Five Steps To Write A Competent Business Case

Project management is a vital process, and if not curated properly and efficiently, it is bound to cause havoc. There are several places where projects fail. If we study the reasons behind the failure of a project we shall find that a weak business case is one among many factors. A strong and competent business case is all that you need to reap a successful project.

We will have a discussion here on how to write a good business case that will help you stand out from the crowd. A business case requires a proper framework at the early stages of project designing and overlooking any of the salient points might just wreck your entire project.

A business case basically outlines the basic features of a project and figures out whether continuing the project is worthwhile or not. It should be developed step by step so that no resources are wasted during implementation.

Before we start with the business case, a thorough and detailed study of the various key points of the project like – the problems faced by the business, opportunities visible in the near future, risks involved, business case tips, costs likely to be incurred and so on should be made.

Let us have a look on the basic steps of writing a competent business case.

The project definition

This is the very first step as well as the biggest one and is directed to the project sponsors, stakeholders, and the project team. It is important to understand what the project deals with. It is essential for all those who create a business case to know the why-what-how of the entire project.

It basically includes the business objective that defines the goal of this project, the limitations and benefits that the project is endowed with and identifying the prospective solutions.

Studying the process

For writing a business case, the methodology is very crucial. The purpose of a business case is to effectively communicate, so the following points should be kept in mind while:

• It should be precise, simple and understandable and should contain only the bare essentials
• It should not contain special terms or jargons and use of abbreviations should be reduced to a minimum level
• It should contain the list of salient features and advantages that the business will exhibit during and upon completion of the project

The project organisation

This is a very interesting step and envisages how the project is set up. It basically outlines the various levels of decision-making and describes how the project is structured. There should be a system to record the progress of the project based on the performance and the project manager should update it regularly.

Assessment

This step includes the assessment of the market, the risks and opportunities involved. The market assessment includes various ways in which the market, where the business is carried out, are analysed, whereas risk assessment involves the potential risks underlying the project and how they can be solved. It also aims at identifying the opportunities available in the market and ways to utilise them in the most effective manner for the benefit of the project.

Managing the business-case

Lastly, after the business case is formulated, it requires efficient management. It should be circulated among the employees to serve as a reference. It should be reviewed and updated frequently, especially when a new stage is about to begin. It should be evaluated to make sure that there is no unnecessary wastage of time and money behind unrealistic plans.