Key takeawaysNetherlands
A business case helps decision-makers judge whether an investment is worth the time, money and risk.Poland
- State the reason for the activity and ensure it aligns with organisational strategy.Portugal
- Compare realistic options, including doing nothing, and clearly justify the preferred choice.Romania
- Separate project costs and timescales from ongoing operational costs and benefit realisation timescales.Slovakia
- Define benefits in measurable terms and distinguish outcomes from benefits so performance can be tracked.Slovenia
- Include known dis-benefits and major risks, plus mitigations, to avoid one-sided decisions.Spain
- Use an investment appraisal, such as net benefits and break-even timing, to test viability.Sweden
Introduction
This article explains how to write a business case. It includes 2 business case examples and a free business case template for you to download .
You’re probably reading this article because you want to know how to write a business case. Perhaps your organisation is embarking on a major project to develop a new product. Or, perhaps you’re thinking of moving house so your family can enjoy a better life. In either case, you write a business case to ensure the investment is worthwhile.
In this article we’ll give you 2 business case examples, provide you with a simple business case template for you to use, and explain how to write a business case.
What is a business case?Introduction
A business case is the justification for some activity (e.g. a project) undertaken by your organisation. It weighs up the timescales, costs and risks of doing the activity against the benefits to be gained. Think of it as weighing up the pros and cons and then taking a sensible decision.
A business case forms an essential component of the curriculum of the What are soft skills?best project management courses .Project management soft skills
Personal business case
, are the same set of skills required by many other white-collar work. Such skills differ to hard skills, which are the vocational skills required to do your job.A business case is also often used by a project sponsor or project executive to help it decide if they should invest in a specific project.
Instructor-led
OptionsProject Management Essentials
In this example, there are 2 options (other than do nothing) which have been examined. Each option is summarized and the reason why option 3 is the preferred option has been stated.
The expected benefits of reduced overheads are clearly stated. Benefits should be measurable and quantifiable. That means that the benefits can be measured later. But what about the reduced errors, rescheduled appointments and customer contract cancellations? Aren’t they benefits?See all dates
Well, these are in fact something else – they’re called outcomes. Outcomes are the results of the changes which come about by using the new handheld devices. The ways you measure the improvements resulting from these outcomes are known as benefits.What type of attitude do project managers need?
Dis-benefitsIt perhaps goes without saying that a positive attitude is best. Negative project managers create a lacklustre team with no passion for the project. He or she will be unable to influence, negotiate or inspire their team. They’ll panic when problems arise. And they’ll normally be at the centre of conflict.
This example also contains a dis-benefit which is that the back-office staff morale will be lower due to reduced overtime payments. A dis-benefit, if you’re wondering, is a negative consequence of a project. It’s not the same as a risk which implies something uncertain. A dis-benefit is something which you know will happen because of the project and it has negative consequences for the organisation. It’s the opposite of a benefit!Mariana Magalhães, Project Manager for Forty8Creates, believes a proactive attitude is essential:
A good project manager shobusiness case template is free to download.
Summary
A business case is the most important document on any project. That’s because it justifies the investment.
It helps an organisation be clear about why a project is needed, and what the results of the investment will be. This is crucial because no organisation has unlimited funds to spend on an unlimited number of projects. Therefore, a business case gives confidence to senior managers when deciding to invest in one project rather than another.
However, as you have seen in this article, a business case is something which you can find useful when taking major decisions in your own personal life. Remember – a business case doesn’t need to be a lengthy document. It could easily be a few notes scribbled on the back of something or even sent in an email.
Whatever form your business case takes, remember one thing – it will help you or your organisation take sensible decisions about committing time and resources to a project or activity.
- Mariana’s
- Does the business case include operations and maintenance costs and risks? interest in the correlation between social media, data and strategy lead her to work in digital marketing. She started working with Forty8Creates as a Social Media Assistant and worked her way up to become Project Manager. She manages multiple client briefs, communicating client needs to team members and ensuring prompt
- Does the business case include project costs and risks?project delivery
- Does the business case conform to organisational accounting standards (e.g. break-even analysis and cash-flow conventions)?.
- Are the major risks faced by the project explicitly stated, together with any proposed responses?
How do you write a good business case?Nicci Beacham Project Manager at Liberty Marketing
A good business case must contain certain key information including:Nicci
- The reasons for doing the project; is a Project Manager at Liberty Marketing. She has over 7 years of experience working within the FMCG, Design and Digital Marketing sectors. Nicci began her career as a Project Coordinator managing packaging design for a British soft drink brand, before moving into digital marketing.
- The business options which have been considered, including the base business options of do nothing, so something, or do something else;Liberty is the largest digital agency in Wales, with clients such as Universal Publishing Production Music, Pizza Express and Penguin Books.
- Project and operational costs;Subscribe to our exclusive offers and promotions
- Project and operational timescales;
- Benefits, expressed in measurable terms;Subscribe now
- Investment appraisal (or cost benefit analysis);
- Major risks and their mitigation plans;
How long is a business case?{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","contentUrl":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/training-courses/what-soft-skills-do-project-managers-need-890x501-1.webp","description":"What soft skills do project managers need?","license":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/license","acquireLicensePage":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/license","creditText":"Knowledge Train","uploadDate":"2023-05-19T08:50:50.000Z","copyrightNotice":"© 2023 Knowledge Train Limited. All rights reserved.","creator":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Knowledge Train","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk"}}
A good business should be long enough that it contains all the information needed for the decision-makers to take an informed decision about whether to invest in the project. That means, remove any waffle, and only include information which helps decision-making.
What’s included in a business case?{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","contentUrl":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/training-courses/res/images/project-management/hard-skills-vs-soft-skills-infographic-800x3088.webp","description":"Soft skills in project management infographic","license":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/license","acquireLicensePage":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/license","creditText":"Knowledge Train","uploadDate":"2023-05-19T08:50:50.000Z","copyrightNotice":"© 2023 Knowledge Train Limited. All rights reserved.","creator":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Knowledge Train","url":"https://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk"}}
The following are the most important items to put into a business case:
- Executive summary – summarizes the key points;Related articles
- The reasons for the project (answers the question ‘Why are we doing this?’);
- The options considered – e.g. do nothing, do something, or do something else – (answers the question ‘What’s the best option?’);
- The expected benefits – in measurable terms – (answers the question ‘What’s the return?’);
- Costs – both project and operational – (answers the question ‘How much will it cost?’);
- Timescales – for the project and for realizing benefits – (answers the question ‘How long will it take?’);
- Investment appraisal – weigh up costs, times, risks against benefits – (answers the question ‘Is it worth it?’);
- Major risks – (answers the question ‘What if?’).
What is a business case template?
A business case template serves as a starting point when writing a business case. It is reusable and can be used across all your projects. Depending upon its needs, your organisation may have different business case templates, each one used for different scales of projects.
You can download an example business case template here .
What is the purpose of a business case?
The purpose of a business case is simple – it’s used to justify an investment in an activity. Typically, in an organisation this activity is a project. It helps give confidence to management that their investment is worthwhile and will realize benefits for the organisation.PRINCE2 Agile book review
Who owns a business case?
A business case is owned by the person who is funding the project. The name of this role is different across organisations, but commonly this role is known as a project sponsor, or project executive.Simon Buehring
By owning the business case, it means this person is accountable for ensuring that any investment decisions which are taken based upon the information within the business case are worthwhile.19 Feb 2026