Free Business Case Template | Miro

About the Business Case Template

Steve Lydford, director at Codurance, developed this Business Case Template to enable teams to visualize all the key components of a business case. When advocating for a project or getting stakeholder buy-in, developing a business case that is well articulated and compelling will increase your chances of getting funding and sponsorship.

What’s the Business Case Template?

The Business Case Template is similar to the Business Model Canvas, except it focuses on the business problem and the tactics to solve it.

This template shows how to implement your business plan, covering nine key areas:

1. Problem

2. Solution

3. Benefits

4. Scope

5. Stakeholders

6. Resources

7. Risks

8. Costs

9. Metrics

The business case canvas’s purpose is to ensure you have everything in place to set up your business and to give managers and stakeholders a document where they can guide themselves through the whole business idea. Unlike the traditional business model canvas, which focuses on a more strategic and tactical side of the business, the Business Case Canvas is more about the core of the business and the benefits it will bring to the market and customers.

Benefits of the Business Case Template

If you want to embark on an entrepreneurial journey, you’ll need to pitch to investors and get people on board with you. The Business Case Template provides a thorough analysis of your business and presents the core of your service or product in one place. This format is easy to read and informs stakeholders’ decisions.

This template is also a visual aid to any presentation or pitch deck you produce. It clarifies your business’s core objectives and the means to achieve them. It can also serve as documentation; once things are up and running, your team can always go back and consult it.

How to use the Business Case Template?

Select the Business Case Template and add it to your board. Once you have the template in place, fulfill each section of the frame, answering the questions for each. The structure of your business case canvas will look like this:

1. Problem

What’s the problem?

Who has the problem?

Why is it important?

2. Solution

What’s the proposed solution?

How does the solution relate to the problem?

3. Benefits

Why are we doing this?

What do we intend to achieve?

What are the financial and non-financial benefits?

4. Scope

What does the solution involve?

What’s not covered by the solution?

How much time, resource, and technology is available?

What is the relevance of the project to the organization’s vision and strategic objectives?

5. Stakeholders

Who are the stakeholders?
What are their key interests and issues?
What is the current status of engagement?

6. Resources

What tangible and intangible resources are required?
Who is needed in the company?
Who is required externally?

7. Risks

What could go wrong?
What are the impact of any risks?
What mitigation actions are available?

8. Costs

What are the main sources of cost?
What is the approximate estimated budget?
What are the lifetime costs of the investment?

9. Metrics

How can success be measured?
What metrics can be used to measure the benefits?

Pro tip:

• Lead a workshop with your team to map out all these aspects of your business plan. If needed, make more than one business case canvas.

• Color-code stickies with common topics or that are connected.

• If needed, leave comments and other stickies to clarify topics.