Page 263 - DNBI_A01.QXD

DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS240

Milestone planning helps you move at the lowest possible cost and
level of risk from one milestone to the next rather than follow slavishly
a fixed plan based on erroneous assumptions. The milestones will tend
to be generic for any business start-up. However, the precise description
of each milestone will be specific to your particular situation. In
addition, the precise questions which you should ask yourself at each
milestone to test your underlying assumptions will be particular to you.
In many instances, the milestones will represent achievement of the
solutions to the implementation blocks. Without a process to extend the
shelf-life of his fresh soups, for example, Andrew Palmer would have
been denied a viable business model for the New Covent Garden Soup
Company.

milestones as reality checks The principle is that during

actual implementation you achieve each milestone before you move on
to the next one. This means that every milestone offers the opportunity
to decide whether and how to proceed to the next milestone.

every milestone offers the opportunity to
decide whether and how to proceed to the
next milestone

It may be that a particular milestone confirms that the established
strategy and direction are correct. Alternatively, it may highlight that
corrections are required, suggest new and unexpected opportunities, or
indicate that the project be slowed down, accelerated or even aborted.
In the case of Swatch discussed earlier, production prototyping
identified that the number and quality of materials would need to be
radically adjusted in order for the target retail price point to be
achieved.

By identifying the must-achieve events, milestone planning is practical
and goal-oriented. Consistent with the guiding principle of maintaining
flexibility articulated earlier, it also provides the framework for making
running changes to your business idea in the light of continuous