Any phase · Craft
Build a business case
A business case shows why an investment is worth making: the problem, the options, the costs, the benefits and the risks. It helps leaders decide and gives you a baseline to measure against.
About 2-5 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Commercial and business senseCommunication and influence
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- All
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- State the problem and why it matters now.
- List the options, including doing nothing.
- For each, estimate costs: people, tools, running costs.
- Estimate benefits: money, time saved, risk reduced, user value.
- List the main risks and assumptions.
- Recommend an option and say how you will measure success.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Compare options including 'do nothing'.
- Estimate costs and benefits with ranges.
- Recommend an option with success measures.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Model sensitivity to the biggest assumptions.
- Stage investment so later money depends on early evidence.
- Write it so a senior reader can decide in ten minutes.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- Business Analyst: Gather cost and benefit figures
- Tech Lead or Architect: Estimate build and running costs
Reviewed by: Tech Lead, Policy / Legal / Compliance
Tool examples
- Google Docs
- Write the narrative with a short options table.
- SharePoint / Word
- Use your organisation's template if there is one.
- Claude
- Ask it to check your arithmetic and find missing costs.
Definition of done
- Options compared including 'do nothing'
- Costs and benefits estimated with ranges
- Recommendation and success measures stated
Common pitfalls
- Only one real option
- Benefits that cannot be measured
- Hiding the risks