Step by step guide to help social enterprises and social businesses assess and improve the systematisation, replicability and transferability of their business and impact models when scaling impact and operations. This guide is based based on the PATRI Framework for Scaling Social Impact.

1. Transferability for Scale:
A Guide for Scaling Social Business
Rizwan Tayabali
Supported by Ashoka Globalizer

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3. Adapted from
The PATRI Framework
for Scaling Social Impact
© Rizwan Tayabali, 2014
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4. The PATRI framework takes you step by step
through all the aspects of diligence needed to
understand whether or not scaling is feasible
for you and if so, to produce an effective scaling
plan that you can follow during implementation.
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5. PATRI
Framework
I
Purpose
II
Applicability
(Viability)
III
Transferability
IV
Readiness
V
Implementation
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6. An overview of the complete
PATRI Framework, is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“PATRI Framework for Scaling
Social Business”
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PATRI
Framework

7. Caveats
1. The following guide is specifically targeted at social
businesses and therefore places an emphasis on
financial viability along with impact i.e. It is
designed for organisations that create their impact
through the use of business models.
2. The PATRI Framework is focused on scaling rather
than incremental growth. If you are simply aiming
to set up operations in another location or enter
another market, then the framework will still offer
you value, but some aspects of it may only be
applicable a bit further down the line.
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8. The 1st step of the Framework is to define
purpose and targets, without which you have no
useful basis for planning or design.
If you haven’t already got clarity around
these, more support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Defining Purpose: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
Purpose

9. The 2nd step of the Framework, is to understand
whether or not your model will be applicable at
scale, and if not, how you could adjust it to
make it more relevant and viable.
If you haven’t already considered
applicability, support is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Applicability at Scale: A Guide To
Scaling Social Business”
Applicability
(Viability)

10. Once you’ve ensured that your model will
be both applicable and viable at scale,
you can focus on improving its ability to be
replicated or delivered by others.

11. This guide thus focuses specifically on the
3rd step of the Framework, which is to
make your model systematic and transferable
for use in scaling, either by your own teams
or by external partners.

12. Transferability
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13. Transferability essentially refers to having
systematic ways of working that allow you
to grow, develop, evolve or replicate
methodologies and processes in a quality
controlled fashion.
ApplicabilityTransferability

14. It is a critical foundation for the replicability
needed in scaling, and for ensuring a
standardised level of quality and impact.
Systematising your processes will also
improve efficiency and effectiveness in delivery.
ApplicabilityTransferability

15. The reason for focusing on systematisation
before organisational readiness is that you will
gain significant internal efficiencies and quality
improvements with this exercise, even if your
organisational constraints eventually cause you
to limit or choose not to proceed with scaling.
ApplicabilityTransferability

16. Key
Factors
Core
Components
Critical
Programmes
Chronological
Priority
Impact
Monitoring
Quality
Control
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Transferability

17. The first step is to codify your model
and how it generates impact.
To do this you will need to have a good
understanding of how the various pieces
fit together, and in what order, to create
a lasting impact.
ApplicabilityTransferability
Core
Components

18. Start by identifying all the
different elements of your model that
directly drive impact and revenue.
These are your core components.
Transferability
Core
Components

19. If you haven’t done so already, map these out
in order of dependency to visualise how your
model works, both in terms of generating
revenue as well as impact.
This is the underlying blueprint of your model.
Transferability
Core
Components

20. What you will then need is to develop
systematic guidelines, processes and policies
for each of these core components in order to
ensure that they can be executed in a
standardised and efficient way.
Transferability
Core
Components

21. At this stage it should be enough to focus on a
minimum level of practical documentation to
enable your internal teams to deliver
consistently.
Transferability
Core
Components

22. If and when you do eventually get to the stage of
implementing scaling with third parties, you
could consider improving the materials to a
quality that can be used as a manual for others.
Transferability
Core
Components

23. Once you’ve codified how the model works,
you will be able to identify which programs
or activities can be dropped, replaced or
transformed if necessary, and which ones
are non-negotiable.
Transferability
Critical
Programmes

24. These non-negotiables are the most critical
aspects of your impact methodology, and must
be replicated or implemented in order to
ensure that scaling continues to deliver the
impact you are aiming for.
Transferability
Critical
Programmes

25. Understanding the chronological priority of how
these components must be set up, is critical if
you plan to set up branches in different places,
or are expecting others to franchise or start-up
and replicate what you do elsewhere.
ApplicabilityTransferability
Chronological
Priority

26. What you primarily need to know is where
and how to start in a new environment, and
then how that team should evolve over a
sensible timeframe until it gets to an
optimal operating size.
Transferability
Chronological
Priority

27. Note that if you are planning a hub and spoke
model where you have a centralised support
infrastructure, the nature of set-up will differ
from a model where you expect a higher level
of autonomy for operations in different places,
and even more so where you expect total
independence in delivery across the network.
Transferability
Chronological
Priority

28. As your reach increases, so will the challenge
and complexity of monitoring impact.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

29. Monitoring your impact is absolutely critical to
knowing whether or not your strategies are in
fact making the difference you planned for, and
ad hoc approaches become very difficult and
costly on a large scale.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

30. A simple, standardised and repeatable process
of periodic benchmarking is what you will need
to monitor impact at scale.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

31. If you’ve done your pre-scaling analysis to
reasonable level of robustness, you could
simply improve on the process you used to set
the baseline for your targets, and then track
against those on a periodic basis.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

32. Many scaling pathways also involve working
with others, so your impact monitoring
processes and systems may also need to enable
and support others to contribute as a collective.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

33. In any event you are likely to need technology
to support the collation, storage and sharing of
impact data, along with dedicated teams that
capture learning for continuous improvement.
Transferability
Impact
Monitoring

34. Standardising your model may not be enough
to ensure consistency, especially if your scaling
approach involves other players.
Transferability
Quality
Control

35. It is therefore worth developing a systematic
monitoring and control methodology to ensure
a consistent level of quality in delivery.
Transferability
Quality
Control

36. The promise of financial return when scaling
business models offers leverage in terms of
quality-control, particularly if you plan to
use partners or third parties.
This is particularly so when franchising.
Transferability
Quality
Control

37. Use your targets, operating manuals and
policies to develop monitoring systems and
KPIs, MOUs, contracts or service level
agreements as necessary, and optionally even
training for your new teams or partners to
ensure the consistency and quality you require.
Transferability
Quality
Control

38. Once you have standardised your
methodologies and processes, you can begin to
focus on whether or not your organisation and
people are ready for scaling.
ApplicabilityTransferability

39. A guide to the next step of ensuring that
your organisation and teams are capable of
supporting scaling is provided in a
linked presentation called ...
“Readiness to Scale: A Guide for
Scaling Social Business”
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Readiness

40. ©Rizwan Tayabali, 2014
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