business-case-builder

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: business-case-builder
description: "Build business cases with cost-benefit analysis, ROI calculations, risk assessment, implementation timeline, and stakeholder analysis"
---

# Business Case Builder

## Overview

Develop compelling business cases that justify investments, align stakeholders, and enable informed go/no-go decisions. Comprehensive business cases combine financial analysis, risk assessment, and strategic alignment to make the case for action.

## Core Components

### 1. Executive Summary
- **Investment Required**: Total cost in dollars and timeline
- **Expected Benefit**: Quantified returns (revenue, cost savings, efficiency)
- **ROI**: Payback period, IRR, NPV
- **Strategic Alignment**: How this supports company goals
- **Recommendation**: Proceed / Proceed with conditions / Do not proceed

### 2. Problem Statement
- **Current State**: What's broken or missing today
- **Impact**: Business cost of status quo (missed revenue, inefficiency, risk)
- **Why Now**: Urgency drivers and market windows
- **Success Criteria**: How we'll measure improvement

Example:
```
Problem: Manual invoice processing takes 40 hours/week, error rate 3%,
60-day payment cycle
Impact: $180K annual cost in labor + 2% revenue impact from late payments
Why Now: Volume growing 25% YoY; competitors process faster
Success: Automate 80% of invoices, reduce cycle to 10 days, <0.5% errors
```

### 3. Solution Overview
- **Proposed Approach**: High-level solution design
- **Key Features**: Core capabilities and benefits
- **Differentiation**: Why this solution over alternatives
- **Implementation Path**: Phased rollout or big-bang

### 4. Financial Analysis

**Cost Structure**:
```
Category | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total
---------|--------|--------|--------|-------
Software License | $50K | $60K | $70K | $180K
Implementation | $100K | $0 | $0 | $100K
Training | $20K | $5K | $5K | $30K
Support/Maintenance | $30K | $35K | $40K | $105K
Total Cost | $200K | $100K | $115K | $415K
```

**Benefit Stream**:
```
Category | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Type
---------|--------|--------|--------|-------|-------
Labor Savings | $140K | $140K | $140K | $420K | Hard
Improved Collection | $30K | $50K | $50K | $130K | Hard
Reduced Errors | $10K | $10K | $10K | $30K | Soft
Faster Reporting | $0K | $20K | $20K | $40K | Soft
Total Benefit | $180K | $220K | $220K | $620K |
```

**Financial Metrics**:
- **Net Present Value (NPV)**: Benefits - Costs (discounted at 10%)
  - Year 1: $180K - $200K = -$20K
  - Year 2: $200K / 1.1 = $182K - $100K = $82K
  - Year 3: $220K / 1.21 = $182K - $115K = $67K
  - **Total NPV**: ~$131K

- **ROI**: (Total benefit - Total cost) / Total cost
  - ($620K - $415K) / $415K = 50% total ROI
  - Payback period: ~15 months

- **Internal Rate of Return (IRR)**: Break-even discount rate = 22%

**Sensitivity Analysis**:
```
Scenario | Impact | Cost | Benefit | ROI
----------|--------|------|---------|-----
Base Case | 1.0x | $415K | $620K | 50%
Pessimistic | 0.8x | $450K | $500K | 11%
Optimistic | 1.2x | $400K | $750K | 88%
Delayed 6 Mo | Impact | $435K | $580K | 33%
```

### 5. Risk Assessment

**Risk Matrix**:
```
Risk | Probability | Impact | Mitigation | Owner
-----|------------|--------|-----------|-------
Scope Creep | High | Medium | Change control process | PM
Adoption | Medium | High | Extensive training | HR/PM
Integration | Low | High | Technical POC pre-sales | Tech
Vendor Risk | Low | High | Service level agreements | Procurement
Delayed ROI | Medium | Medium | Phased implementation | Finance
```

### 6. Implementation Timeline
```
Phase | Duration | Deliverables | Risks | Dependencies
-------|----------|-------------|-------|---------------
Discovery | 4 weeks | Requirements, design | Requirements change | Exec sponsorship
Setup | 6 weeks | System config, data migration | Data quality | IT resources
Pilot | 4 weeks | Pilot results, training | Low adoption | Vendor support
Rollout | 8 weeks | Full deployment, support