Breakers Identify weaknesses/ red flags and eliminate bad business ideas through objective assessment Decide whether it is a promising idea Feasibility Assessment Decide whether to launch the Decide whether to business launch the business by performing indepth analysis of the market, operational, and financial viability for 1 or 2 ideas Business Plan Determine how to best launch, develop, and manage the business enterprise Pre-feasibility assessment Getting to No 2

4 Why is it important to set goals? Ensure agreement between stakeholders Gain agreement from staff with different roles, the board and any other stakeholders on the objectives of the enterprise Select a business idea and guide the business planning Business ideas can be evaluated objectively using the enterprise criteria Guide business operations Clear social and financial goals help the Enterprise Manager make operational decisions Evaluate whether the enterprise is successful Tracking financial and social metrics against initial goals shows whether the enterprise is fulfilling stakeholders expectations 3

5 How do you communicate enterprise goals? Example Communicate specific, quantifiable goals in a simple framework Social Goals Minimum number of transitional employees 20 Minimum number of permanent employees 2 Skills that employees must be able to learn teamwork, computer skills, communication Opportunities for career advancement At least 2 opportunities to move into supervisor roles Hours that the job must fit into for transitional employees Maximum shift length for transitional employees 10am - 4pm 5 hours Financial Goals Maximum start up costs $50,000 Maximum business losses per year Maximum number of months until the business breaks even Minimum amount that the business must contribute to the agency $20,000 in the first year, no ongoing subsidy 12 months The business does not need to contribute to the agency 4

6 Financial Goals Social Goals How do you use goals to filter ideas? The goals can be used to select the most promising ideas from a large number of suggested businesses Business Ideas Minimum of 15 transitional employees No minimum number of permanent employees Employees must be able to learn team work, computer skills, communication Must be at least 2 opportunities to move into a supervisor role Hours for transitional employees must be between 10am and 4pm Maximum shift length for transitional employees is 5 hours Maximum business set up costs of $50K No business losses after the first year Maximum of 12 months until the business breaks even Business does not need to contribute to the agency Meets criteria Meets some criteria Doesn t meet criteria 5

7 How do you decide whether to move forward with the top ideas? For the top business ideas select the potential deal breakers in the following areas: Market Opportunity Operational Feasibility Financial Implications The key at this point is to focus on high level issues and not get into granular details 6

8 Deal breaking questions: what is the market opportunity? Market Market Niche Size of Opportunity Projected $ value of annual sales in this niche Annual # of entry level jobs in niche What is the market landscape? What do customers need? Would your organization have the expertise needed to provide them with those specific products/services? Is it a highly competitive market? How difficult would it be for you to enter the market? Is the market growing enough? Where are the best opportunities for your organization in this industry? Is there a specific niche that your organization could fill that no one else is filling? Could your organization meet customers needs in this niche? Could you provide the product/ service better than your competitors? How will you differentiate yourself? Will a business in this niche enable you to meet your social and financial goals? Is the market big enough? (# products, annual $ value) Can you employ the goal number of employees through this market niche? Is the opportunity large enough to meet your social and financial goals? 7

9 Deal breaking questions: what is the operational feasibility? Capabilities Needed Current Capabilities Operational Feasibility Organization s ability to operate business Annual # of entry level jobs How do businesses in this industry work? What are the operational keys to success in this industry? What are operational pitfalls that a business could face? Does the expertise exist to avoid those pitfalls? How do businesses in this industry grow? (is additional labor needed as the business grows?) How easy is it? How easy is it to find strong supervisors in this industry? What are the current capabilities of your organization? Does your organization have the capabilities needed to operate this business? Will you be able to train your employees to have the skills they need? How will your social goals affect the business operations? How will the business operations need to be modified to fit your social criteria? Is this possible? Will your business still be able to be profitable? Appropriateness of entry level jobs Does your organization have the technical expertise to operate this business? Will this business provide enough of the right type of jobs? How easy is it for your employees to be able to gain the right skills to be successful at this job? 8

10 Deal breaking questions: what are the financial implications? Start Up Costs $ How much will it cost to set up this business? What are the major one-time costs and ongoing costs? What additional social costs will there be? Break Even Assessment Cost Benefit Assessment Does the potential social impact of jobs provided justify the upfront investment? Break Even Feasibility How many units will you need to sell to cover the fixed costs? What are the fixed costs of operating the business? What is the margin* per unit sold? Could your business ever sell the break even number of units? How long will it take? *Unit margin = price variable cost 9

11 How should you perform a pre-feasibility assessment? Define Goals Find the Deal Breakers Activities Meet with each stakeholder group to discuss and agree to goals Create venture criteria matrix to summarize key themes and findings Share the venture criteria with stakeholder groups Focus on the key deal breaking questions for each idea and do further research to answer them Eliminate ideas that are unlikely to work Decide whether it is a promising idea Output A matrix of venture criteria 1-2 business ideas with the highest potential 10

12 What resources can you use? For each set of deal breaking questions you can use a range of information sources to answer them: Market Opportunity Operational Feasibility Financial Implications Primary Research Interviews: Potential customers (can get pricing information from this group) Peer REDF portfolio organizations Peer organizations in SE4Jobs working group Individuals in REDF s Salesforce Database REDF s advisory board Industry associations Similar small businesses Costs through interviews with suppliers Secondary Research Industry magazines & reports Business directories (to understand the competitive landscape) Small business associations Costs through internet research, industry associations, suppliers Pricing through competitive bids 11

13 Tips on conducting interviews Interview Set-Up If you cold call, focus your pitch on being a student and doing a research project vs. explaining REDF. Have your questions ready in case they have 5 minutes right then to answer your questions. Ideally avoid cold calling and use REDF resources to get a warm introduction. Provide a short paragraph about what you are looking to talk about to the resource to facilitate introductions. Refer to the source as a leader in the field helps with getting a yes. Immediately follow up the introduction with a short of your own to set up time to talk. Be somewhat specific in your timeline rather open to anytime. Sometime next week. Also specify how long the interview will take ideally no more than 30 minutes. Conducting an Interview Be sure to start with an introduction of yourself, your purpose behind the interview, and how long the interview will take. Ask if there are any questions up front. Start with more general questions to warm up the interviewee. Most interviews are over the phone so don t use ranking questions. Better to use rating on a scale questions. Be ready to repeat questions slowly. Ideally tape the interview because you can be much more conversational and get a lot more information in a shorter period of time. Nothing is more annoying than waiting for someone to type. Most cellphones have recorders. End with how you are going to use the research. Also ask if there is anyone else they feel you should talk to. 13

14 How do we assess ideas? Social Enterprise planning has three phases Focus of this session Define Goals Find the Deal Breakers Feasibility Assessment Business Plan List the social and financial objectives for social enterprise Identify weaknesses/ red flags and eliminate bad business ideas through objective assessment Decide whether it is a promising idea Decide whether to launch the business by performing indepth analysis of the market, operational, and financial viability for 1 or 2 ideas Decide whether to launch the business Determine how to best launch, develop, and manage the business enterprise Feasibility assessment Getting to Yes 13

15 How do you approach the feasibility analysis? This analysis is focused on understanding whether the organization could make the business work and if they should launch the business Market Opportunity Refine Business Concept Operational Feasibility Feasibility Report Financial Implications Organizational Capabilities 14

16 How do you refine the business concept? Objective To describe the business idea in more detail Key Questions Activities What specific products or services would need to be offered? Who are your customer segments? What is your value proposition to customers? How are you differentiated from competitors? Research competitive businesses to list the products and services you could offer in this market Talk to industry experts to determine market gaps that the business can address Discuss business concept with project team Output A description of the business in terms of: customers, value proposition, product/service 15

17 Business Concept Example: Fresh-Cut Enterprise By speaking with industry experts and learning more about the value chain, the idea of an agriculturally-focused social enterprise was able to be refined Small local farms Processor Aggregator Distributor Receiving Peeling Hand Preparation Size Reduction Aggregation process is not always essential Treatments Defect & Size Sorting Washing & Cooling Customer Dewatering Packaging Source: Luh, B.S. and Woodroof, JG Commercial Vegetable Processing. AVI Publishing Co. Westport, CT.; UC Davis Study, Chapter 12 Fresh Cut Produce. 16

18 Business Concept Example: Fresh-Cut Enterprise Institutions were identified as a target customer in the pre-feasibility assessment due to the volume of produce they purchase annually. During feasibility, it was discovered that they have very specific product needs that may or may not be easy to supply. Patient meals Hospitals Onions & peppers meal starter Tomatoes Fruit salad without pineapple due to acidity Retail environment: hospital cafeteria Fruit salad (harder because need the ability to individually package) Salad bar items Student meals Schools Carrot sticks Apple slices No meal starters as no cooking is done on-site No retail environment 17

19 How do you understand the market opportunity? Objective Key Questions To understand the market landscape Activities Customer segmentation How large is each customer segment? Which customer segment should you target? How will you target this segment? What are the trends in this market? What is the competitive landscape? Is there room for another provider in this market? Review industry reports and data on market size, segments, trends Interview market experts and potential customers Research competitors for pricing, products, and value proposition Output Map of the market landscape 18

20 Market opportunity example: Security Guard enterprise customer segmentation Market Size Customer Demand Competitive Advantage C class Office Buildings Market Rate Housing Government buildings Poor Fit Moderate Fit Good Fit Operations Fit Bidding (Ease of Pursuit) Best option if focus on buildings in neighborhoods where have current desk clerk business Limited Potential due to strong customer pushback on client population & limited market rate housing in current neighborhoods served Great potential market for the future as Gov t requires 5 years experience before can bid 19

21 How do you determine operational feasibility? Objective To understand how the business operates Key Questions Activities How do these businesses operate? What are the keys to operational success and is the agency able to deliver? What are the biggest risks in this business? What will you put into place to mitigate those risks? What skills and capabilities would the target workers need? How would you provide those skills? Are there any operational aspects that do not fit with the venture criteria? Review industry reports, magazines and websites for operational data Interview similar providers and market experts to understand: How the business works Keys to success and potential pitfalls Staffing capabilities and skills necessary Cost drivers Output Details of how the business operates 20

22 Operations example: Sidewalk cleaning enterprise One of the biggest risks revolve around how highly visible the employees are so operations needs to emphasize quality control and strong supervision. Training Work requires roving streets in a particular Business Improvement District Because crew members are highly visible to the businesses and pedestrians in those districts, training needs to emphasize pride in quality work and appropriate behavior Employee Teams In teams of 2 to develop team work skills Need to rotate teams among neighborhoods so no affiliations develop Need uniforms for employees as they are highly visible to businesses and pedestrians Supervision Teams need a way to communicate any issues to the supervisor (i.e. walkie talkies) Supervisors need method of transportation that allows them to quickly visit several BIDs in one shift 21

23 How do you understand the financial implications? Objective To quantify the opportunity Key Questions How does this business fit with the financial venture criteria? What is the forecast profitability? Are certain products more profitable? How long will it be until the business breaks even? What are the start-up costs? What are the specific social costs to consider? What are the key drivers of profitability? Can the enterprise operate at this level? Activities Use findings and data from operational and market research to build a financial model: Cost Revenues Operational ratios and drivers Determine base financial projections and break-even time Perform sensitivity analysis on key drivers Estimate the breakdown of social and business costs Output High-level financial model and sensitivities 22

24 Financial Implications example: Pest Management Breakeven Analysis To Employ 10 Clients/Year Needing to capture 43% of the market to break even is a very tough financial hurdle. Breakeven Analysis Labor Costs $337,792 (10 crew + 2 lead) Material Costs $84,825 Fixed Costs $156,950 Total Costs to Cover $579,567 Implied Units to Service = 725 Implied Share of Market 57% to Capture 43% Units Served Rest of Market 23

25 Financial Implications example: Pest Management enterprise Financials: deciding between Per service service bundle bundles at 725 units/per year Bundle C has the highest startup costs but is the only one that meets venture criteria in terms of 10 jobs being created. 24

26 How do you understand your organizational capabilities? Objective To understand if the organization can operate the enterprise successfully Key Questions Activities Does your target population have the skills needed to do the enterprise jobs? Will the job meet their needs? Does the enterprise satisfy all staffingrelated venture criteria? What skills and background does your management need to have a successful social enterprise? Could the agency satisfy all management needs through in-house personnel or hiring? What role will the parent agency play? Use operational research findings to list: Worker tasks and skills needed Management needs and capabilities Using internal knowledge assess whether: Target population can do the enterprise jobs Enterprise jobs would meet the target populations needs The agency has the management capabilities to succeed Output An organizational capabilities assessment 25

27 Organizational capabilities example: Peer benchmarks Enterprises Rubicon Landscape Housing Works Ashbury Images Landscape installation & maintenance Thrift shops by far largest; also have bookstore, catering & property management Annual Revenue $4MM $13 MM $2MM # Employees Background of Head of Enterprise (largely report directly into ED) 30 years business experience in construction/software Long time business background in retail (thrift shop) Screen printing and embroidery of t-shirts and other promotional products 25 years business experience in printing industry Dedicated Sales Staff vs. Operations Staff? Permanent or Transitional Employment? Support services Yes NA Yes Permanent & Transitional On-the-Job Training Separate from enterprise through Rubicon Programs or other nonprofits Permanent (20% of employees are former clients) Separate from enterprise through Housing Works parent organization Permanent & Transitional Internship Case manager provided during internship (not sure if separate from enterprise) Legal Structure 2 separate 501c(3)s: Rubicon Landscape & Rubicon Programs Each business line is separate 501c(3) with separate board 501c(3) 26

28 How do you create a feasibility report? Objective To understand whether the business meets the venture criteria Key Questions Activities Will this business idea meet the goals as outlined in the venture criteria? Could you make this business enterprise work? Should you launch? What would the business require and could you deliver? Create a report that: Summarizes that market, operational, and financial feasibility of the business idea Aligns the enterprise idea against the venture criteria Use the findings from the report to decide whether to proceed with the business idea Output A feasibility report (usually PowerPoint deck) assessing whether the business idea meets the objectives outlined in the venture criteria and an analysis of the business opportunity 27

29 Example: feasibility report assessment Business Idea X Business Idea Y Market Opportunity Operational Feasibility Financial Implications Organizational Capabilities Business Opportunity Criteria fit meets criteria partially meets criteria doesn t meet criteria 28

30 How do we assess ideas? Social Enterprise planning has three phases Define Goals List the social and financial objectives for social enterprise Find the Deal Breakers Identify weaknesses/ red flags and eliminate bad business ideas through objective assessment Decide whether it is a promising idea Feasibility Assessment Decide whether to launch the Decide whether to business launch the business by performing indepth analysis of the market, operational, and financial viability for 1 or 2 ideas Business Plan Determine how to best launch, develop, and manage the business enterprise The feasibility process should provide much of the raw material for the business plan Business Plan How does it work? 29