You hear key chain (what’s more turn the key) in a meeting. You think you know what it means, but it seems to be used differently than you understand it. That is very likely. Like many other business-related terms, various companies use turnkey a little differently. We will look at the most common ways it is understood.
For our purposes, we don’t have to worry about its original meaning as a noun: the person who was the keeper of the keys in a prison. We will go straight to its general meaning as an adjective: supplied, installed or purchased in a ready-to-use condition, immediate occupancy or operation. When a product or service is turnkey, it is designed, built and installed complete and ready to operate. The idea is for the end user to simply turn a key and start using the product or service.
The use, in this sense, may have started in the computer industry. It has been used in that industry since at least 1995. There, it is a term that describes a system that can be put to immediate use. When delivered, the system includes all the hardware and software needed for the customer application without any programming or installation of other software. The customer can turn it on (turn the key) and use it.
Like many useful terms, turnkey has been picked up and used by a wide variety of fields. In the construction industry, it means a building or facility that is functional and ready to be occupied or used when delivered to the site. A contractor can deliver a turnkey desalination facility to a customer who can simply turn it on and start producing palatable water. Investment companies use the term to denote a product or service that the buyer can implement in his particular financial operation without any adjustments.
A turnkey business, which is often associated with a franchise, is one that includes everything necessary to start selling products as soon as the user obtains them. That could include inventory, equipment, marketing, management systems, and personnel acquisition. Just turn the key, open the door, and you’re good to go. In training, turnkey is sometimes also used to denote a person whom a company sends somewhere to learn a specific skill in order to go back and teach that skill to other employees. The turnkey becomes a coach handing over the skill keys to others.
Whatever the field, turnkey means that all work has been done by the supplier. The customer, customer or end user does not have to do anything to make the product, system or service work, except turn the key.
For example, as a technology writer, you may be required to produce a turnkey whitepaper. Before accepting, think about what it entails. The implication is that the client expects you to work without supervision or direction to do the research, write the guide, contract and supervise the design and production of the graphics, and handle the printing and distribution. Turnkey involves many expectations and responsibilities.
