Business start-up

IQ provides critical assessments, designs processes and identifies the likely benefits, to ensure that business start-ups and mergers produce the required results.

The Business Challenge

Our client embarked on launching  an online marketplace for people to buy, sell, finance and insure pre-owned vehicles privately in a safe and cost-effective environment – a first in South Africa. They required a process-centric organisation, as this would allow greater flexibility and the ability to rapidly launch into new markets, package new products and continuously improve upon existing products. Faced with the pressure of ensuring a quick time-to-market, as well as dealing with a myriad of partners, our client required a process solution - an expert team to build the business, as well as its processes.

The Solution

The client brought IQ in as their specialist Process house, based on previous experience, as well as, IQ’s extensive experience with dealing with the complexity of the industry and a large number of third parties. Over time IQ’s role evolved into something much greater than providing process expertise: IQ provided strategic direction, operational expertise, including HR (setting up the HR department, as well as recruiting talent) and supported the business in the Finance and Insurance Product domain.

The IQ team were at the heart of this project, using their knowledge to overcome obstacles and ensuring the business was operational. Meeting aggressive deadlines, IQ:

  • Developed the strategy, architecture and relevant processes for the new company;
  • Planned and executed a pilot to trial the business venture;
  • Tested all processes including interactive role-based process walk-throughs;
  • Coordinated the various testing initiatives by a myriad partners;
  • Set up the HR department, including determining policies and procedures, strategy and the recruitment of all staff for the startup (60+ people in a little over a month); and
  • Acted as the central recruitment point through which all recruitment.

Benefits

IQ launched the business delivering the following:

  • Delivered a brand new start-up company;
  • Met and delivered according to aggressive timelines;
  • Ensured effective integration by dealing with a myriad of partners;
  • Adapted and provided required flexibility to fulfill continuously changing requirements; and
  • Supported an agile (low-rigor) software development process (non-IQ).

IQ’s structured solution drew upon best practice while retaining the flexibility necessary to accommodate concurrent development of the business plan, business process, and software with appropriate checkpoints and sign-offs.

Particularly noteworthy achievements were IQ’s ability to remain flexible and adaptable given the fast pace of change in business requirements.