Developing a Business Case

To decide the best course of action for your company to take advantage of new opportunities, you must first develop a business case to explore multiple alternatives, then make a recommendation to support a particular option. In this book, you'll learn to:

• Clearly define the opportunity
• Identify and analyze a range of alternatives
• Recommend one option and assess its risks
• Create a high-level implementation plan
• Communicate your case to key stakeholders

• Mentor's Message: The Advantages of a Solid Business Case
• Developing a Business Case: The Basics
• What is a Business Case?
  A preview of key facts about business cases
• Business case versus business plan
• When you should create a business plan
• A complex document
• Seven steps to a business case
• Step 1: Define the Opportunity
  Tips for articulating the opportunity you want to pursue
• Identifying a problem or opportunity
• Developing an opportunity statement
• Identifying your business objectives
• Prioritizing your objectives
• Assigning metrics to your objectives
• Step 2: Identify the Alternatives
  Ideas for making sure you have many options to choose from
• Generate a list of options
• Gathering input
• Narrowing your choices
• Step 3: Gather Data and Estimate Time Frame
  Suggestions for obtaining crucial information about your opportunity
• Identifying the information you need
• Collecting the data
• Setting a time frame
• Documenting your estimates and assumptions
• Step 4: Analyze the Alternatives
  Recommendations for comparing all your alternatives
• Evaluating alternatives against your metrics
• Understanding common financial metrics
• Creating a framework for comparing alternatives
• Step 5: Make a Choice and Assess the Risk
  Advice for selecting a course of action and weighing its pros and cons
• Selecting the best solution
• Weighing the risks
• Deciding how to mitigate the risks
• Determining whether to modify your recommended course of action
• Step 6: Craft a Plan for Implementing Your Idea
  Tips for ensuring that your proposed alternatives can be put into action
• Understanding the purpose of an implementation plan
• Listing your milestones
• Communicating with decision makers
• Identifying the resources you'll need
• Clarifying responsibilities
• Indicating expected payoff
• Tracking your results
• Step 7: Communicate Your Case
  Techniques for presenting your case to decision makers
• Understanding your audience
• Using visuals to present your case
• Tips and Tools
• Tools for Developing a Business Case
  Worksheets for identifying alternatives, tracking implementation of your idea, ensuring that you've taken all the right steps for creating a business case, and documenting an actual business case
• Test Yourself
  A Helpful review of concepts presented in this guide. Take it before and after you've read the guide, to see how much you've learned.
• Answers to test questions
• To Learn More
  Further titles of articles and books if you want to go more deeply into the topic
• Sources for Developing a Business Case

A bare bones instruction on how to create a basic business case.

Not bad reading.