Small Business SuccessMap A Victorian Government initiative that supports small businesses committed to growth and improved business resilience Program Guidelines January 2014
Contents OVERVIEW 3 SERVICES 3 Strategic Diagnostic Review Business Planning Workforce Development Planning Business Coaching Strategic Review SERVICE PROVIDERS 5 ELIGIBILITY 5 BUSINESS COMMITMENTS 6 Financial Contribution HOW TO APPLY 6 FURTHER INFORMATION 7 2 of 7
OVERVIEW Small Business SuccessMap is a Victorian Government initiative. It helps stimulate growth and resilience in small businesses by supporting business owners and managers to build their business planning and management capability through specialist assistance, tools and templates. Small Business SuccessMap will provide low cost targeted assistance to small businesses with growth aspirations. An independent business planning specialist will help to assess their strategic goals and objectives and assist in the development and implementation of business and workforce plans. To ensure the business is able to implement plans that are developed, participating businesses will have access to coaching sessions with the planning specialist to help facilitate the plans and embed capability within the business. Businesses participating in the program will: > > improve their business review and planning processes and identify development opportunities to foster business resilience and growth > > improve their ability to understand performance and respond to a changing operating environment > > improve access to, and attraction of, development options that build management capability Specifically, businesses will have the opportunity to work with a business planning specialist to: > > undertake a strategic review of the business > > develop a business plan for the business > > develop a workforce plan for the business > > undertake business coaching > > gain access to other planning tools and templates Small Business SuccessMap will be delivered by a panel of private sector business development organisations (Service Providers). These organisations will provide teams of independent and experienced business planning specialists (Specialists) to work directly with participating businesses. SERVICES Small Business SuccessMap comprises five key elements that will be completed over a period of nine months. Strategic Diagnostic Review Following acceptance into the program, a Specialist will meet with the business owner/manager to undertake a diagnostic review of the current state of the business. The diagnostic review will include discussing critical elements such as: 3 of 7 > > business background > > organisational structure > > workforce demographics > > cash flow > > business development priorities > > SWOT analysis > > future goals
To ensure the business is able to measure its improvement and growth during the program, all participating businesses will be assisted by the specialist in populating a business scorecard as part of the review. Business Planning The Specialist will help businesses operate more efficiently and effectively by providing assistance to develop and implement a customised business plan. This plan will take into consideration the outcomes of the diagnostic review and contain strategies to help the business overcome identified challenges and/or barriers to growth. The Specialist will also provide the business with direction on how to access and apply other business planning tools that are available on-line, such as: > > marketing plans > > export plans and assistance > > finance planning Workforce Development Planning The Specialist will work with the business owner to build a workforce development plan, ensuring the business has the right staff with the appropriate skills to be able to implement the business plan and achieve the businesses future goals. To achieve this, the Specialist will: > > undertake a skills audit of the current workforce > > identify key opportunity areas for growth and business improvement > > identify strategies that overcome barriers to improved business performance > > identify development opportunities for both management and staff Business Coaching The Specialist will coach the business owner/managers to implement the plans developed during the program and help identify further strategies to overcome barriers to growth. The business will receive five coaching sessions on a monthly basis. Strategic Review The Specialist will return to the business six months after completion of the business plan and workforce development plan to review progress made towards implementing the approved plans. As part of the review, the business measures initially identified in the business scorecard will be updated with current results. This information will be used to demonstrate the outcomes of the program for each business. Participating businesses will receive up to 40 hours of support over the five elements comprising the program s lifecycle 24 hours in the diagnostic and planning stages and 16 hours in the coaching and review stage. 4 of 7
Element Timeline Hours of Support Strategic Diagnostic Review Month 1 Business Planning Month 2 24 Workforce Development Planning Month 3 Business Coaching Month 4-8 Strategic Review Month 9 16 SERVICE PROVIDERS The Victorian Government has contracted five Service Providers to facilitate delivery of the program s services. These organisations will provide teams of independent and experienced business planning specialists to work directly with participating businesses. The contracted service providers are: > > Bill Lang International > > Crowe Horwath > > Grant Thornton Australia > > Group Training Association of Victoria > > PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia ELIGIBILITY The program will be available to Victorian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that have growth aspirations and employ between 5 and 50 staff. To be eligible to apply for the program a business must: > > be based in Victoria > > have growth aspirations > > employ between 5 and 50 staff > > be financially viable > > pay a financial contribution to the cost of the program For a business to be accepted into the program, it must be able to demonstrate: > > commitment to growing the business > > financial viability 5 of 7
BUSINESS COMMITMENTS To participate in the program, an eligible business must commit to: > > allocating appropriate time to meet and work with the business planning specialist > > allocating time each month for the monthly coaching sessions > > allocating time for the strategic review session at the end of the program > > providing relevant business performance data > > paying the financial contribution to the cost of the program Financial Contribution To ensure participating businesses have genuine growth aspirations and are fully engaged in the program, businesses are required to make a financial contribution to the program s cost. The business contribution has been set at 10 per cent of the overall cost of delivering the program for each business. The total cost of delivering the program per business is $10,000, which results in the participating business contributing $1,000 (10 per cent) and the Government providing the remaining $9,000 (90 per cent). The participating business will be invoiced by the Service Provider for the financial contribution in two instalments of $500, the first on acceptance into the program and the second at the completion of the diagnostic and planning stage. All amounts shown are exclusive of GST. HOW TO APPLY Businesses interested in applying for the program should consider the eligibility criteria, identify what they hope to achieve and then contact their preferred Service Provider to discuss the program prior to submitting an application form. Businesses may also contact a Victorian Government Business Development Manager to discuss their suitability for the program. Once a business has discussed the program with Service Provider, they can complete the online application form available on the Business Victoria website business.vic.gov.au/successmap. Applicants must ensure that all sections of the online application form are completed in full, as incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications for the program will only be accepted using the online form. Printed, facsimiled or posted applications will not be accepted. All applications will be assessed against published eligibility criteria, including the ability of the business to meet the objectives of the program. Assessment of applications and any decision to approve participation in the program are at the absolute discretion of the Department. Applications for the program will be accepted on an ongoing basis until September 2015. 6 of 7
FURTHER INFORMATION The Victorian Government has committed more than $5 million to this initiative that will assist approximately 500 businesses. The program is being administered by Small Business Victoria through the Department of State Development, Business and Innovation. For further information: Call: 13 22 15 Email: successmap@dsdbi.vic.gov.au Visit: business.vic.gov.au/successmap 7 of 7