Founders know the problem: They have a clear goal, but they do not know how to get there, yet. With your developed Problem-Solution Fit (Profiling) and your Product-Market Fit (Prototyping), the goal is clear(er). In order to gather the gained and still missing resources and to focus on the dominant milestone ahead, it is necessary to draw an implementation timetable with a transformation map.
Milestones along the road
Your roadmap reflects a plan that divides the entrepreneurial journey into individual stages (milestones). With a roadmap you describe for yourself and your stakeholders, which way you want to take from A to B and which are the critical intermediate goals you have to achieve. Even though milestones are of a purely planning nature and often become moving targets or are missed in the dynamic startup environment, they are important corners that inform your resource requirements. With this gradual sourcing you can limit your risk until the next milestone. Only if you reach such milestone, invest more time and capital for the next stage. The further you progress along the way, the less important the milestones for your stakeholders might become. If you arrive at the financial key figures as future milestones, the roadmap leads to a classic reporting system to your investors.
But attention: The communication of milestones naturally raises expectations among your stakeholders. Therefore, promise less and surprise positively with the result achieved.
»Actually, I might pay less attention to milestone planning in the context of investments. In the end, everything will be different than planned! «
Simon Schmincke, Creandum
Implementation timetable with the Transformation Map
The Call to Action aligns resources with a common goal (or vision). For the implementation strategy, you develop a Transformation Map with your team that captures the main activities and milestones to reach that goal on the timeline. Like sunbeams, these connect with the common goal (the vision) for the individual areas, for example service, new product, processes, organization. In this way, you build the bridge between the here and now and the vision on the horizon over time and prioritize your activities and milestones in a clear roadmap. To do this, you should develop the Transformation Map together with your team (and board members if necessary) as part of a workshop.
The Transformation Map
Learn more about the seventeenth module „Call to Action“ of the Startup Navigator in the handbook.