Building a Better Business Case

Does your business case stack up?

What costs is your organisation currently subjected to as a result of the problem you would like to resolve?

Build a better business case today to better understand your challenges and to compare available solutions in order to determine the most beneficial option available to you.

Business Case Analysis (BCA) will assist you to project the likely financial and non-financial results of available courses of action considering the costs, benefits, and risks.

A solid business case can support and enhance:

  • Decision making;
  • Business planning;
  • Management and control; and
  • Accountability.

 

Typically there are 7 steps for building a business case:

1. Business Objective
2. Purpose
3. Principles for Success
4. Scope
5. Analysis of the Situation
6. Solution Options
7. Recommended Solution

Let’s consider elements regarding steps 3, 5, 6 and 7.

Please contact our office for a free copy of our Business Case Analysis Tool. It provides a detailed explanation of the 7 steps.

Step 3. Principles for Success

From the outset, your BCA should be focused on two perspectives for success:

1. What is required to ensure the business case successfully assists decision makers in their process to determine the best option?

2. What measures will be used to determine if the recommended solution is a success?

 

Step 5. Analysis of the Situation

Analysis of the Situation requires answers to these questions:

1. What are the relevant risks your organisation is currently exposed to?

2. What are the potential consequences of those risks from a people, property, financial, legal and/or reputation perspective?

3. What are the existing costs faced by your organisation as a result of those risks?

This should include all relevant financial and non-financial cost categories such as:

  • Workers Compensation Claims
  • Lost Time Injuries
  • Medical Expenses
  • Personal Leave
  • Absenteeism
  • Replacement Staff
  • Presenteeism
  • Incident Reporting
  • Staff Wellbeing
  • Staff Retention
  • Customer Wellbeing
  • Internal and External Investigations
  • Reputation
  • Time Spent Managing The Above
  • And so on …

Many organisations will not have the necessary internal data so they will need to refer to historical industry data, analysis and forecasts; data from Workers Compensation Insurers; and industry case studies.

Step 6. Solution Options

When brainstorming possible solutions for the problem you would like to resolve, it is important to include a baseline “business as usual” scenario. Including the baseline provides an opportunity to measure relative changes across improvements, reductions, or savings.

This step involves a cost benefit analysis of each possible solution. It is often very difficult to predict costs and benefits accurately, especially for new initiatives. Costs include the costs of the physical resources needed, as well as the cost of the human effort involved.

The financial benefits that will be generated can be very hard to predict, and the value that people place on intangible benefits can be very subjective.

As the combined effect of these factors can make the assessment of possible solutions unreliable, the assumptions made should be clearly articulated.

 

Step 7. Recommended Solution

Ultimately the purpose of the business case analysis is to analyse and compare the financial and non-financial benefits of available solutions.

A successful business case provides credibility, practical value, and accuracy in order to assist decision makers to determine the best solution for your organisation.

Please contact our office for a free copy of our Business Case Analysis Tool. It provides a detailed explanation of the 7 steps.

Image of Travis Holland presenting

Travis Holland
Managing Director
Holland Thomas
Travis Holland email address

My Safety Buddy. Find out more.

Should you wish to discuss strategies to improve your staff’s safety in their work environment, please feel welcome to contact Holland Thomas.

Our goal at Holland Thomas is to create safer workplaces that enhance wellbeing for all concerned whilst also delivering improved operational and financial performance.

This blog draws on our years of experience delivering our M.A.B.™ Staff Safety Training (Contextualised Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviours) across Australia and the development of My Safety Buddy, our smartphone app and web portal based lone worker safety solution.

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