Every significant business decision should be supported by a business case. But, they are seldom done and when they are, quality is often lacking. Often we hear: “It’s too hard”, “I haven’t got the time”, “I know what I’m doing so I’ll just wing it”.
Writing a business case involves presenting a compelling argument for a project, initiative or investment. Written successfully, it should tell a story in a succinct, plain English way, on why something should be done, or in some instances, not done. It should walk someone who knows nothing about the opportunity, through it.
Here are some of the essential components:
1. Executive Summary: A concise overview of the business case, summarising the key points, recommendations, and expected outcomes. Everything in the Executive Summary should be supported by the detail elsewhere in the business case. Often this is the opening of a business case, it's also usually the last part you complete.
2. Introduction: An explanation of the business problem or opportunity that exists, including the context and background information of how it came about.
3. Problem Statement: A clear description of the problem or opportunity that the project aims to address, including the implications or risks of not proceeding.
4. Objectives and Goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. Time-bound (SMART) objectives that the project intends to achieve.
5. Options Analysis: An evaluation of different solutions or approaches, including the preferred option and reasons for its selection.
6. Scope and Deliverables: A detailed description of what will be delivered, including the scope, boundaries, timing of delivery, and key output deliverables.
7. Cost-Benefit Analysis: A detailed enough financial analysis that clearly outlines the costs, any upfront capital commitments, the financial benefits the project will bring, how it will be funded and its impact on cashflow, the return on investment (ROI), and estimated payback period. At this point you should also address non-financial benefits.
8. Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Identification of potential risks and uncertainties in each of the proposed options including the preferred, along with strategies for mitigating these risks.
9. Implementation Plan: A high-level plan outlining the key phases, milestones, resources required, and of course the timeline for the project.
10. Stakeholder Analysis: Identify and analyse the stakeholders who will benefit from this project, their interests, and how they will be managed and communicated with throughout the project.
11. Conclusion and Recommendations: Outlining a summary of your findings, final recommendations, and next steps.
12. Appendices: Quite often there is a significant amount of other information that supports an initiative, is mentioned at a high level within the document, but that doesn't warrant detailed inclusion. The support documents could include detailed calculations, references, or more detailed background information.
A few more tips from the trenches.
The business case is a living document and should be kept updated as more information comes to hand. It's recommended you maintain version control so you can see where you started, and what has changed to get to where you are now.
Less is more. For some clients, we use a single page business case which is easy to complete and maintain. It really does depend on its size and complexity.
Business cases should be regularly reviewed and the approved list forms the business plan which is a list of business cases the organisation will commit to for a given timeline.
If you are challenged with documenting business cases, we have a team that can help guide you through this process.
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