For-Profit Only: Project Design and Business Model

The questions asked in this section of the full application allow us to understand the detail of your tree-growing project and its long-term impact. We compare the metrics outlined in this section with your historical work to see if the proposed project is attainable, but we also look at the proposed project's impact.

Projects will only be selected if they fall within our three target states: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, or Maharashtra.

In this article, we highlight each of the questions we ask in this section of the full application, why we ask them, address any common concerns around each question and (where relevant) provide you with resources/examples to help answer the question.

Note: Farmer Producer Companies are highly encouraged to fill out this section, but it is not required. For all other business types, this section is required.

If you have any further questions, you add them below as a comment or submit them here, and our support team will try to address them.

• • Describe your plan to ensure sustained legacy of your project after work concludes
  • Describe the innovation in your business model or technology
  • What is the market potential of your solution
  • Is your product / service affordable, accessible, and available to underserved customers?
  • Describe your business growth and how you intend to grow in the future
  • Describe any limitations on the scope of your operations
  • Describe how you plan to replicate and scale this project if implementation is successful
  • What challenges do you foresee in scaling, replicating, and ensuring the sustainability of your project? How will you address these challenges?
  • Describe any risks to your financial sustainability

Q: Describe your plan to ensure sustained legacy of your project after work concludes*

Why we ask this question:
Ensuring the long-term sustainability of landscape restoration interventions is essential in determining their lasting contribution to and impact on people, nature and climate. 

What do we expect? Please describe how you intend to ensure the success and sustainability of the project once implementation targets have been achieved. For example, mention the role that local buy-in from target communities and local institutional arrangements can play in taking ownership of the project. You could also highlight the role of technology.

Q: What is the innovation in your business model or technology?*

Why we ask this question:
Innovation is the key differentiating factor that separates social enterprises from conventional ones. It is important to understand what innovation the company is bringing to play. It could be innovative technology, innovative processes, innovative operations etc. These innovations play a key role in improving the growth and expansion of the business.

What do we expect? Describe how your business model and/or technology differentiates from existing solutions in the market. Indicate what will stop others in the market from replicating your model and/or technology.

Q: What is the market potential of your solution?*

Why we ask this question:
The market potential of the business indicates the scale to which its operations can grow, the scope of impact that it can achieve and the extent to which it competes with existing players in the market. This is important to understand the scalability of the business.

What do we expect? Describe the scope and extent of the problem that you are trying to solve, if you have conducted any studies to estimate the market potential, how much of the market demand you are planning to fulfill, your plan to achieve that target, and which existing players are offering the same or similar solutions.

We recommend that all applicants review this slide deck to understand how to effectively value your market potential.

Q: Is your product / service affordable, accessible and available to underserved customers?*

Why we ask this question:
If the business is catering to underserved community members, it must be in their reach. If not, the business must have a strategy to make the product or service affordable, without compromising quality. A solution is only useful when the intended community uses it.

What do we expect? Describe how your product cost is linked to your target customers’ income and wealth. Indicate how much time and effort it takes the customer to avail of your product / service, as well as how you ensure the quality of that offer. Detail any information to determine pricing, innovative cross-subsidies that you use, or cost-sharing models that you have developed.

Q: What has growth looked like for you so far, and how do you intend to grow in the future?*

Why we ask this question:
Social enterprises should have clear growth strategies and plans to deliver their intended impact. As the business expands its footprint, it is important to understand how socioeconomic, environment, and financial impact grow simultaneously.

What do we expect? Quantify as much as possible with respect to your sales, customers, production units, team, beneficiaries impacted, land restored, jobs created, and other metrics. Describe what has growth looked like in the past 5 years and how will it look for the next 5 years. 

Q: Are there any limitations on scope of your operations? 

Why we ask this question:
While taking an idea to on the ground implementation, businesses face operational challenges, from building relationships with local community members through regulatory clearances to increased competition in the market. Innovation plays a key role in tackling these challenges. We want to understand your limits to growth.

What do we expect? These limitations might be in terms of your target tree/crop species, the geographic region you operate in, or target customers. Please also elaborate on how these factors serve as limitations. 

Q: How do you plan to replicate and scale up this project if implementation is successful?*

Why we ask this question:
Scaling projects is crucial for expanding the scope of landscape restoration to other parts of the region, state or country, sharing knowledge and learnings, and extending benefits for people, nature and climate. 

What do we expect? In addition to the key stages of your project mentioned above, describe the key milestones and pathways for your project to achieve scale. Describe the growth potential of your project, what partnerships you will develop to help ensure the success of your scaled program, and what capabilities/capacities you will build or expand in support of your scaling efforts. Identify the metrics that you will use to demonstrate that you have achieved scale. Explain how your proposed growth will impact the sustainability of your current program(s). Finally, describe the intended lasting effects on the ground because of your scaling efforts.

Q: What challenges do you foresee in scaling, replicating, and ensuring the sustainability of your project? How do you plan to address these challenges?*

What do we expect? Describe the challenges you foresee in achieving and delivering on the strategies for sustainability, scaling and replication you have highlighted above. Describe what measures you will put into place to address these challenges.

Q: Are there any risks to your financial stability?*

Why we ask this question:
Business continuity planning is important for a business to plan for its contingencies. Apart from  unforeseen circumstances, it is also important to identify known risks and plans to tackle them. Though knowing the risks does not eliminate the chances of their occurrence, it helps the business to plan strategies to mitigate them.

What do we expect? Describe thoroughly the risks to your gross margins or business model in the future, e.g., commodity risks. Describe how will you mitigate these risks. 

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