In essence, a business case entails a document that aids in justifying the decision to begin or even carry on a given project. When properly documented, it allows the management to see all the advantages and disadvantages of any planned operation and make a well-informed decision regarding its future. For instance, you can use it to start an online business.

We are going to outline here the four steps to building an effective business case. This simplified approach will take you through the steps of defining your goals to showcase the financial viability of a persuasive business case.

Step 1: Define the Purpose and Scope of the Business Case

Any good business case creation process starts with the proper purpose and project scope. Identifying the purpose helps you in directing the focus of your business case, and it also makes all the stakeholders aware of the core objectives.

• Establish the purpose: identify what it is that the business case is trying to achieve. Is it to introduce a new product, enhance an existing process, or get funding for a certain project? To this end, the setting of the purpose sets the tone for the rest of the case.
• Identify the scope: a well-defined project scope keeps the solid business case from becoming too broad or vague. Choose what areas you want to cover and limit your scope so that a deluge of information does not overwhelm your readers.

The focused approach since the very beginning has aligned your objectives and given clarity to your stakeholders.

Step 2: Set Clear Objectives and Success Criteria for Business Strategy

A strong business case document must be built on specific, quantifiable objectives with well-defined criteria on what will constitute success. Well-defined objectives will ensure clarity of end goals and project success.

• Define goals and metrics: define the goals that a business strategy is devised for. Is it revenue growth? Perhaps customer satisfaction and operational efficiencies? Each goal should be accompanied by measurable metrics, such as a certain percentage increase in revenue or perhaps a reduction in processing time.
• Align with organizational objectives: objectives of a business case are aligned with other organizational objectives. For instance, if there is one important objective that a company considers to be about sustainability, a business case can be crafted in such a manner that it shows how your recommendation furthers that objective.

Having clear objectives is critical for a successful business case creation process for the simple reason that this guides and thus provides a chance for accountability.

Step 3: Conduct a Thorough Financial Analysis

To get approval, your business case needs to stand on financial viability. Decision-makers and key stakeholders have to be duly informed of the projected costs and benefits of the proposed initiative, what long-term financial effect it would have, and understand business benefits.

• Estimate project costs against benefits: within your project plan you should count the expected costs of materials, labor, and overhead. Set these off against expected benefits such as improved revenues, operations savings, and/or new markets.
• ROI and financial forecasting: You can underpin this with a return on investment calculation. Provide fully fleshed-out financial projections that indicate, over time, how the proposal will deliver value. A sound financial analysis provides stakeholders with confidence in your project’s economic feasibility.

Remember that the financials are part of those core elements in writing a business case that appeal to key stakeholders because they help explain how the initiative addresses fiscal objectives.

Step 4: Highlight Expected Impact and Define the Timeline

After stating the purpose, objectives, and financials, it is necessary to summarize the expected impact and timeline for realistic completion. This will help relevant stakeholders to imagine the overall benefit and understand the timeline required to see the results.

• Project the impact: Clearly explain what impact can be expected: short-term and long-term. Consider the aspects related to improved customer satisfaction, efficiency of operations, or growth in market share. Give concrete examples wherever possible to describe the potential value that may be derived.
• Create a timeline: Split the time of the project into stages, from preliminary measures to major milestones, all the way down to projected completion dates. The clarity that this offers the readers of how soon they will have results is conducive to your feasibility within the proposal.

Emphasizing both expected impact and timeline will help project stakeholders appreciate what pragmatic value there is in your project proposal and thus strengthen the business case for a new product or initiative.

Check out our free business case template.

6 Aspects of a Helpful Business Case

The following six aspects characterize an excellent business case. Utilize them when writing down your next document to simplify the process. Read on to learn more about these elements:

Conclusion

What separates a stalled initiative from a project with enthusiastic support is the effective creation of a business case. With a defined purpose, clear business objectives, a solid financial analysis, and an impact highlight, you provide an orderly and persuasive case. A well-worked business case assures not only buy-in but also alignment with your project to reach a variety of organizational goals for long-term success.

Working your way through this 4-step guide will enable you to make a business case that resonates with the audience and conveys a sense of value about your proposition.

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Satisfy Customer Needs or the Power of Asking Questions

It’s in this case that the ability to ask questions comes in handy. The interviewer has to be skilled in asking questions, listening cautiously, and being prepared to acknowledge any findings even when the initial assumptions are not correct. As such, knowing the right techniques to use when asking various questions and what exactly to ask, allows you to understand what customers or users expect from your business or products.

What Aspects Make an Interview Good?

Not all interviews go according to plan or achieve the desired objective, which is mostly due to avoidable mistakes. Below are some pointers to spice up things and make the interview experience for the parties involved worthwhile.

The Conversation should be Structured

The interaction between a respondent and interviewer will be flawless if only what they discuss is structured. Doing so prevents shifting from one topic to the other without following a given guideline.

You have to be consistent and ensure that your conversation is reasonably organized. You cannot adequately forecast all the questions you plan to ask the respondent since most of them will come from the details revealed during the session. However, ensuring that the interviewee keeps up with your line of thought is imperative.

Listening Cautiously

You should give the respondent ample time to talk so that you can gather the desired information. Even though it may be tempting for you to start by pitching your idea, this technique might not help in understanding whether your potential clientele is interested in it or not.

In this case, the rule of thumb entails listening cautiously to the respondent as opposed to sharing your opinion. By doing so, you will be in a better position to channel your energy to your customers’ needs, challenges, interests, and dislikes. Therefore, you can gain valuable information to help you in improving your product.

Active listening is among the most useful and well-known listening techniques. A brief outlook of the practice is outlined in the image below.

Ask the Necessary Questions

• Ask Questions about the Present and Past

Future-based questions are not advisable during the interview, as they might lead the respondent into envisioning possible situations, make forecasts, and share subjective views. These queries are somewhat misleading, as they are not factual. Usually, they are based on assumptions made by respondents on your behalf (For instance, a question such as what features would be helpful on this site?). The best approach is to concentrate on both present and past events as opposed to the future. For example, you can ask a question like: Could you please demonstrate to us how you use the application? Are there any challenges you face?

Make sure that you question the respondents on their past and present experiences. Do not hesitate to ask them about a particular scenario whereby they experienced a challenge and what they did overcome it.

• Open-ended Questions

In case the talk involves close-ended queries, then the respondent may fail to reveal any new vital information that what you already know. These questions limit the responses to a brief, one-word answer and do not assist in building a comprehensive talk (For instance, Do you regularly take coffee or tea?). To gain the most from your conversation with the interviewee, try as much as possible to come up with open-ended questions (For example, you can ask: What do you regularly drink?).

One of the advantages of using open-ended questions is the possibility of new details being revealed, which you might have failed to consider earlier. The extra piece of information you obtain makes all the difference between open and close-ended questions.

Use the 3-Second Pausing Rule

Silence is an excellent technique of asking questions in a bid to get valuable information from a respondent/interviewee. Using pauses when talking, assists in adding some emphasis to various aspects. They also provide all the parties involved with some time to collect their thoughts before responding. Consider using this 3-second pausing rule.

• Taking a 3-second pause before a given question aids in stressing its significance.
• A similar pause immediately after asking a question helps in showing the respondent that his or her answer is needed.
• Making another pause after giving the initial response allows the interviewee to provide further details or deliver a comprehensive reply.

If you are wondering why a three-second pause is recommended compared to one that takes a shorter duration, the reason is that the latter is less effective in achieving the above objectives.

Final Thoughts

When making a conversation with someone, it’s imperative to know how to act, how different types of questions work and the kind of outcomes they will give you. Do not use close-ended queries in a bid to avoid getting less-informative answers. Instead, asking open-ended questions can help you take advantage of the conversation, in that they allow you to learn as much information as possible from a given respondent.

Try focusing your attention on the needs of the customers or users as supposed to using the opportunity to sell a particular idea. What’s more, you should ask the interviewee about his or her past and present experiences instead of questions relating to the future. If you manage to follow all these vital hints or tips of asking questions, you will realize that satisfying the needs of your customers is not as complicated as you had previously imagined.

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