Never ending pilots? Are you trapped in the common syndrome?
The following 5 steps have worked! This may be a worthwhile insight for you, too.
1. Start - as a donor funded pilot project
Donor funded projects are valuable seed investments. Use them effectively, with passion and dedication. But seek sustainability (beyond the project cycle) from day one. eg. A telecentre project funded by Microsoft-Unlimited Potential, to set up 12 telecentres in rural Sri Lanka, and train 257 students providing scholarships (2004 - 2007)
2. Extract - the scalable project elements
Towards the mid-project cycle, observe the successful elements of the project. What element of the project attracts the best attention of the target community? eg. A feasibility study reveals high response from the community for ICT education. That has been extracted for the redesign (2006 - 2007).
3. Redesign them as marketable products and services
Extract the successful elements out of the project context and redesign them as a seperate product or service. Make them less dependant on the overall project. Repackage them to stand alone. eg. ICT training modules have been redesigned, content improved, national ICT education standards have been adopted (2007 - 2008)
4. Prototype marketing
Introduce the product into a pilot market (eg a small segment of the same community) as a fee based service (not free). Educate them as to why charging a fee is required. (They listen). Inform them about your philosophy of social enterprising. (They appreciate it). eg. Pilot marketing of the prototype product as ICT Education services (2008 - 2009).
5. Re-brand and launch the product on a national scale
Brand the product as an attractive, value-added product, that may convince the target community (the very same community) to recognise it as a unique product that serves their needs, and worth paying a small fee to buy. eg. The product has been re-branded and launched as Fusion-Education (2010).
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