Implementation, Timeline and Impact

The last three sections of your business case answer the questions every reader asks at the end: how will this actually happen, how long will it take, and what difference will it make?

This lesson completes your OPPORTUNITY business case. By the end, you’ll have a full draft that you can revise, test and take to the people who need to say yes.

The Implementation section

The Implementation section describes the steps from approval to a working enterprise. Organise it in stages, matching the phases of your capital plan.

For each stage, describe:

• What will be done. The main tasks, such as securing a site, getting permits, buying equipment, hiring and training, signing supply and sales agreements and starting operations.
• Who is responsible. A named person or organisation for each task.
• What it needs. The money, people and approvals required.
• How you’ll know it’s done. A clear sign that the stage is complete.

A simple table works well, with stages as rows and tasks, owners, needs and completion signs as columns.

The Timeline section

The Timeline section shows when each stage will happen. It should include:

• Milestones. Key points, such as permit approved, site ready, equipment installed, first product sold and break-even reached.
• Dependencies. Tasks that can’t start until others are done. Permits and finance are common examples.
• The critical path. The chain of dependent tasks that determines the earliest possible launch date.
• Decision points. Moments where you review progress before committing to the next stage.

A simple chart showing stages and milestones across months is usually clearest.

Be realistic. Most community projects take longer than planned, especially when permits, land or finance are involved. It is far better to promise a realistic date and meet it than to promise an early date and miss it. Add time for the unexpected.

The Your Impact section

The Your Impact section describes the difference your enterprise will make. Use the Three Outcomes from this course: people, planet and prosperity.

• People. Jobs created, people trained, skills built, health and wellbeing, culture strengthened and services provided.
• Planet. Waste kept out of landfill, emissions reduced, land restored, water protected and resources conserved.
• Prosperity. Money kept in the community, local spending, new businesses supported, costs avoided and revenue reinvested.

For each outcome, be as specific as you can. “We will keep about 1,000 tonnes of organic waste out of landfill each year and create four local jobs” is far stronger than “We will reduce waste and create jobs.”

Link your impact back to your Dependence Map. If your enterprise reduces a dependence you identified in Chapter 2, say so clearly. That connection shows readers the enterprise solves a real problem for your community.

Choose a few measures

Choose a small number of measures, five to eight is usually enough, that you will track and report every year. Good measures are:

• Meaningful. They show progress on what matters most.
• Measurable. You can collect the data without too much effort.
• Comparable. You can track them over time.

Include at least one measure for each of the three outcomes. For example: tonnes diverted, local jobs, wages paid locally, products sold and revenue reinvested in the community.

Measuring impact isn’t only for funders. It helps the community see what’s working, celebrate progress and decide what to do next.

Pull it together

You now have every section of your business case. Bring them together in order: Overview, Processing, Products, Operating Model, Risk, Team, Unique Structure, Numbers, Implementation, Timeline and Your Impact.

Then go back and rewrite your Overview. Now that every section is written, you can summarise the whole case clearly and accurately on one page.

Check your business case

Before you share it, test your business case with these questions.

• Does the Overview clearly say what you’re asking for?
• Do the numbers match across every section?
• Is there evidence for your most important claims, especially demand and supply?
• Have you named the biggest risks honestly?
• Does it pass the principles check from Chapter 4?
• Does it deliver all three outcomes: people, planet and prosperity?
• Could someone outside your team understand it?

Then ask two or three people to read it: one who knows your community, one who knows business and, if possible, one who has run something similar. Their questions will show you what to strengthen.

Honest limits

A business case is a plan, not a guarantee. Things will change once you start. The value of the business case is not that it predicts the future perfectly, but that it shows you’ve thought carefully, gives others the confidence to support you, and gives your team a shared plan to work from and adjust as you learn.