business-case-development

SKILL.md

Business Case Development

Table of Contents

Overview

When to Use

Quick Start

Reference Guides

Best Practices

Overview

A strong business case combines financial analysis, strategic alignment, and risk assessment to justify investment decisions and secure leadership approval.

When to Use

Requesting budget approval

Justifying technology investments

Planning major initiatives

Evaluating vendor solutions

Resource allocation decisions

Strategic priority setting

Change management planning

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

Business Case Template:

Project: Customer Portal Modernization
Date: January 2025
Prepared By: Product Manager
For: Finance & Executive Review

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## Executive Summary

Proposal: Modernize customer portal with cloud-native architecture,
improve UX, and enable real-time features.

Investment Required: $800K (one-time)
Annual Operating Cost: $150K (vs $200K current)
Payback Period: 18 months
NPV (5-year): $2.1M
IRR: 45%

Recommendation: APPROVE - Strong financial case with strategic benefits

---

## Strategic Alignment
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide
Contents

Financial Analysis
Financial Analysis

Business Case Presentation
Business Case Presentation

Best Practices

✅ DO

Tie business case to strategic goals

Quantify benefits wherever possible

Be realistic about timelines and costs

Include detailed risk assessment

Show multiple scenarios/alternatives

Get stakeholder input early

Executive sponsor support

Use professional presentation

Address tough questions proactively

Define success metrics upfront

❌ DON'T

Over-promise benefits

Underestimate costs

Ignore alternative solutions

Skip risk assessment

Rely solely on intangible benefits

Present without executive support

Use overly optimistic assumptions

Forget to include contingency

Present incomplete financial analysis

Ignore competitive pressures

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