At one time or another, almost every executive has had to make a case to obtain agreement, approval, and (usually) resources to achieve a specific business objective. It could be funds for a start-up or for a new project. It could also be resources for a project underway. The best business cases operate simultaneously on what Aristotle identified (in Rhetoric) as the four levels of discourse: Explain with information (exposition), make vivid with compelling details (description), tell a story for explain a sequence (narration), and convince with logic and/or evidence (argumentation).

In the HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case (Harvard Business School Press, 2015), written with Amy Gallo, Raymond Sheen observes, “No matter where you work or what type of idea you’re pitching, you should follow the same basic process for any business case you develop.”

Here is the five-step process he recommends and explains:

1. “The story starts, as all good ones do, with a problem. This is the business need you’re trying to solve.” (See section 1)

2. “Once you’ve pinpointed the problem or opportunity, it’s time to identify your story’s characters”

o Your stakeholders have the authority to approve or reject your business case.
o Beneficiaries are those who stand to gain from what you’re proposing.
o You’ll draw on subject-matter experts to help create the case.

3. “Then you’ll consider alternatives for meeting the business need — different ways your story might play out.” (See section 3)

4. “After making the best choice in light of what you know at that point, you’ll create a very high-level project plan to roughly gauge the amount of time and resources you’ll need and the value your solution will bring.”

5. “Finally. it’s time to tell your story. Package it in whatever format your company uses for business cases and present it to your stakeholders. If no templates exist, create your own logical format.” (See section 5)

With Gallo, Sheen explains HOW to complete each step.

Here is a question on the mind of every member of your audience that must be taken into full account when making a business case: “Why should I care?”