Implementation Planner

A Kenyan logistics setup answers to six or seven agencies at once, and several of them will not open a file until another has issued something first. The binding constraint is never one agency's turnaround — it is the dependency chain. Plan against the gates, record what you have actually committed, and the tool will tell you what is exposed.

G1 — Entity and tax

0 of 20 evidence items in hand · US$0 committed. 4 items outstanding before this gate opens, and nothing committed against it yet — the right order.

G1 — Entity and tax

0/4

Business Registration Service · Kenya Revenue Authority · County government

Every other agency asks for the PIN and the certificate before it will open a file. This gate is cheap, and it is the one that determines when the rest of the programme can start.

Company registered and the certificate of incorporation in hand KRA PIN issued to the company, not to a director personally VAT registration where turnover requires it County single business permit for each operating location

Capital committed at this gate

Releases: Nothing beyond formation cost. Everything downstream depends on this and nothing should be committed before it.

G2 — Operating authority

0/4

National Transport and Safety Authority · KRA Customs & Border Control · Kenya Revenue Authority

This is the gate that converts a registered company into an operator. Assets committed before it are assets that cannot legally earn.

Depends on G1 — Entity and tax, which is still open.

The licence for the chosen path applied for and accepted, not merely submitted Nominated postholders named where the path requires them Security or bond arranged in principle with the issuer Premises inspected where the path requires an inspection

Capital committed at this gate

Releases: Recruitment, systems and premises deposits.

G3 — Fleet and facility

0/4

National Transport and Safety Authority · Kenya Bureau of Standards · County government

The largest capital commitment in the programme, and the one most often made early on the assumption that the licence is a formality. It is the licence that makes the asset earn; without it the asset is a standing cost with no revenue against it.

Depends on G2 — Operating authority, which is still open.

Operating authority granted in writing for the intended scope Vehicles or facility identified with inspection dates booked Insurance terms indicated against the actual assets and drivers Telematics, weighbridge or scanning equipment specified

Capital committed at this gate

Releases: Fleet purchase or lease, facility lease, capital equipment.

G4 — Compliance and systems

0/4

National Transport and Safety Authority · KRA Customs & Border Control · Bond issuer or insurer · Kenya Bureau of Standards

The gate that is passed on paper and failed in practice. A system integrated but never tested against a live declaration is discovered at the border, with cargo on it.

Depends on G3 — Fleet and facility, which is still open.

Insurance placed and certificates issued, not quoted Bond or security executed and lodged with the issuing authority Safety management system documented with a named responsible officer Customs, transit or tracking systems integrated and tested end to end

Capital committed at this gate

Releases: Working capital into operations.

G5 — First revenue movement

0/4

KRA Customs & Border Control · Kenya Ports Authority

Revenue begins here, and so does the working-capital drain: the first invoice is paid long after the first cost. Model the runway from this date rather than from launch.

Depends on G4 — Compliance and systems, which is still open.

First consignment booked with a named customer A complete document set rehearsed against the actual route Cash cycle understood — who pays, on what terms, against what proof of delivery A named escalation contact at each agency on the route

Capital committed at this gate

Releases: The operation itself.

Workstreams

Six, run concurrently. A single bar labelled "setup" tells an operator nothing they can act on, because each of these is gated by a different thing.

Licensing and regulatory critical path

Held across several agencies at once, and each one waits on another’s output.

Founder or compliance lead · Weekly

Fleet and facility

Gated by the operating authority. This is where the capital sits.

Operations lead · Fortnightly

People and safety critical path

Drivers, safety officer and declarants. Licence classes and medicals take longer than the hiring does.

Operations lead · Weekly

Commercial

Started last in most setups, which is why so many launch licensed and empty.

Founder · Fortnightly

Finance and working capital

The first invoice is paid long after the first cost. Runway is measured from first movement, not from launch.

Founder or finance lead · Monthly

Systems and data

Customs, tracking and accounting. Integration is quick; testing against a live declaration is not.

Operations lead · Fortnightly

Leading indicators

Each is observable before the thing it predicts, which is the only property that makes an indicator worth collecting.

Indicator	Reported	Predicts	Escalate when
Applications opened versus applications accepted	Weekly	Whether the dependency chain is being respected	Any application returned as unopenable — it was lodged out of order
Driver licence classes and medicals verified	Weekly	Whether the fleet can legally move once it arrives	Fewer verified drivers than vehicles at G3
Capital committed against gates passed	Monthly	Capital at risk	Any commitment ahead of its gate
Test declarations or trial runs completed	Weekly from G4	Whether G5 will hold	No end-to-end test by the time assets arrive
Booked revenue for the first 90 days	Monthly	Whether the operation launches loaded or empty	No named customer by G4
Cash runway measured from first movement	Monthly	Whether the operation survives its own receivables	Under 90 days of cover at G4

Contingencies, agreed in advance

The value of a contingency is entirely in having decided before the pressure arrives.

If An application is returned because a prerequisite is missing

Treat it as a dependency error rather than an agency delay. Re-check the whole chain before resubmitting: where one application was lodged out of order, others usually were too.

If The operating authority is delayed past the asset commitment date

Hold the assets. A leased vehicle or warehouse standing idle is a fixed cost with no licence to earn against it, and a deferral is almost always cheaper than the carry.

If Insurance is quoted materially above the plan

Read it as a risk signal, not just a cost. Insurers price the driver record, the route and the cargo; a surprising quote usually means one of the three is worse than assumed.

If The first consignment clears late

Debrief the document set before booking the second. The first clearance is the cheapest test of the paperwork the operation will run thousands of times.

If Receivables run behind the plan

Working capital is the binding constraint in a new logistics operation, not margin. Reforecast the runway from first movement and hold the difference before it is needed.

Choose “Save as PDF” as the destination in the print dialog.