Business Case Development
Table of Contents
Overview
A strong business case combines financial analysis, strategic alignment, and risk assessment to justify investment decisions and secure leadership approval.
When to Use
- Requesting budget approval
- Justifying technology investments
- Planning major initiatives
- Evaluating vendor solutions
- Resource allocation decisions
- Strategic priority setting
- Change management planning
Quick Start
Minimal working example:
Business Case Template:
Project: Customer Portal Modernization
Date: January 2025
Prepared By: Product Manager
For: Finance & Executive Review
---
## Executive Summary
Proposal: Modernize customer portal with cloud-native architecture,
improve UX, and enable real-time features.
Investment Required: $800K (one-time)
Annual Operating Cost: $150K (vs $200K current)
Payback Period: 18 months
NPV (5-year): $2.1M
IRR: 45%
Recommendation: APPROVE - Strong financial case with strategic benefits
---
## Strategic Alignment
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)Reference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Financial Analysis | Financial Analysis |
| Business Case Presentation | Business Case Presentation |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Tie business case to strategic goals
- Quantify benefits wherever possible
- Be realistic about timelines and costs
- Include detailed risk assessment
- Show multiple scenarios/alternatives
- Get stakeholder input early
- Executive sponsor support
- Use professional presentation
- Address tough questions proactively
- Define success metrics upfront
❌ DON'T
- Over-promise benefits
- Underestimate costs
- Ignore alternative solutions
- Skip risk assessment
- Rely solely on intangible benefits
- Present without executive support
- Use overly optimistic assumptions
- Forget to include contingency
- Present incomplete financial analysis
- Ignore competitive pressures