BUSINESS CASE TEMPLATE

Cover Page

Business Case Title or Subject

Product Team Members

Approvals:

Version Control Information:

SECTION 1—EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction: [Brief overview of the purpose of this case and the desired outcome
or decision required]

Description: [Describe the project and the reason for this investment and the
major issues that will be addressed]

Industry, market, and customer attributes: [What are the major customer
or market needs that are addressed through this case? State the market size, revenue
potential, targeted segments, etc.]

Assumptions and Risks: [What are the major assumptions, including financial,
operational, technological that are discussed in detail and which could
impact the probability of success?]

Key Financial Indicators

SECTION 2—FRAMING THE CASE
History, Chronology of Events, and/or Current Situation
Part 1: [Framing is the first part of the investment justification process. The
purpose is to discuss the purpose of, or reason for, the Business Case and the
factors that led to its creation. This section should also contain any data to
confirm when the product needs to be in the market—the market window—
and why.]

Part 2: [Each Business Case should contain a funding request. This should be
a carefully crafted statement that clearly articulates exactly how much money
is being requested initially, and in the future.]

SECTION 3—BUSINESS NEED AND/OR STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

Describe how this opportunity contributes to the goals of the organization
in terms of strategic fit and overall benefits to the business, either
economically or qualitatively:

SECTION 4—MARKET ANALYSIS

Describe the industry environment and the competitors that operate
within the industry. Include detailed data that demonstrates your
understanding of the dynamics of the industry, why it is attractive, and
how your product will take advantage of the industry situation:

This section should further provide a comprehensive competitive analysis to

describe each competitor, the products they sell, and how the investment
for this product will help your company to win against the competition.
The table below may help you in this activity.
Describe the market segments and the customer types within those segments.
Make sure that you describe the characteristics based on demographics,
geography, and other parameters, depending on whether the
segments focus on businesses or consumers. Describe the underlying
needs of these customer types and how those needs were validated. You
will need to demonstrate that the product can meet the needs of these
customers better than any other competitor’s product:

SECTION 5—PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This section conveys the description and characteristics of the product
or service. You may describe or reiterate the main needs of customers
within each segment, and the targets within those segments so that you
can show how those needs will be met. Helpful sources to complete this
include existing marketing collateral, the product requirements document
(PRD) and the product positioning statement.
Write the product description:

Diagrams and other descriptors: [If needed, add pictures, diagrams, or

reference models that will add clarity to the product description.]

SECTION 6—THE PROJECT PROPOSAL

When new or enhanced products and/or services are developed, or if
non-product projects are undertaken, a project plan is created to show
how multiple organizations will participate, with what deliverables and
committed dates. The project leader (which could be a product manager
or project manager) will need to articulate the goals for the project, articulate
the deliverables, commit to specific dates, and call out any crossteam
dependencies. Define critical path items and make sure you have
suggested ways to mitigate risks of delays, or how to fill slack time.
Prepare a project description and summary:

What is being carried out and why?

Who will be working on the project?

How are the project’s activities going to be carried out?

Provide a project schedule as a table indicating major milestones and

deliverables. Also, provide any visualization that indicates key activities,
durations, deliverables, and interdependencies.

Project Resources Required:

Describe the number of people needed across all functional organizations.
Each function should provide a statement of their commitment
to the product team should the investment be approved. Each department,
in effect, supplies a Functional Support Plan (FSP) for the Business
Case.

Each FSP should describe the number of resources, skill sets, timing,
budgets, and any other characterization required to indicate what will be
done, by whom, and when. A table may be used to summarize this with
detailed FSPs as an attachment or appendix to the Business Case.

Launch Support
Since all product projects need to be launched, it might prove helpful to
include a high-level Launch Plan in this Business Case. It should spell
out the dates, resources needed, and any other pertinent information to
assure that the product hits the market at the right time with the right
amount of executive support.
SECTION 7—ASSUMPTIONS, FORECASTS, AND FINANCIALS
Every Business Case contains a set of assumptions that guide the forecasts
of unit volumes, pricing, revenue, and cash flow. Scenarios can
be used to provide the right context for a variety of outcomes under
varying assumptions. In this section, identify each scenario and the
assumptions for that scenario. Provide back-up data in the Appendix
as needed.
Scenario 1:

Scenario 2:

Financial Analysis
In this section you’ll be preparing estimates and forecasts based on the
scenarios built earlier, and the described assumptions. The assumptions
should be clearly stated and include rationale for choosing a specific
forecast. Make sure to include best case, worst case, and most
likely case. There are two financial templates that you can use to capture
your ‘base case’ and subsequent scenarios. Use as many as you
need to portray the scenarios you created. The following major categories
should be included in your financial analysis and forecasts:
1. Profit and Loss (P&L) estimates
a. Unit prices and volumes (sales mix)
b. Cost of goods
c. Expenses by function

2. Cash Flow
a. Timing of inflows and outflows
b. Capital expenditures needed (amount and timing)
c. Discounted cash flow (and NPV)

3. Balance Sheet Impacts to Consider

a. Asset additions, retirements, depletion or write-offs
b. Facilities added or taken off line
c. Cash needed to fund the project or notes/debt to finance the
project

4. Cost of capital (the discount rate) for discounting cash flows (check with Finance Dept)

5. Financing alternatives (make/buy, lease/buy) for capital equipment (if needed)

6. Depreciation and amortization factors

7. Study period (number of months or years covered by this case) —when does the investment have
to start and when does it end? Also, make sure to identify whether the case covers calendar years
or company specific fiscal years

8. Break-even point (volume, currency, and/or time)

9. Tax rates, if appropriate

10. Sensitivity analysis (price, cost, volume) and impact on profitability

11. Cost/benefit analysis for specific projects (including goals of cost savings, avoidance, or
increased revenue)
Base Case Financials—Business as Usual (or Base Case)

Use this financial profile to show how the business might perform if no
investment is made.
Business Case Financials—Scenario 1
Use this financial profile to show how the business might perform if no investment is made.

After a thorough financial analysis is carried out, comparing scenarios and

outcomes, any further information to clarify the information provided in
this section should be provided here.
SECTION 8—IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATIONAL ACTION PLANS

This section addresses the practical realities of the Business Case. Essentially,
it describes what is to be done if the investment is approved, when,
and how. This section can include any information regarding production,
facilities, timing, people, systems, supply chain, logistics, and anything
required to support a new product or an enhancement to an existing
product. Action-oriented Functional Support Plans can serve as a useful
way to think about operationalizing the business of the product and in
supporting the product after it’s in the market.

Use the following table as a way to describe what happens across the
product development, launch, and post-launch phases:

SECTION 9—RISKS AND CONTINGENCY PLANS

If one were to examine the constraints, dependencies, project plan elements,

and a host of other variables, it becomes clear that any Business Case
can be plagued by a variety of risks. Using all available data, the team needs
to view the project very carefully to identify the risk areas. What are the specific
risks involved? You may look at any dimension of this case, or any
functional area and ask the question: What if? By understanding what can
go wrong, you’ll have a better understanding of how to mitigate those risks
or to have a tactical plan to counter the situation if it arises.

Referring to the table used in Section 8, two rows have been added to
identify and address possible risks.
Clarify any additional risks or any important contingency plans here:

SECTION 10—RECOMMENDATION

One of the last activities for the Business Case is to communicate to management
your opinion about the project. To achieve this, you will need
to draw appropriate conclusions and include your recommendation for
go or no-go. It is important to remember that the positive outcome you
might envision as you begin to assemble this case may indeed be different
from what the facts, data, and assumptions reveal. Remember, just
because your team invested a considerable time in developing the Case
does not mean it should be a go. That would obviate the need for the
Case; therefore, if the Case just does not make good business sense or
doesn’t fit with the profile of investments expected by management,
then incorporate good business judgment and do not recommend.

SECTION 11—APPENDICES

– Charts, graphs, etc.

– Detailed supporting data
– Citations and references
– Consultant studies