06 Biz Plans

Digitalization of business plans

A digital platform to centralize business plans by project

Most business plans within projects are used as disbursement tools rather than planning and development tools. The way data is collected, organised, processed and stored varies from project to project, even in the same country.

This project tested an online platform to standardise and digitalize business plan preparation, enabling beneficiaries and implementers to better prepare, manage and monitor work and results.

“The fact that we were able to develop an application with relatively low budget and in a very short time frame shows how local talents can achieve quickly as long as objectives are clearly defined.”

– Challenge Team

RESULTS ACHIEVED

Standardised business plan that fulfils requirements of IFAD funded projects and requirements of potential funders
Three alternative platforms identified to prepare digital business plans
Development of a tailor-made platform for IFAD’s requirements that includes different levels of users and a dashboard for monitoring indicators –> now functional and ready for field-testing and iteration!

POTENTIAL IMPACT

Project access to online development and planning tool with a standardized format and enhanced data collection and processing capabilities
Reduced bureaucracy, as the revision, authorization and supervision processes would be unified in a single digital platform in real time
Enhanced monitoring and reporting on KPIs and statistics through an online dashboard, which will also help POs/SMEs in implementation
Readily accessible information to respond to requests from financial institutions, potential funders and prospective partners, enhancing visibility
At an aggregated level, enhanced visibility on data within a project and greater capability to analyse and share information between an evaluation committee, project staff, beneficiaries, and selected stakeholders on country level

CHALLENGE AREAS

Identification of an adequate business plan structure for agriculture and examples
Level of operational delegation for low value procurement
Time needed for meetings, writing documents, follow-ups and reports in an incredibly tight timeframe (and on top of daily responsibilities!)

Recommendations for next steps
(from the project team)

Refined

The functionality of the developed platform needs to be tested in the field, both for customer feedback and technical testing. This will help refine the platform, correct bugs, and generate new ideas based on actual usage. The platform also needs to be further developed to provide data for research and analytics.

Lessons learned
(from the project team)

We learned a great deal on both the content of our proposal, as well as on the procedure and logistical inputs needed for it to happen. We confirmed that the way IFAD projects have been preparing business plans varies greatly and the lack of a good structure reduces the plan’s overall effectiveness. In developing the platform, we learned that our hypotheses are not always correct and developing something new requires dedication, a lot of iteration and a committed team.

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