The innovation is developed due to the need to integrate the process of financial reporting of projects with the acceleration program of Start-Up Chile, benefiting the entrepreneurs of the program and the Chilean Government itself. The process seeks to educate on the relevance of project financial planning, while preparing them to perform efficient and high standard financial reporting to the Chilean government.
Innovation Summary
Innovation Overview
The financial reports in Start-Up Chile were too slow, they extended for periods that exceeded 40 days, the entrepreneurs did not show interest in the process, the executives were unmotivated and the platforms used were not adapted to the general needs of the program. Given this, a new financial process was implemented that considers a standard schedule of virtual meetings with entrepreneurs, free office hours, online educational platforms and internal information gathering, as well as periodic workshops on topics raised from the entrepreneurs' own needs. We seek to integrate the financial reporting process to the acceleration program in an effective way, mainly benefiting the entrepreneurs.
Our main objectives are: to reduce review times per project (maintaining a high standard), to improve the entrepreneurs' perception of the financial process and to integrate the executive team in the improvements to be implemented. In the long term, the objective is to maintain the review metrics (currently 15 days), improve the follow-up and education platforms for the entrepreneurs and generate connections with public and private institutions to continue with the initiative's development process.
Innovation Description
What Makes Your Project Innovative?
The model implemented in Start-Up Chile is proactive, as opposed to the traditional one, which is reactive. The accelerated process is based on the premise of preparing the entrepreneur during the execution period of the project to reach the end of the process with the approved financial reporting successfully and in a short period of time. The traditional monitoring process is based on assumptions that are not 100% confirmed, such as the full understanding of the financial monitoring process and its relevance. At the same time, the traditional model is triggered at the end of the execution period, so there is no time or possibility to make corrections or improvements. There is no room for diagnostics, which is possible in the accelerated model.
Innovation Development
Collaborations & Partnerships
Financial Executives: in charge of implementing improvements and proposing potential improvements.
Operations team: they are the main ones in charge of formalizing the accelerated financial follow-up process.
Entrepreneurs: apart from being users, they are the ones who give us the opportunity to evaluate improvements; their feedback is fundamental.
Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries
Entrepreneurs: beneficiaries of Start-Up Chile funds are the main beneficiaries of the improvements implemented.
CORFO: the different areas of CORFO that participate in the registration of financial statements, from accounting to custody of securities.
Public organizations and private collaborators: we have received the support of the Internal Revenue Service for open workshops, as well as the support of experts in financial topics.
Innovation Reflections
Results, Outcomes & Impacts
Review times per project have been reduced by more than 50%, measured through data collection and centralization of information in office and google platforms. The perception of the financial process has improved, based on surveys conducted by the acceleration area and focus groups of the internal communications area with various entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have valued the online material we have made available 24-7 as fundamental. In the future, we expect to increase the connections with public and private entities that will allow us to continue improving the initiatives that are currently under development.
Challenges and Failures
There has been a high turnover of executives, so the challenge has been to maintain the standard of the process with new collaborators. As there is no additional budget, we have worked on the basis of the available resources, making the most of all the tools that CORFO provides.
Conditions for Success
It is essential to have an aligned team, with clear objectives and leadership that is flexible but at the same time has a concrete development strategy. Support and space for innovation is also key.
Replication
Other areas of Start-Up Chile have implemented centralized reporting, providing simplified information on project development. The accelerated financial monitoring process is potentially comparable to other public entities, especially local ones, where teams are small and resources are scarce.
Lessons Learned
Projects should be implemented with the objective of being sustainable in the long term, either with knowledge that can be implemented transversally across the team or as using.
Status:
- Implementation - making the innovation happen
- Diffusing Lessons - using what was learnt to inform other projects and understanding how the innovation can be applied in other ways
Innovation provided by:
Media:
Date Published:
6 December 2022