Mainstreet Brick Business Plan — Implementation Timeline

The timeline from funding close to full production, covering site works, plant installation, commissioning and first sales.

Implementation Timeline

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Figure 23. Implementation roadmap — feasibility to commercial production.

Phase	Months	Key activities	Capital committed
1. Feasibility and site securing	0–3	Catchment demand study; competitor and pricing survey; site identification and lease option; aggregate supply quotations; cement supply negotiation	Study costs and option fee only
2. Approvals and funding	3–8	Zoning confirmation and environmental authorisation under NEMA; water use registration; development finance application and credit approval; equipment finance approval; equity drawn	Professional fees of approximately R520 000
3. Pre-sales	5–11	Sales manager appointed; merchant and contractor agreements negotiated; sample batch produced on the supplier demonstration plant; target 40 to 50% of capacity contracted	Sales overhead
4. Construction and installation	8–13	Yard preparation and hardstand; power and water connection; machine, batching plant and silo installation; commissioning and operator training	Bulk of capital expenditure
5. Trial production and certification	13–15	Trial batches, mix optimisation, SANS 1215 strength verification, first customer deliveries	Opening inventory of R950 000
6. Commercial production and ramp	15–27	Year 1 of the model; capital moratorium period; monthly funder reporting; the three operational disciplines embedded from the first month	Working capital

18.1 Gates and critical dependencies

Gate	When	Condition	Consequence if not met
Gate 1: the demand study supports the plant	Month 3	Independent catchment study confirming masonry consumption within 100 km sufficient to absorb output at the modelled share, with named competitor capacity mapped	Do not exercise the site option. The study cost is the entire loss and it is the cheapest possible outcome
Gate 2: approvals and credit secured	Month 8	Zoning granted, environmental authorisation issued, development finance credit approved	Do not draw equity or order equipment. Neither approval is within the developer’s control
Gate 3: offtake contracted	Month 11	40 to 50% of capacity covered by signed merchant, development or housing programme agreements	Do not draw construction capital. Break-even above 80% of capacity makes an uncontracted ramp unfundable
Gate 4: commissioning and certification	Month 15	SANS 1215 strength verified at the modelled cement dosage; operators trained; wet mix optimised	Do not begin commercial deliveries. A plant that certifies late loses the accounts it pre-sold
Gate 5: cash break-even crossed	Month 27	Utilisation above 78% with cover above 1.05 times	Invoke the trigger points in Section 17.3 rather than waiting for the annual accounts

Phase 3 is the phase most start-ups skip, and skipping it is why they fail

Appointing a sales manager before there is a product to sell feels premature and costs money during a period with no revenue. It is nonetheless the single highest-return expenditure in this timeline, because it converts the ramp from a hope into a contracted schedule — and the base case shows the business cannot afford a slow ramp. The sequencing principle behind every gate is the same: commit the cheapest capital first and the most expensive last, and preserve the ability to stop for as long as possible. A developer who orders a block machine before zoning is granted, or who commissions a plant before contracting offtake, has removed their own ability to walk away, and that ability is worth more than any negotiating position they will have afterwards.

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