Presenting a business case to Senior Management

[danrc]

Good afternoon all,

I am currently putting together a business case to present to my Senior Management team on Tuesday. I am finding the whole process a little daunting as I have never done this kind of thing before. It is not so much the fact I have to present my interpretation of the market and the opportunities (I know the subject well and am happy to talk about it in detail) its more the fact I want to present the information as clearly as possible.

Does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing? Where do I start?

If it helps, I am looking to expand our existing companies services in the Oil and Gas market into a slightly more niche area of the same market.

[prand]

Aside from the presenting and selling bit, in my experience the business case stands up on tangible costs (include as much as you can, make assumptions where necessary, but try and be as comprehensive and accurate as poss), vs measurable benefits and the time to get a return on investment and effect on cashflow over say 1-3 years. Get as much data as you can to back this up. Of course talk about intangible values like benefits to the brand, but I have found if it's not measurable, it's of little value in the justification.

[akirk]

as simple as possible - make it appear a no-brainer...

i.e. if we spend x this iwhy we will get xx back.
list the effort needed
list the risks

show the exit strategy if it doesn't work / go wrong...
if there is potential to make lots of money / low risk / an ability to stop or get out with a known cost - then you are most of the way there...

what they won't want is
- optimism without realism
- the possibility of costs running away
- lack of understanding on how it will affect other parts of the business
- lack of understanding on how it will affect their workload personally
- lack of understanding of any other impact

[smn159]

Can you get hold of a copy of a previously successful business case and use that as a template? I'd say keep it as concise / short as possible with extra / detailed information included as appendices if required. They will want to know:-

What is the case for?
What are the benefits?
What are the alternatives (including 'do nothing')
What are the timescales
Issues / risks?
Costs - CAPEX and ongoing OPEX over 5 years
Which departments are impacted? Do they all agree with the proposal?

and most importantly:-

How is it being funded? Which budget line?
Is it budgeted for or is it new money? If new money, what is the impact on the overall annual budget? What will you need to stop doing to remain in budget?

Good luck!

Edited by smn159 on Saturday 15th August 09:17

[Foliage]

Tell them the projected profit, then reiterate the projected profit, then a bit of cost saving stuff then back to the profit again.

[V8mate]

danrc said:

I am currently putting together a business case to present to my Senior Management team on Tuesday.

I'd have submitted it to them three days ago so that on Tuesday you can discuss questions/matters arising from their having given your proposal some thought.

[DSLiverpool]

Simple presentation and make the risk v reward easy to quantify.

SWOT the proposal and maybe give it out as a sheet with a forecast of revenue proposal.

Above all make it simple.

[skeeterm5]

One thing I tend to try and remember is that a business case never changed anyone's mind..

Focus on getting the story right and try to create the strongest industrial logic you can.

S