Captain's Log

Captain’s Log, Entry 7542.1—Business Case Analysis is center stage  in business decision-making and planning. However, few people in business understand the nature of BCA. And few know how to build convincing business case proof.  As a result, wise case builders take care to learn how to earn trust for case results.  Business Case results are credible when they include cash flow forecasts, serious risk analysis, and reasoning that makes the case for action. In other words, cash flow forecasts alone are not a business case.

Decision-makers rely on BCA to build the understanding and confidence they need to take action. You know this already if your recent funding request or project proposal failed.  You know this also if you serve on committees for budgetary planning, capital spending, or strategy. Continue reading “Attention Business Case Builder! Score Big at Question Time”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8172.5—Non-financial and so-called Soft Benefits outcomes from an investment or action deserve value and a place in the business case—when they help meet important business objectives.

• Non-financial and so-called Soft Benefits belong in the business case when they contribute to meeting business objectives.
• Important benefits from an action are sometimes hard to value in financial terms.  Case builders struggle especially in assigning value to non-financial outcomes—the so-called “intangibles.”
• Are these benefits soft benefits? Or, real business benefits that belong in the business case? Continue reading “Do Soft Benefits Belong in a Strong Business Case?”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8183.5—The most important step you can take to ensure Business Case Credibility is to recruit a cross-functional, cross-organizational Reference Group. This group is key to scoring high in business case credibility. Never approach case-building as a “Do It Yourself” project.</p.
Something sinister happens the moment it’s clear that decisions or plans call for a business case. An insidious temptation strikes the project manager,  product manager, consultant, or salesperson responsible for the case. This temptation is a direct threat to business case credibility. Even CFOs are not immune.  What’s the threat? It’s this pernicious message:

“Do it Yourself!”

The temptation has a seductive logic. Firstly,  build the case yourself and Continue reading “Business Case Credibility? Make the Most of Your Second Team”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8186.1 — Why did the business case fail? It may predict excellent results yet still fail to “make the case.” Everyone asks: Why did the Business Case Fail? 

In our business case seminars, we see project managers, IT directors, salespeople, and others who have just had a painful experience: Their business case analysis failed.

Some of them predicted great cash flow, high ROI, and short payback, but still got a thumbs down from top leaders. Continue reading “Did the Business Case Fail? Know Exactly What Went Wrong”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8132.3—Can you produce business case results showing anything you want to show?
“Figures don’t lie but liars figure.”
– Attributed to Mark Twain and others

One reason that business case results do not always receive support, no doubt, is this. Many believe that case results can be made to show anything the author wants them to show.

Is that belief really valid? Continue reading “Busines Case Figures Don’t Lie. But Are Authors Lying?”

Captain’s Log, Entry 7659.1—Will your audience believe your business case? Above all, business case credibility comes from built-in transparency and self-evident validity. They will believe your business case if the case itself delivers the means to judge the quality and magnitude of the results. You cannot always count on ROI templates, tools, methods, and business case consultants to put a high priority on building that ability into the case.

Will they believe your business case? Your case speaks with authority only if you know how to build in credibility. An engineering manager in one of our business case seminars defined business case “success” in a way that many others would agree with:

The business case was successful! My proposal was funded!

Continue reading “Believe Your Business Case? Better Build in Self-Evident Validity”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8034.3—The internet is awash with sellers asking you to believe their own ROI figures. You know this very well if you are currently shopping for costly assets. Vendors know that ROI and TCO are central in purchase decisions for large IT systems, vehicles, production machines, and lab equipment.  Should you believe the vendor’s predictions?

Vendor-produced ROI figures are also center-stage when sellers submit customer ROI and TCO figures along with the sales proposal. Many vendors seem to believe that sale closing will follow faster when they show customers the attractive ROI and TCO results they can expect. Continue reading “Should You Trust the Vendor’s ROI and TCO Promises?”

Captain’s Log, Entry 7833.3—How long should a business case analysis take? How much labor does the case require? Is there a business case for building the business case? Those involved in doing the work and their managers naturally want to know: Is it worth the time and labor it takes to build and deliver them?

A serious business case analysis may require serious project effort, especially when the subject of the case has major impacts in a complex business environment, and when the subject has not been analyzed before. Participants in our say that professional labor requirements can easily range anywhere from several person-days at the low end to several person weeks on the high end. Continue reading “Where’s the Case For Building Your Business Case?”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8039.5—In some minds, a successful business case is a case that brings CFO approval for a funding request. For those submitting proposals, CFO success is what matters!

For many case builders, CFO approval is the very definition of business case success. However, participants in our Business Case seminars tell us that this kind of success can have a short life.

A business case that wins CFO approval is a case that will soon be put to the test. CFOs and others who decide funding requests know that they, themselves, will bear accountability for the actions they approve. For them, approving an action is not “success,” when predicted results do not arrive as promised. Continue reading “Does The CFO Approve? How to Get a Yes! From the CFO”

Captain’s Log, Entry 8191.3—Business people everywhere are hearing something like this from management: The business case is not optional! 

Captain’s Log, Entry 8180.3—Prepare for the Worst—the serious critic. If you don’t want nasty surprises from the hostile business case critic at your own case review then don’t surprise your audience!

There are some things you just do not want to hear at your business case review. You are trying, after all, to build confidence that supporting your proposal is a wise business decision.

At your case review, however, certain remarks from business-case critics can dismantle that confidence—if you are not ready for them. One hard-hitting question from a devious skeptic can undermine the credibility you work so hard to build—unless you know in advance how to turn it to your advantage.

Continue reading “Your Business Case Critic: De-Clawing the Cat”

Captain’s Log, Entry 7286.4 — Business Case, Business Plan. Do the Terms Mean the Same Thing? It’s a question you may have to answer many times for your colleagues. In brief, the case is organized around an action, while the plan is organized around the business. 

Many people ask:  What’s the difference between a Business Case, on the one hand, and a Business Plan on the Other? Surprisingly few people in business are prepared to answer such questions in clear terms.

People often use the terms interchangeably or ask for one of them when they mean the other.  Why? Continue reading “Business Case vs Business Plan: Do You Know the Difference?”