ENTERPRISE VIABILITY METRICS (EVM) for Funders

How do donors, funders and investors have confidence that enterprise receipients will make the best use of those funds.

The most successful look for enterprises that seek to create self-sustaining revenue streams.

Using Enterprise Viabilty MetricsTM Intersect Insight supports enterprises to set objectives to self-sustain and helps them measure their own success against those objectives. The net result is that stakeholders continue to reap the benefits of investment beyond the original mission scope.

Setting expectations and leveraging tools to ensure viability ensures that funding is used to meet and exceed mission objectives. And the potential to maintain viability can be measured in detailed and nuanced ways.

EVMTM begins as a relative measure that an investment in resources has potential to be leveraged to sustain. It continues through the identification of gaps between capability and best practices. With this data we identify areas of strength and areas that we can support the enterprise to sustain and grow. It is followed by remedial action to implement best practices and fill those gaps. Reassessments using EVMTM confirm that an enterprise is on the best possible course for viability.

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This approach serves to:

Measure the potential that a supported enterprise will be self-viable
Set an expectation that the receipient enterprise will strive for viability
Identify and implement relevant best practices
Conduct gap analyses
Create remedial action plans to fill those gaps and be viable

Designed for enterprises of all types

EXPERIENCE IN SUSTAINING ENTERPRISES

Members of our team have implemented this approach to help mission-oriented enterprises benefit from the tailored adoption of best practices.

Establishing and Sustaining a Scientific Research Institution in A Former Soviet Republic

Worked with domestic industry and agency leadership to define long-term needs and options to support to domestic industrial safety and environmental programs
Worked with multiple stakeholders to develop a concept for a national lab to fill existing technical resource gaps
Worked with indigenous stakeholders and a multilateral (G-7) partnership to identify funding and strategic research, engineering and training objectives and needs
Prepared detailed conceptual and development plans addressing agreed mission and consequent start-up activities to be carried out in partnership with G-7 institutions and contractors
In partnership with municipal and regional agencies, reviewed potential facility sites and selected a former hospital for re-development of lab, office and training spaces
Provided oversight during construction and managed equipment acquisition and installation
Scoped and initiated multiple technical programs aligned with lab mission and partner funding priorities
Leveraged local and regional opportunities to establish long-term environmental monitoring of land, water and biota and facilitated joint implementation with international partners
Coordinated international support to development and delivery of industrial safety training curricula
Established twinning relationships between indigenous technical staff and counterparts in international science and technology organizations

This approach initiated the long-term development of the organization in a manner that simultaneously created value for indigenous industry and international partners, leading to many long-term relationships that continue to sustain the enterprise.

Expansion of a National Laboratory’s Science and Technology Mission to Support to Regional Economic Development

Worked with regional industry and agency leadership to define options to create a sustainable regional economy by leveraging ongoing national investments in existing industry
Worked with multiple stakeholders to attract new commercial ventures
Developed new technology test and demonstration infrastructure to support emerging entrepreneurs
Provided opportunities for workforce skills development
Opened lab facilities to outside researchers
Helped to write grants to national funding sources

Effective actions by this R&D enterprise helped significantly to launch and sustain key regional efforts to diversify and expand the regional economy by focusing on technologies that are aligned with national and regional needs, workforce skills and emerging markets, thus assisting the enterprise to sustain itself within an expanding and highly competitive market.

Leveraging Donor Investment in New Public Health Institutional Infrastructure to Create the Basis for Long-term Sustainability

Worked with donor and host agencies to develop strategic business plans and corresponding action plans focused on acquiring post-donor funding
Provided staff training in several business development and related commercialization capabilities
Helped to create a Business Development Unit to serve ongoing sustainment needs
Identified potential strategies for stakeholder engagement, strategic partnering, marketing and sales, and long-term product and service development
Supported initial engagement with potential clients in key regional and European markets

These actions helped to broaden the opportunities for this national science and technology resource to serve local, regional and international market needs.

The Intersect Insight team also monitors how these practices may be evolving over time, as well as emerging trends in institutional and enterprise sustainability and related topics, to identify potential new practices that might serve as sustainability “game changers.” We plan to address new needs and opportunities such as the “internet of things,” quantum computing and blockchain technology in future posts.

Enterprise Viability Metrics (EVM) for funders