How to Write Successful Business Cases

How you write the business case can be the difference in getting approval.

How exactly do you do that?

Successful business cases make the recommendation for the best course of action that creates business value and secures the approval from the decision-makers. However, building and writing them can be challenging.

The business case process identifies all the alternatives and evaluates each option to recommend the best investment option. The business case process, when undertaken correctly enables you to increase the benefits and the value of the proposed investment, and reduces the risks. It also leads to a much greater likelihood of securing the approval to proceed with the investment.

Why create a business case?

A business case is required when you need to:

• Demonstrate the value of a proposed product or service would generate for your organisation;

• Obtain board approval for the investment;

• Decide whether to outsource a particular function;

• Relocate business operations and manufacturing facilities;

• Prioritise projects within your organisation that are competing for funding and resources;

• Secure financial funding and resources to implement the project.

By producing a high-quality business case document, you can confidently present the recommendations to stakeholders for approval.

There are 5 Steps to write a successful business case.

The 5 STEPS framework is explained in our Five Steps to Develop a Solid Business Case Guide.

You will need to complete all of these steps to create a successful business case.

Writing the Business Case [Templates]

The business case document is used by the project sponsor, the executive team or the board to determine if they should invest in a specific project. Sometimes, it's not easy to quantify the strategic, financial and social benefits and the risks of a project.

The documented business case needs to provide confidence and a level of certainty that the considered proposal will be successful.

What is the best type of business case document template to use so you can use to write your business case and collect, analyse and evaluate all the relevant information?

In our experiences in writing business cases for over 20 years, and which have secured government funding, the critical business case components include:

Business Case Checklist

One of the best practice steps to writing the business case is to have a business case checklist.

The business case should explain the following:

• Describe how the investment aligns with the organisation strategic business plan;

• Provide a robust estimate of the whole-of-life costs of the investment, and its financial benefits;

• Estimate the non-financial benefits of the investment;

• Describe the approach to be used, including timelines, resources, the procurement strategy and governance;

• Rigorously assess the inherent risks, including how they are likely to affect the investment and outline strategies for mitigating them;

• Convey the level of uncertainty surrounding the proposal;

• Provide options for the board and management to consider in reaching a decision; and

• Provide the necessary background and supporting information to put the investment into context.

The Business Case Course

We designed this course out of our experiences in developing successful business cases for over 20 years. We have consolidated all of our templates, tips and insights from the successful business cases to create the new Business Case Course.

The course explores in detail how to apply the 5 STEPS framework to write successful business cases, and shows you how to save time and be more productive. The course is an entire program of templates, tools, resources and lessons to help you build your business case expertise. It's 5 lessons, 5 to 10 minutes each over 5 days into how to write business cases successfully.

We share with you five tools and methods for successfully writing business cases when you don't have a lot of time. And the way we are going to do this is by first starting to explore the critical factors in successful business cases to identify the essential elements for your business case.

We do this by using the Business Case Canvas.

The Business Case Canvas gives you the big picture of your business case to identify the elements that will impact on your analysis and recommendations.

You'll walk away from the Business Case Course, knowing how to:

• Write a high-quality business case.

• Build and establish the business case process more effectively.

• Strengthen your business case analysis.

• Increase the credibility of your recommendations.

• Build your business case on the online canvas.

• Plan your business case activities to save your time and be more productive.

• Get a deeper understanding of how to develop, write and evaluate business cases.

Business Case Course Format

The Course is available in two formats:

1. Online Course - Where participants progress at their own pace and have up to 60 days to write, develop and strengthen their business cases.

2. Organisation Program - The online platform encourages employees to develop, write and strengthen their business cases.  The action learning modules enables both individuals and teams to plan, improve, and enhance the opportunity until the business case is strengthened and ready for presentation to decision-makers.