This is IT. You’ve just come up with THE game-changing idea for your organization. It’s going to transform your profession or industry, bring in more members, or dramatically increase your non-dues revenue.
Upside: potential HUGE reward.
Downside: equally HUGE risk.
But we’re associations. We’re risk-averse. So don’t do it, right?
WRONG.
Part of making a big impact is being willing to make a big bet. But be smart about it, and find ways to reduce your risk.
Do your homework on your audiences. Craft a business plan that helps you surface your assumptions so you can test them. Create a prototype. Run beta tests. Get member input, and not just from your board. Invest. Determine in advance how much you can invest before you need to start seeing a return. Have a plan B and a plan C. Define what success looks like. Be ready to capture what you learned, whether it works or not. Iterate. Know what your exit strategy is.
You only get so many opportunities to take the big leap, so choose carefully. If you do, you’ll start a virtuous circle where you get MORE opportunities to take those game-changing risks because you know how succeed AND fail well.
Want to learn more about how your association can do this successfully? Check out Spark’s lean startup consulting options, and get started innovating better today.
Leslie White says:
Anytime a post mentions risk, I have to comment. The process you are suggesting is called risk management – trying to figure out what might happen and what you are going to do about it. Your efforts can be to increase your chance of success while being prepared for what might go wrong. The preparation can be to try to prevent the “bad event” or be ready to respond to it if it does happen (a crisis management plan, business continuity plans)
Thanks for making it sound so simple because it is.
Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE says:
“Thanks for making it sound so simple because it is.” That is high praise coming from you, Leslie!