Like exercise and a healthy diet, a business case for every project is a positive habit worth mixing into your business routine. An effective business case builds trust and credibility with leadership and stakeholders. It also provides clear goals aligned with outcomes. Just as importantly, a well-crafted business case helps your initiative get approved by standing out from competing priorities.
The main goal of a business case is to get sign-off with proper funding, resources, and support from the Board and executive management. To get support, a business case should include succinct points on why the project is needed and the business benefits and outcomes. The reasons and benefits of a project may seem perfectly obvious to you and others intimately involved. However, the business value and importance may not be as apparent to the decision-making team.
Essential Elements of an Effective Business Case
A business case is not a full business plan. Rather, the case is a document to summarize the business needs, the rationale, the economics, and the expected outcomes for the investment. Below are essential elements included in an effective business case.
- Executive Summary – This summarizes the initiative, reasoning, investment, and timeline in a paragraph or two. Succinct communications allow stakeholders to quickly grasp what is being requested with business rationale. Do not make them work to figure it out.
- Current State – This snapshot paints the picture of the current reality, providing context for decision makers. What are the problems and challenges to be solved? What is the business opportunity to capitalize on? The stakeholder should be able to quickly grasp the challenge or opportunity.
- Mission, Goals, and Objectives – A short section that states the mission and purpose of the project. The mission should be supported by clear, visible, and measurable goals.
- Business Strategy – The strategy overview captures the business needs and key objectives. The objectives should encompass how this initiative aligns with company and organization priorities, goals, and plans. A few examples of company alignment include business change initiatives, growth goals, entering new markets, hitting sustainability targets, and advancing corporate social responsibility (CSR). You should also lay out what happens when the investment and project are successful. And, often overlooked is emphasizing what happens if the investment is not made.
- Business + Investment Rationale: This module captures why to change and invest now. Included are the expected financial returns tied to business results, the risks of the project, and the investment required. For validity, describe the options and alternatives you explored to reach this solution or approach. Do not avoid discussing the risks, as this will be top of mind for stakeholders. And, finally, provide a budget as well as an estimate of the ongoing costs of the investment over time and its financial benefits and costs.
- Timeline and Resources Snapshot: This component of the business case should be straightforward, using estimated timelines with key milestones in a visual chart format. To help decision makers get the complete picture, outline the people, talent, and company resources required to deliver on the project. New hires or changes in organizational structure should be shared, including documenting any external resources that are needed.
Packaging the Business Case for Maximum Impact
With your business case content in order, you should streamline the packaging of the business case for digestibility and understanding. Formats can vary depending on the environment you will be presenting, sharing, reviewing, and discussing the project and business case. The packaging also depends on the number of people involved in signing off as this can affect the amount of information required.
Regardless, the business case should be succinct and straightforward. Do not write a novel. Typically, a five- to seven-page document can do the job. If you use PowerPoint, eight to ten slides are sufficient to make your business case. In both packaging scenarios, you can include supporting information in an appendix. This approach delivers on the succinct requirement and allows for deeper reading and as a reference in business case presentations.
A final point on packaging: You will be appealing to two different decision-maker types. You will make the case to the right-brain thinkers. Here you want to use stories and prose to bring to life the need or opportunity and focus on emotional impact. Also, well represented on the decision-making team are left-brain thinkers who respond better to data rationale and the numbers. In short, you should appeal to both in your business case.
Be Realistic on What It Will Take to Deliver Results
Having compiled expert tips for this business case article, a consistent piece of advice is to be realistic and clear about what is required to deliver results. As outlined earlier, the project needs the proper levels of funding and support. Professionals tend to underestimate resources, putting the project at risk down the line. Do not sell the project short.
Last, make sure you cover the potential risks of the project. Anticipate and address risks upfront to take objections off the table. Every initiative, project, or investment has risk. Not including risks screams you do not understand the business or have not done the right levels of due diligence. This can create doubt and hesitancy to green light the project.
Build Trust and Results with Business Case
A business case is an essential element of successful projects and initiatives. A well-constructed business case sets up your project up for success and better aligns the initiative with business needs, opportunities, and goals. By regularly creating a business case as part of your strategic business planning, you develop stakeholder trust. Most importantly, you develop a consistent track record of delivering against business goals.
