IntroductionLearn the key principles of Agile Project Management.

This article explains how to write a business case. It includes 2 business case examples and a free business case template for you to Practitioner downloadIncludes Foundation & Practitioner combined option..PRINCE2

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 Agile to ensure the investment is worthwhile.Foundation

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.Learn the fundamentals of the PRINCE2 Agile method.

What is a business case?Writing Business Cases

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.Half-day workshop to learn to write robust business cases.

A business case forms an essential component of the curriculum of the AI in Project Management best project management coursesLearn how to use AI tools in everyday project work.

Learn how to use AI tools in everyday project work.portfolio management office to help it decide which projects will contribute to the organisation’s strategic goals. That way, they can filter out the bad ideas for projects, and only fund projects which will contribute to strategic goals.AGILE

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.AgilePM

In all cases, the business case must be written and approved prior to any major commitment of resources.®

What form does a business case take? – Agile Project Management

Business cases can take many forms – digital or analogue. The tools you use to create one are also many and varied. Common business tools such as Microsoft Office might be used. Rather than being a document or slide deck however, it could equally be in the form of an email.Foundation

Equally, a business case could be written by hand on a whiteboard or flipchart, or on the back of a cigarette packet!Learn the key principles of Agile Project Management.

What you should always remember is that a business case does not have to be a huge long document. In fact, it should be as short as possible, and only include the most important information. That way it cuts out the noise and provides decision-makers with just the right information to enable them to take sensible decisions.Practitioner

For those of you interested in Includes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.project managementPRINCE2, the project management methodology known as ®PRINCE2 Agile focuses its decision-making on a project on having a viable business case.Foundation

Business case examplesLearn the fundamentals of the PRINCE2 Agile method.

We will now give you 2 business case examples. The first example is one which you might find useful for taking decisions in your personal life. The 2nd business case example is more business focused project.Practitioner

Business case example 1: Moving homeIncludes Foundation & Practitioner combined option.

Suppose you and your spouse are considering moving to a new home. You will need to weigh up the pros and cons of moving. This is done using a business case. You might not call it that, but that’s what it is. Let’s look at an example.Scrum

ReasonScrum Essentials

As you can see from the example, the first thing to be clear about in a business case is the reason for doing the project or activity. In this example, the couple has answered the question Self-paced training course to learn the essentials of Scrum.Why?Scrum Master In fact, there are two problems here – the local school and John’s long commute.Choose Scrum Alliance or Scrum.org Scrum Master training courses.

Options consideredScrum Product Owner

A business case should weigh up the competing options which have been considered. After all, there is usually more than one option. Perhaps an alternative option would have been for John to change his job to one nearer their current house. However, this wouldn’t solve the issue with the school.Choose Scrum Alliance or Scrum.org Product Owner training courses.

BenefitsAgileBA

The benefits of a project or activity are the positive things you’re going to get back in return for your investment of time and money. In this case, the kids will get a better education, and John will save time each day.®

Timescales – Agile Business Analysis

It’s also important to understand how long the investment of resources will take. This is so that the organisation (or family in this case) knows when the resources will be freed up to work on other Foundation projectsLearn the fundamentals of Agile Business Analysis. or activities.Practitioner

There are usually 2 timescales to consider. First, the timescale of the project or activity – in this case 3 months to find a new house and move there. Second, the time over which the benefits shall be realized. In this case it’s 5 years until the kids leave school.4-day course including Foundation.

CostsLean Six Sigma

The costs of doing the project or activity is the next important bit of information. On this project, the costs of moving to a new house will be £5,000. These are the project costs.Yellow Belt

However, the couple will spend an additional £2,000/year for every year over which the business case is calculated. For a project in an organisation, this is usually referred to as the operational costs of maintaining and operating the projects outputs e.g. an IT system. At this point, the couple knows the total costs over the timescales when the benefits shall be realized.Self-paced training course to gain LSS Yellow Belt.

RisksPMI

For any activity or project, it’s also important to understand the major risks involved. Risks are the uncertain things which may or may not happen during the period of the investment. There is only one risk identified here, which is the risk that the couple might lose touch with friends who live close to them right now.®

Investment appraisalPMI-ACP

The next section is where the costs and timescales and risks are weighed up. For this project, it’s a simple decision for the couple to decide if it’s worth spending money over the next 5 years to give their kids better schooling and to save John 2 hours a day commuting.Self-paced course to prepare you for the exam (exam not included).

For an organisation to decide if an investment is worthwhile, however, there are several different ways in which it can decide about the investment.Kanban

Often in organisations there are rules defined to help business analysts or Estimating for Agile FoundationBUSINESS ANALYSIS write what’s called an investment appraisal. In the next example, we’ll look at one example known as net benefits.BCS Business Analysis

Business case example 2: Handheld device projectBusiness Analysis Foundation

Imagine a heating repair services company that uses a paper-based set of forms filled in by an engineer during site visits. The spare parts required to fix the heater are recorded on a form which is given to staff to process back in the office. They then order the parts, and schedule a follow-up visit for the engineer to fix the heater.Learn the fundamentals of business analysis.

One major risk has been identified in this example, but on your project, there could be many risks.

Investment appraisal

The final section is the investment appraisal. The investment technique used in this example is called net benefits. As you can see from the table, the project and operational costs are recorded for each year of the investment.

The project lasts 1 year which is why the project costs are zero after year 1. Of course, the benefits won’t be realized until the solution is in place and the company starts to use the handheld devices.

The net benefits are simply the total benefits minus the total costs. This shows that the company will start to get a return on its investment sometime towards the end of year 2. This knowledge is vital if the decision-makers are to take a sensible decision about whether to invest in the project.

Business case template

This simple

Business case FAQsBETTER BUSINESS CASES COURSES

Who approves a business case?Select your preferred training course below:

Usually on a project, the project sponsor (the person or people who are committing the funds) will approve a business case. Before approving it, they need to have confidence that the problems have been addressed and the right solution has been selected, that the benefits are achievable and realistic, when the investment will pay off, and how big will the return on investment be.

What makes a good business case?P3O COURSES

As you have seen in this article, there’s several important bits of information which goes into a business case. Don’t spend unnecessary time though adding information which isn’t required. Your project sponsor will have to read your business case before they approve it, and you don’t want to make their job any harder than it already is!Select your preferred training course below:

There are several things you can use to check whether your business case is adequate or not. Here’s a checklist of 13 questions to ask yourself before you submit your business case to your sponsor for approval:

1. Are the reasons for the project consistent with the corporate, WORKSHOPSportfolioSelect your preferred workshop below: or programme managementAGILE QUALIFICATIONS strategies?Select your preferred qualification.
2. Is the project planAGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSES aligned with the business case? (e.g. are the costs and timescales in the project plan correctly reflected in the business case?)Select your preferred training course below:
3. Are the benefits clearly identified and justified?
4. Is it clear how the benefits will be realized?PRINCE2 AGILE COURSES
5. Is it clearly defined what will judged a successful outcome?Select your preferred training course below:
10. AGILE BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSESDoes the business case include operations and maintenance costs and risks?
11. Does the business case include project costs and risks?Select your preferred training course below:
12. Does the business case conform to organisational accounting standards (e.g. break-even analysis and cash-flow conventions)?
13. Are the major risks faced by the project explicitly stated, together with any proposed responses?BUSINESS ANALYSIS QUALIFICATIONS

How do you write a good business case?Select your preferred qualification.

A good business case must contain certain key information including:

• The reasons for doing the project;BCS BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSES
• The business options which have been considered, including the base business options of do nothing, so something, or do something else;Select your preferred training course below:
• Project and operational costs;
• Project and operational timescales;AGILE BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSES
• Benefits, expressed in measurable terms;Select your preferred training course below:
• Investment appraisal (or cost benefit analysis);
• Major risks and their mitigation plans;CHANGE MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATIONS

How long is a business case?Select your preferred qualification.

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?APMG CHANGE MANAGEMENT COURSES

The following are the most important items to put into a business case:Select your preferred training course below:

• Executive summary – summarizes the key points;
• The reasons for the project (answers the question ‘Why are we doing this?’);PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT QUALIFICATIONS
• The options considered – e.g. do nothing, do something, or do something else – (answers the question ‘What’s the best option?’);Select your preferred qualification.
• 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?’);MSP COURSES
• Timescales – for the project and for realizing benefits – (answers the question ‘How long will it take?’);Select your preferred training course below:
• Investment appraisal – weigh up costs, times, risks against benefits – (answers the question ‘Is it worth it?’);
• Major risks – (answers the question ‘What if?’).PMI COURSES

What is a business case template?Select your preferred training course below:

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 PMI COURSES