To present convincing documentation of your company’s records to your managers or investors to support your idea or project is termed a Business Case. This is a part of project management. If a business case is done correctly, it will adequately provide a plan or solution to help address a business problem. But there are times when most people confuse a business plan with a business case. In this article, we will help our readers understand what a Business Case is and give you a few examples and some Business Statistics of the same across industries. Read on!
Table of Contents
How is a Business Case different from a Business Plan?
A business plan generally talks about a company’s strategy for success and the projected outcomes. It is a futuristic company-level document with futuristic projections. On the other hand, a business case makes a close study of a specific problem or need and also suggests possible ways to address the issues.
Now, if you are thinking about what should be included in this documentation, be ready to do some prep work by reading how to create and write a business case. It is also helpful for those in project management (PM) who can take a look at successful versions of how to go about writing an effective business case.
The below examples of documentation can be used to reinforce your own processes of either planning a viable project, or you just want to get the project plan ratified in the first place.
Generic Business Case as an Example
The first business case available is by the Wiley Online Library. The document takes a fictional project and fleshes it out piece by piece. When we study this PDF in detail we find this particular Business Case has everything: a preface, introduction, executive summary, and risk analysis. The hypothetical writer of this business case through the risk analysis provides professional recommendations. The benefits and constraints are discussed in depth.
How to write a Business Case?
It is preferred to work on your case with this as a handy reference. We need not include everything they’ve considered, still, this document is great to make your own checklist. So we have the following to include for writing a business case:
- Make a table of contents
2. Go for an executive summary
3. Write a precise Project brief
4. Think of Alternatives
5. Consider benefits and constraints
6. What will be your preferred plan
7. Don’t forget to have an Analysis
8. Never ignore risks and opportunities
Business Case Examples across Industries
Education
As the online learning market continues to grow at a rapid speed the number of people going online is also increasing. Since there is a rise in the number of people going online, the growth in the number of users and websites is also happening. This business case at the State University of West Georgia proposed to “Maximize the Return on Investment for Distance Education Offerings.” It includes all the points that one has to consider while making a business case.
Environmental
Environment-educated employees can add substantially to the profitability of a business. The business cases in the Environment industry can quantify the opportunities and risks. It can analyze the environmental and sustainability education that might not yet be heavy on data. It can have data from around the world to indicate those teaching employees to conserve, recycle, improve efficiency and reduce waste, among other actions. It will have benefits for employees, companies, and communities. It helps in retaining skilled workers, improving community relations, and reaching its sustainability goals making the working place environment friendly.
Healthcare
The Healthcare business case examples are generally lengthy. The PM has to consider how projects can affect the hospital’s financial kernel and list out the components for a strong business case. The PM has to give his statistics local meaning to support the initiative. One has to present all the business cases in a way to makes them meaningful to the financial leaders.
The project managers in the healthcare field must learn how to keep other professionals in this environment and how to configure their business case convincingly.
Transportation
The business cases for Public transportation planning are very important since it is concerned with the ways all societies around the world run 24X7. The business case entitled Business Case for the Next Generation Air Transport System, created by NextGen is quite interesting to study. This case proves that business cases need not have to belong to be pressing and thorough. It can communicate in brief too.
Government
We always think the government does a lot of paperwork which seems tedious. The business case published by the National Academies Press entitled Achieving Effective Acquisition of Information Technology in the Department of Defense. The statement of the case of this alone has a lot to offer.
Conclusion
To write a business case with a persuasive conclusion by revisiting the problem, solution, and scope of your project. To emphasize the benefits of solving the problem you’ve cited and argued about, and end it by proving that the approach and the solution are the best possible ones in the industry.
