Business case: How to Write one (5 elements & steps)

Most projects need some kind of approval, whether it’s a quick yes from your team or support from an executive. You might already use a project plan or charter to pitch new ideas. However, if your project is a big investment, you’ll likely need to create a business case.

If you've never written a business case, we're here to help. With a few resources and a little planning, you can write a business case that will help you get the resources and support you need to manage a successful project.

What is a business case?

A business case is a document that explains why a project or initiative should move forward. It covers the expected benefits, costs, and risks, helping stakeholders decide whether to approve and fund it.

You might need a business case for launching a new product, increasing spending on a current project, or signing a major contract with another company. A strong business case links your idea to business value and provides decision-makers with what they need to move forward.

If you haven’t made a business case before, it might seem similar to other early project planning documents. Here’s how it compares.

The difference between a business case and business plan

A business case is a proposal for a new strategy or large initiative. It should outline your company's business needs and the benefits it will receive from pursuing this opportunity.

A business plan, on the other hand, is an outline for a totally new business. Typically, you'd draft a business plan to map out your business strategy, mission and vision statements, and how you plan to get there. There may be a case where you create a business plan for an already-existing business, but you'd only do so if you're trying to take your business in a significantly new direction.

Business case vs. executive summary

An executive summary is an overview of an important document that covers the main facts and details stakeholders need to know, in case they don't have time to read the entire document. In fact, the last step in writing a business case is to draft an executive summary that includes all the important, high-level details your stakeholders need to know.

Business case vs. project charter

If you need to create an elevator pitch for your project but you don't quite need the full business case treatment, you might need a project charter. Much like a business case, a project charter outlines key details of an initiative. Specifically, a project charter will cover three main elements of your project: project objectives, project scope, and key project stakeholders.

Your management team will then use the project charter to approve further project development.

What are the 5 elements of a business case?

A comprehensive business case addresses five interconnected elements, often called the Five Case Model:

1. Strategic case: Explains how the proposed initiative aligns with your organization's goals and strategy. This section answers the question: Why is this project necessary?

2. Economic case: Analyzes the available options and identifies the one that delivers the best value. This includes comparing alternatives and explaining why your recommended approach is the strongest choice.

3. Commercial case: Outlines how you'll procure or deliver the project. If external vendors, contractors, or partners are involved, this section explains how those relationships will work.

4. Financial case: Details the costs, funding sources, and budget implications. This section demonstrates that your project is affordable and financially viable.

5. Management case: Describes how you'll manage and deliver the project successfully. This includes governance structures, timelines, risk management, and how you'll track progress.

Each element builds on the others. A strong strategic case needs solid financials to back it up, and even well-funded projects can fail without proper management planning.

Benefits of creating a business case

A well-crafted business case delivers several key benefits:

• Justifies the investment: A business case provides clear reasoning for why resources should be allocated to your project instead of other initiatives competing for the same budget.

• Aligns stakeholders: By documenting the problem, proposed solution, and expected outcomes, you create a shared understanding among decision-makers and team members, a foundation for your stakeholder engagement plan.

• Identifies risks early: The process of building a business case forces you to think through potential challenges before they become costly problems.

• Establishes accountability: With clear goals, timelines, and success metrics defined upfront, everyone knows what success looks like and who's responsible for achieving it.

• Supports better decision-making: When stakeholders have all the relevant information in one document, they can make informed choices about whether to proceed, modify, or reject the proposal.

Beyond approval, your business case serves as a reference throughout the project lifecycle to keep teams aligned with original goals.

Who writes a business case?

The project sponsor or project manager typically leads the business case, but it shouldn't be a solo effort. You'll want to collaborate with:

• Finance teams: To validate cost estimates, ROI calculations, and budget implications

• IT or technical teams: To assess feasibility, timelines, and resource requirements

• Subject matter experts: To provide insights on market conditions, customer needs, or operational considerations

• Executive sponsors: To ensure alignment with strategic priorities and secure early buy-in

Early collaboration helps you build a stronger case and avoid surprises when you present to decision-makers.

Do you need a business case?

Not every project needs a business case or even a project charter. Plan to build a business case only for initiatives or investments that will require significant business resources. If you're working on a smaller initiative, consider creating a project charter to pitch your project idea to relevant stakeholders.

Even if you don't need to pitch your project to any stakeholders, you should be ready to answer basic questions about your proposed project, like:

• What is this project's purpose?

• Why are we working on this project?

• How does this project connect to organizational goals and objectives?

• Which key performance indicators will we use to measure the success of the project?

• Who is working on this project?

• When is this project going to be completed?

5 steps for creating and pitching a business case

Your business case should tell a story of why your proposed initiative is a good investment. Avoid jargon, be brief, and focus on communicating value. Follow these five steps to create a solid one.

1. Gather input

You don't have to write a business case on your own. Instead, ensure appropriate team members and stakeholders contribute to the relevant sections. For example, the IT team should be involved in any tooling and timeline decisions, while the finance team should review any budget and risk management sections.

If you're creating a business case to propose a new initiative, product line, or customer persona, make sure you consult subject-matter experts as well.

2. Plan to write your business case out of order

Some of the first things that appear in your business case, like your executive summary, should actually be drafted last, when you have all of the resources and information to make an informed suggestion. Your executive summary will present all your findings and make a recommendation for the business, based on a range of factors. By gathering all of those details first, like project purpose, financial information, and project risk, you can ensure your executive summary has all of the relevant information.

3. Build your business case incrementally

Writing a business case is a significant time investment. Not every initiative is right for your business, so check your work with stakeholders as you go. You don't want to spend weeks on a document only to have it rejected immediately.

Consider doing a "soft launch" with an outline of your business case to your project sponsor or an executive stakeholder with whom you have a good relationship to confirm that this initiative is worth pursuing. Then, as you build the different sections of your business case, check back in with your key stakeholders to confirm there are no deal-breakers.

4. Refine the document

As you create sections of your business case, you may need to go back and refine other sections. For example, once you've finished doing a cost-benefit analysis with your financial team, make sure you update any budget-related project risks.

Before presenting your business case, conduct a final read-through with key stakeholders to identify any sections that can be further refined. At this stage, you'll also want to write the executive summary that goes at the top of the document. Depending on the length of your business case, your executive summary should be one to two pages long.

5. Present the business case

The final step is to actually present your business case. Start with a quick elevator pitch that answers the what, why, and how of your proposal. Think of this presentation as your chance to explain the current business need, how your proposal addresses the need, and what the business benefits are.

Make sure to address any risks or concerns you think your audience would have. Don't go through your business case page by page. Instead, share the document with stakeholders before the presentation so they can read it ahead of time, then share it again afterward so they can dig into the details.

A business case checklist

Start with the why

The first section is your chance to make a compelling argument for your project. Despite appearing first, write this section last so you can include all key findings. In addition to the traditional elements of an executive summary, make sure you answer:

• What business problem is your project solving? This is your chance to explain why your project is important and why executive stakeholders should consider pursuing this opportunity.

• What is your business objective? What happens at the end of a successful project? How will you measure success, and what does a successful project mean for your business?

• How does this business case fit into your overall company business strategy plan? Make sure your proposed business case is connected to important company goals. The initiative proposed in your business case should move the needle towards your company's vision statement.

Outline financials and the return on investment

At this point in your business case, you should outline the project finance fundamentals. Don't expect to create this section on your own; you should draft this in partnership with your company's finance team. In particular, this section should answer:

• How much will this project cost? Even if the initiative is completely new to your company, do some research to estimate the project costs.

• What does each individual component of the project cost? In addition to estimating the total overall cost, break down the different project costs. For example, you might have project costs for new tools and resources, competitive intelligence resourcing, agency costs, etc.

• What is the expected return on investment (ROI)? You've talked about the costs, now talk about how your company will benefit from this initiative. Make sure to explain how you calculated the ROI as well.

• How will this project affect cash flow? Cash flow is the amount of money being transferred into and out of your business. Significant investments will cost a lot of money and negatively affect cash flow, but you should also expect a high ROI, which will positively affect cash flow.

• What is the sensitivity analysis? Sensitivity analysis summarizes the uncertainty in your numbers. There will be a variety of variables that affect your business case. Make sure to explain what those variables are and how they could affect your projections.

Preview project details

Your business case is proposing a new initiative. In addition to the financial risks, take some time to preview project details. For example, your business case should include:

• Your project objectives and key project deliverables. What will happen at the end of the project? What are you expecting to create or deliver once the project is over?

• Your project plan. A project plan is a blueprint for the key elements your team needs to accomplish to successfully achieve your project goals.

• The project scope. What are the boundaries of your project? What exact goals, deliverables, and deadlines will you be working towards?

• A list of relevant project stakeholders. Who are the important project stakeholders and key decision makers for this work? This can include the project team members who will work on this initiative, the executive stakeholders who will sponsor the project, and any external stakeholders who may be involved.

• A general project roadmap in a Gantt-chart-like view. At this stage in the process, you don't need to provide a detailed project timeline, but you should outline a general sense of when each project stage will occur relative to the others. To do this, create a project roadmap in Gantt-chart like software. Make sure to include any important project milestones in your roadmap as well.

• Any important project dependencies? Is there anything that would get in the way of this project getting started? Does this work rely on any other work that's currently in flight?

Discuss project risks

Make sure you include any potential project risks in your business case. If you haven't already, create a project risk management plan.

Project risk management isn't about eliminating risk; it's about identifying, analyzing, and responding to potential issues. Clearly defining each risk equips your team to manage and avoid problems.

In the risk section of your business case, include:

• A risk analysis of any potential project risks. A risk matrix can help you answer: What is the risk? How likely is it to happen? What is the priority level of this risk?

• What, if any, assumptions are you making? In project risk management, assumptions are anything you think will be true about the project, without those details being guaranteed facts. Basing project decisions on an assumption can expose your project to risk. Make sure you ratify every project assumption to avoid jeopardizing project success.

• Any comparable alternatives in the market? If you're writing a business case to pitch a new product or market angle, evaluate anything that already exists. Could the alternative affect your financial assessment or project success?

Develop an action plan

In the final section of your business case, outline how you will turn this business case into an actionable project. This section should answer questions like:

• How will decisions be made? Who is responsible for the project? Who is the project sponsor? If you haven't already, consider creating a RACI chart to outline project responsibilities.

• How will progress be measured and reported? Not every project stakeholder needs to be notified of every project change. Outline key parts of your project communication plan, as well as how you'll communicate project status updates.

• What is the next course of action? If the management team ratifies this business case, what next steps, such as scheduling a project kickoff meeting, will you take to implement it?

Bring your business case to life

You've built a solid business case, and it's been ratified. Congratulations! The next step is to bring it to life. Implementing large-scale change can be intimidating, but the right tools make it manageable.

Make sure you have a project management tool in place to organize your new initiative. A central source of truth helps you track progress, share updates, and keep stakeholders aligned. Get started with Asana to turn your business case into a successful project.

Frequently asked questions about business cases