Simple business case

Building a business case doesn’t need to be difficult. Follow a few simple rules and you will be able to create a compelling case for any business change project.


For many people, developing a business case can be difficult. It may be  because thinking in terms of numbers doesn’t come naturally. It may be because the idea of “selling” an idea feels uncomfortable but the business case is an essential tool and knowing how to build one properly is critical.

What is a business case?

The business case is the justification for a business decision or investment. Most often, it describes the rationale for a business project in terms of the potential benefits and the costs. It isn’t he whole story. A business case will normally be part of a package designed to persuade decision makers to take a particular course of action. The persuasion package will consist of all kinds of compelling arguments but the business case is central. It is the quantified cost/benefit justification and it has to stack up.

There are some standard ways of presenting business cases. There are templates a guidelines but every set of circumstances is different and the templates don’t always work. So it’s important to understand the fundamentals of a business case and to know how to build a simple business case from scratch.

This guide is in four parts that can be found here

• How to build a business case part 1 – benefits, costs and timescales
• How to build a business case part 2 – compiling the business case
• How to build a business case part 3 – interpreting the business case
• How to build a business case part 4 – presenting the business case