A national electricity provider had expanded its offering to include solar power. The business model was set up as an internal start-up and operated by an internal team of up to 12 employees. The work processes were based on agile methods and the team worked in scrum mode. Large parts of the value chain (sales and construction) were mapped via cooperation partners. The margin situation was significantly below the set business targets.
The interim manager was tasked with evaluating the entire value chain for potential to improve EBITDA and scale the business model and to develop corresponding proposals together with the team.
Evaluation of problem areas in the business model's value chain
The interim manager evaluated problem areas in the value chain in two ways. First, he conducted individual interviews with all team members and key representatives of cooperation partners. An in-depth KPI analysis of all key performance indicators provided important insights into the effects and orders of magnitude.
In the course of the problem analysis, the interim manager was able to identify the main reasons for the poor performance of the internal start-up. Firstly, management-relevant KPIs had not been collected or interpreted in such a way that they could be used to make decisions on operational issues. Furthermore, the reporting was prepared by different employees. There was no systematic consolidation and interpretation of the KPIs. In addition, many of the KPIs collected were incorrect or contradictory. The interim manager first defined who was responsible for collecting the data. He also defined operational reporting for the team and strategic reporting for the parent company's management. As a result, the transparency of all stakeholders increased. The new efficiency in the provision of data made it possible to make timely operational decisions to manage sales (e.g. replacement of non-performing sales representatives).
Roles and responsibilities in the Scrum team redefined and assigned
The team had now grown too large, with more than 10 people, to be managed by a project office (PO). The tasks were not clearly defined enough. Duplication of work was reducing efficiency. The interim manager therefore initiated a division of the overall team into two sub-scrum teams together with the PO. Tasks were clearly assigned, personnel backup solutions (t-shaping) were defined and activities were identified that were of little benefit and required a lot of effort. The targeted responsibility resulted in a significant increase in work performance (burn-down rate). The interim manager supported both teams as an agile coach to ensure that the methods and rituals were sustainably anchored.
High sales costs reduced by more than 30 percent with higher turnover
The project had previously suffered from the fact that the product portfolio and sales management were not sufficiently aligned with customer requirements. As a result of the improved evaluation of sales KPIs, it became clear that the sales channels operated via external partners were generating high costs. The same applied to the very intensive after-sales customer support. In addition, the externalization of sales and customer support prevented flexible scaling of this part of the value chain.
In order to find new solutions, the interim manager initiated several team workshops. The large number of proposed solutions developed in this way were prioritized according to impact and feasibility and initiated. The resulting effects added up to a cost structure that was improved by more than 30 percent, with a simultaneous expected increase in turnover of 20 percent per annum.
Financing significantly more favorable based on the recalculated business plan
The results of the interim manager's project work were incorporated into the business plan for the external financing of the solar business model. Based on the new business plan, financing was concluded at significantly improved conditions.
