Building a Business Case

Before you can evaluate a concept, you have to find one worth evaluating.

What this course covers:

• How to identify opportunities to grow or change your business strategy
• Where opportunities to change strategy tend to come from
• Recognizing opportunity as a skill any employee or manager can build
• How identifying opportunities makes you a true contributor to your organization

The first step in concept evaluation: spotting the opportunity.

A business case rarely succeeds on its own merits alone. Finding and using support while building a business case is key to success, and this lesson covers how to identify potential supporters and how to engage the support team you assemble.

What this course covers:

• Why support matters when you are building a business case
• How to identify potential supporters for your idea
• Engaging the people you have identified as your support team
• Making use of that support as the business case takes shape

Part of the Concept Evaluation series, for anyone preparing to put a new idea forward. Best taken alongside the other lessons in the business case sequence.

Every business case eventually comes down to what an idea will cost and what it will return. This lesson covers strategies for identifying the costs and the benefits attached to a new idea or initiative as you build your case.

What this course covers:

• Why costs and benefits sit at the centre of a business case
• Strategies for identifying the costs an initiative will carry
• Strategies for identifying the benefits it is expected to deliver
• Gathering this data in a form your business case can use

Part of the business case series covering data gathering. Aimed at anyone building a case for a new idea or initiative and working out what to count.

A careful evaluation of risk is essential to any business case, especially when weighing a new business idea or concept.

What this course covers:

• The four types of risk tied to a new idea
• How to evaluate risk in a business case
• Why risk assessment strengthens your proposal

Build stronger business cases by addressing risk head-on.

Understanding ROI and other financial metrics is an essential part of building your business case. This lesson guides you through ROI basics and introduces other figures worth considering as you gather your data.

What this course covers:

• The basics of return on investment and what it tells you
• Why financial metrics are essential to a credible business case
• Other figures to consider alongside ROI
• Gathering financial data to support the case you are making

Part of the business case series on gathering data, for anyone who needs to put numbers behind a proposal. Useful whether or not you come from a finance background.

Building a successful business case depends on understanding how your idea or initiative fits into the current company status. By conducting a SWOT analysis, you'll not only discover how to market your idea to decision-makers - but you might just find an opportunity refine the concept itself.

Now that you have gathered all of your data, it is time to write the business case proposal itself. This lesson covers the sections that should be included in your proposal, along with writing advice for making the document land.

What this course covers:

• Moving from gathered data to a written proposal
• The sections that should be included in a business case proposal
• Writing advice for making a proposal clear and readable
• Presenting your data so a reader can follow the argument

Part of the Telling the Story stage of the business case series. For anyone who has done the research and now has to write it up.

Persuasion is a fine art, something accomplished salespeople have perfected over the years. This lesson brings that skill to the business case, showing how to sell your idea without nagging and without manipulation.

What this course covers:

• What persuasion looks like when it is done well
• Selling an idea without resorting to nagging
• The difference between persuading and manipulating
• Applying persuasive technique to a business case proposal

Part of the Telling the Story stage of the business case series. Useful for anyone who has a strong idea and now needs other people to back it.

Presenting a new idea to others can be a terrifying proposition. This lesson guides you through the basics of that presentation, calming your nerves and preparing you to lead a successful business case proposal meeting.

What this course covers:

• The basics of presenting a new idea to an audience
• Managing the nerves that come with proposing something new
• Preparing to lead a business case proposal meeting
• Carrying your written case into a live presentation

Part of the Telling the Story stage of the business case series. For anyone about to stand up and present a proposal they have built.

Winning approval is a milestone, not a finish line. Once your business case idea has been approved, the implementation process begins. This lesson guides you through the implementation steps and helps you develop ways to cope with the resistance you may meet.

What this course covers:

• What happens after a business case is approved
• The steps involved in implementing an approved idea
• Why resistance appears even after approval has been given
• Developing ways to cope with and work through that resistance

The closing stage of the Telling the Story business case series. For anyone who has secured approval and now has to deliver on it.