“What’s In It For Me?” The 3-Stage Guide To Answering This Question

• Businesses regard investing large sums of money, be it in equipment, extra staff, or staff benefits, as a larger risk that needs to be justified with a bigger payoff.
• Write a brief introduction, then in the second half write your recommendations and a very brief summary.

Look at advertisements for various products and services and ask:

Would I buy it or not?

If I buy this, how much does it cost in my local currency and how much would I benefit in local currency would I gain from not buying it?

Try creating your own business cases.

Start with a side-by-side table. Is there a real business case there?

How would you describe the proposed investment in 100 words?

Some of your figures will probably be estimates. What are they based on? How did you calculate them?  

What’s the worst question your customer’s accountant could ask you? How would you answer that? Write that answer down in the extra information section.

Now you have your business case written down.

Is it short? Is it sharp? Is it convincing?

Show it to a colleague for feedback.

What did your colleague think of it?